The earthquake

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New Zealand has suffered one of its worst earthquakes in living memory; Mel and I are currently living a few hundred kms from the city of Christchurch, which has been hit hardest. I hope all those who are affected by the quake can take some comfort from the fact that the world stands with them. Something that has been made abundantly clear by the media coverage is that New Zealand has stepped up to the plate and has already begun to help in any way they can. Some of my new colleagues at Sound Stage have been talking of their friends who live there and also of the impact of loosing so many beautiful old buildings, so many of which have collapsed or are completely unstable. It’s not the first time Mel and I have been so close to such a disaster. If nothing else, it gives us greater perspective and resolve to continue on our adventure, as none of us know what the future holds.

The earthquake came at a time when almost everything has been going very well for us here in Nelson. We have enjoyed house-sits, I have started new jobs and we have both been enjoying working on ‘Brassed Off’.

We finished house-sitting at Sue and John’s towards the end of last week and we moved to a hostel called ‘Shortbread Cottage’ which is on Trafalgar Street, opposite the Nelson sports arena which will house a few of the Rugby World Cup matches this year. We have been cleaning there in exchange for free accommodation, in this instance, a campervan parked at the front of the building. It has been ok. Mel has had to brave the hairy shower plug holes and endless washing far more often than I have, as I have been combining my Sound Stage teaching with supply teaching at a secondary school in nearby Richmond, called Waimea College. So between us we have been really busy – lots of cleaning, teaching, rehearsing and still the constant search for jobs and long term accommodation of the WWOOF variety have kept us completely occupied. I’m starting to feel as jaded as I did before we left the UK.

We have found time for one or two pleasures during the last week or so. We went and had dinner with Hugh and Judith Neil, directors of ‘Theatre Alive’, last Friday. Judith had cooked up a magnificent meal which included our favourite – Thai Green Curry. Mel and I made some plum and apple crumble which we all enjoyed for dessert, topped with coconut cream. And to finish it all off, a large tot of single malt whiskey. Needless to say; we slept all the better after that.

Life cleaning at the hostel was to end rather more quickly than we had perhaps had anticipated. During our search for longer term residency, we came across Fairfield House. A superb Victorian property, quite close to Tom and Ngaire’s place which is now used for all sorts of corporate functions and community events. Catherine Brosnehan is in sole charge of the day to day running of the place, which sits on a few acres. She has the help of her daughter Shannon and also other WWOOFers. We touched base with her and she invited us up to meet her on the Saturday following dinner at Hugh and Judith’s. A chance to meet us and rope us in to helping to set up for the Brazilian night being held there that evening. We duly obliged, and although we didn’t get to see all that much of Catherine, we were treated to great music and good company. Mel met a lady named Zoe, who offered to let us stay at her place out at Cable Bay, in exchange for a few hours labour a day. As you know, we love Cable Bay, so within the next few days we had seen the property, a 3 bedroomed, timber structure with extensive views of the surrounding bay and mountains. Zoe explained which trees needed felling, which weeds needed whacking and here we are.

It is now Sunday evening, the 27th February 2011, 7:15pm. Mel is in the kitchen cooking scones and a Moroccan tagine on the wood burning stove whilst I sit, typing away on my first proper blog in around 3 weeks. I have been very busy though! The sun has started to lower behind the house, which is set into the side of a hill, just of the only road in and out of the bay. I can see sheep across the water on the other side of the inlet, scampering to catch the last warmth of the sun before setting down to sleep under the clear skies on what looks to be another picture perfect night to come. The view is somewhat less impeded than it was since we severely chopped back a particularly vociferous Jacaranda tree which had been threatening to engulf the entire house until we took to it with a chain saw.

I can smell the spices of the tagine, sweet and aromatic, and I can feel the squeaky clean wooden floor boards against my bare feet, a reassuring feeling of a job well done – I scrubbed the floor just an hour ago. Opposite me on the table is a glass with rosemary, thyme and pink rose buds, all freshly cut from the garden that steeply slops away from the house, down to my left where it joins the rising waters of a near high tide.

We went kayaking a couple of hours ago. Zoe has a small boat shed which houses a few seaworthy vessels, and a 2 seater kayak among the score. It was windy, but we both still enjoyed it.

Mel loves Kayaking, almost as much as sitting in the sun, so to be able to do the both together must equate to Norwich City winning the FA Cup to me. She is tired now, having been working so hard in the kitchen since we stowed away our boat and made our way up the winding path to the house. I better go. I think dinner will be ready soon. I’ll write again very soon.

House-Sitting

We’re really enjoying life in Nelson, the weather continues to be hot and sunny, the people are still friendly and our life/work aspirations are looking pretty good just now.
I have started teaching at the very impressive Sound Stage professional performing arts academy and rehearsals for ‘Brassed Off’ have taken a very interesting turn in that Mel is now a member of the cast!

The week began with Tom, Ngaire and their children arriving home from the holiday down south and despite their son, Oliver, contracting pneumonia, they were in high spirits and pleased to come home to a clean house and home cooked soup followed by carrot cake, courtesy of Mel’s culinary skills. We stayed with them for a further 3 nights before reluctantly heading off to our next house-sit; such had been the pleasure of our time at their property.

Sue and John live in another stunning house, with views of the entire Bay. You can see Takaka Hill from their balcony, way off in the distance, a sharp reminder of the distance and gradient of our travels on the bikes.

The house itself is not an easy place to get to in that it is up a steep climb on the bikes, it is worth the effort though. Sue and John stocked the cupboards with all sorts of food and wine for our enjoyment during their trip up north. They have a very productive veggie patch with all sorts of stuff in season and they left us with strict instructions to water twice daily and enjoy the benefits should anything be ready to devour. We have been given the privilege of looking after ‘Puss’ as well, an aging tortoise shell cat who has travelled half way round the world from Ireland to spend her twilight years here. She is very much the apple of Sue and John’s eye. It is so nice to come home to a cat again in the evenings, always so nice to have the purring on your lap whilst you consume a well deserved beer or two.

Another interesting quirk at Sue and John’s has been the daily visit of ‘Gully’, a massive black backed gull who arrives on queue, each morning to be fed the last of the unfinished cat food from the previous day plus a slice of bread.

Viola has been in town this week, armed with lots of photo’s of her Kayaking trip with Gary, our ‘warm showers’ host from Wellington. Viola and Gary spent a week on the water cruising round the empty beaches and inlets of the many islands dotted around the northern tip of south island. It looks like she has had a great time.

Mel and I are unsure as to what to do next with regards to our onward travels. It seems like a good idea to try and stay in Nelson for the long term, especially as things seem to be going very well with my work. All we need now is for Mel to find a job and all will be well. I have been asked to cover some classes at Waimea College over the next week or so. One of the drama teachers has been offered the chance to go to Australia and perform at the prestigious Adelaide festival. I have accepted the offer, it is a chance to go and see what teaching at a secondary school in New Zealand is really like.

We have learned that another of our cycling mates, James, has been lost and found whilst out hiking in one of the national parks near us in Nelson. He was missing for several days and is lucky to be alive. It has been front page news. It must have been terrifying for him. The report I have seen, suggests that after a couple of days he had to remove his contact lenses as they hurt so much, so for 3 days he was basically blind. It is such an easy thing to do, get lost in the wilderness. But it hasn’t stopped all those idiots who have no idea what they are talking about from posting up critical statements on Facbook and the like. “Stupid Pome, wouldn’t have happened to a Kiwi!” etc. I can hear the wise amongst you yawning in unison with me.

On our last day at Sue and John’s we managed to find hostel to work in, in exchange for our accommodation, so it’s off to ‘Shortbread Cottage’ for us and we’ll catch up again soon.

We're OK in Nelson

Just a quick mini-blog to assure everyone that we are still in Nelson and are safe from the earthquake. We've been watching live tv, seen dead bodies pulled from the YHA and buildings collapsing - we send our love and support to everyone in Christchurch.

Takaka Hill, Nelson, 'Brassed Off' and SoundStage 22 January - 3 February 2011

Theirs is an old adage which states that “A week is long time in football.” – or was it politics? There is a reason why this is an old adage. This week, since leaving the tranquillity of Takaka and our new friends there, our cycle tour has been halted temporarily, but for good reason.

Our last days with Judith were full of laughter and hard graft in one garden or another. We spent 2 days at Theo’s place; an 80 something dairy farmer with a great devotion to her 200 acre garden where we spent a great deal of time pulling ivy from a section of her Camellia hedgerow. We also managed a day’s gardening at Gaye and Adele’s place, working with Pat to tidy up the sloping gardens which lead down to a tidal creek a bottom of their patch. We even had time to meet Judith’s brother, now living in Lincolnshire near to my mum’s place, but over visiting the family for a month.

We left Takaka on Saturday the 22nd of January and began our cycle back towards Motoeka. We were both utterly exhausted when we arrived in Motoeka that evening after cycling the highest climb in NZ – 10km and 800 metres (there are higher hills and mountains but you don’t start from sea level for those!). The sun had been beating down on us all throughout the cycle, oddly, as we both looked up to the sky, we saw a perfect rainbow surrounding the sun and we both felt it was in some way symbolic.

Early on Sunday morning we packed up and set off on the 50 km journey into Nelson again. It was a much easier and quicker journey than the previous day, no 15 km uphill cycling to do for a start! We were in a bit of a rush due to the fact that we had read about an open audition for the play ‘Brassed Off’, being held in the town at 2pm in the afternoon. I figured now was as good a time as any to introduce myself to the theatrical community of New Zealand, so we set up camp at the not so nice ‘Paradiso’ backpackers and headed for SoundStage – a professional performing arts academy – to read for the director.

At the audition we met other potential cast members and got chatting, as you do. All were friendly and went out of their way to welcome us. Ngaire, a local GP and all round good egg, came into the audition with me and read the part of Sandra. I was reading for Phil, Sandra’s husband. It was great to have a script in my hand again. Mel also came in to introduce herself and to offer her services backstage, as they had advertised for such help. Hugh and Judith Neill, the directors of Theatre Alive, the company responsible for the show, appeared to be impressed enough with us and we left feeling happy. As we were leaving, Ngaire offered to let us stay in her spare room, should we need somewhere to go. She explained that her husband Tom and her three children would be fine with us staying for as long as we needed to. We have taken her up on that offer – I am currently sitting in their Beverley Hills type house on a hill overlooking Nelson, more on this later.

That evening I was offered the part of Phil in the show, I couldn’t have been more pleased as it is set to go on at The Theatre Royal here in Nelson in April. It’s the oldest wooden theatre in the southern hemisphere and it looks stunning from the outside. We met Hugh to have a look round, it was wonderful!

The beautiful chairs in the upper circle

Looking at the stage from the Upper Circle

Looking our from the stage

Charlie and Hugh on stage

The rehearsal space upstairs above the stage

Hugh and Mel in the upper wings

 As it turn out, Ngaire and her eldest child, Oliver, will be playing the roles of Sandra and ‘our’ son, so we’re all practically family now!

On the Monday afternoon I was back at SoundStage interviewing for the vacant Drama Coach position. I was interviewed by Jane Winter, the principle, and her husband, Simon for more than an hour, after which time I was offered 4 hours per week to start with, with a view to maybe increasing my hours as time passes. Another great bit of news. SoundStage is the only professional performing arts academy in Nelson, so to be part of that team is both flattering and exciting and I can’t wait to get stuck in. Obviously, 4 hours a week is not going to be enough for us to live off, but we are attempting to increase our spectrum of work as quickly as possible and who knows, we may end up staying in Nelson for a while yet. I will post details of the show on the blog as and when I receive them, but for now a link to both Theatre Alive and the SoundStage websites are available for you to view in the usual place on this page.

After the good news about the jobs, Mel and I decided to go away on the bikes for one more trip, before settling down here for a couple of months or more. We packed up and left ‘Paradiso’ backpackers and headed off to Cable Bay for a couple of nights. We were both very pleased we did. (Check out the video on Flickr.com). We had an almost private beach, an empty campsite, a super café for lunch and great hiking opportunities. We were able to spend time reflecting on all of our achievements to date on our travels.

Arriving at Cable Bay

Above Cable Bay

Looking towards Nelson

So, we find ourselves in a very unique position in every sense of the word. We have been offered the chance to house-sit for a week, so we have somewhere to stay, all be it temporarily, some work and a show on the horizon. The property we are house-sitting; Tom and Ngaire’s place, is a 1930’s New Zealand timber frame house, strategically embedded into the side of the Grampians overlooking the town, tastefully decorated with a swimming pool, beautiful garden and a kitchen to die for. They are a truly wonderful couple, with 3 delightful kids, so welcoming and generous to a fault. My, my, we have been fortunate. Mel and I intend to bake and cook amazing food for them when they return from a week’s holiday on Sunday, as we have had the place to ourselves since Friday.

Polenta Frittata

Judith's Place 11th-19th January 2011

Judith’s Place 11th – 18th January 2011

We met Judith at the hairdresser’s, she is one of the stylists there and gave both Mel and I a great haircut. During the process we all got to chatting about many things, our travels and life here in Takaka. We explained that we would really like to spend some time in the area as Golden Bay appears to have much to explore of interest to us. There are stunning beaches, nice walks, lots of alternative shops and café’s and some lovely people. We also spoke about the possibility of getting some paid work in the area and how we hoped to WWOOF until we could find some jobs. By the end of our conversation, Judith had very kindly offered to take us in, explaining that her 98 year old villa was on the market and that there was a bit of gardening which needed doing to help improve the overall impact of the house to potential buyers. In truth, there is very little which could improve what is a most remarkable property. It has superbly proportioned rooms and a mature garden which has been a delight to spend time in.

We arrived with our bikes the next morning, having made the short trip round the corner from the backpackers. We stepped in through the delightful front garden, passed the wisteria, grape vines and pink, climbing roses towards the open front door. Judith has mentioned that she would be at church and that we should find out way into our room and unpack. She had left strict instructions for us not to do any work and to just relax in the sun, but you know Mel and I. After putting our stuff in our massive, high ceilinged, French style colonial bedroom with double doors leading our onto the front veranda, we made our way down the garden, set on a ¼ of an acre, through the small gate, passed the fruit trees to our place of work; the vegetable plot. There, over the coming days we would build new compost heaps, weed vast areas of ‘wandering willy’, buttercups and other small weeds, whilst being attended by the delightful Liquorish, Judith’s cat and 7 bantam hens, all of whom were delighted with the constant flow of fresh worms and open soil for dust baths.

Judith is lovely; she is really cruisey, great conversation, a brilliant cook and an all round good egg! We have enjoyed some good laughs, wine and food together. On that note, Mel has started noting down some of the recipes we have collected over the years from all the people and places we have visited. There are a few to add from this stay such as rice and peanut burgers with home made coleslaw salad, topped with peanut sauce. We have also been introduced to a new form of potato, originally grown by the Maori. It is extremely dark purple and very starchy, as versatile as our own, but with a more dense texture. Mel has cooked the delicious dessert that Terrance gave to us back in Taupo, though she attempted to make it with non-dairy additives which meant it lacked a little richness, though it was still yummy. This was on top of a delicious Banana cake she baked as a treat a couple of days before. I am such a spoiled husband!

Judith has a daughter named Scarlett who is spending time at a friends somewhere in the surrounding area and we have been lucky enough to meet her and her two dogs; Beck and Rip (both greyhound/pig-dog cross siblings) on a couple of occasions. Judith has lots of visitors to the house which has also been nice. Pat, Gaye and various other members of Judith’s extensive social network have been in and around the house. Pat is a really nice guy, well travelled and full of hilarious jokes about his time spent in England as a window cleaner. He is now a trained teacher of English as a foreign language. He is the brother of Gaye who has been kind enough to offer us some paid gardening work here which will be undertaking for her over the coming week before heading back to Nelson this Saturday. We have also managed to find some more WOOFing at another of Judith’s good friends; Theo. Theo is a mature lady with a lot of land (over 200 acres). She has been a dairy farmer for many years and when she moved to her current plot in 1959, she began planting the most enormous collection of trees and landscaped gardens. There is much to be getting on with there. We popped round for a chat the other day and she showed us her prolific citrus trees, all of which have benefitted from a special type of organic feed. A few years ago, it turns out; Theo lost a lot of lambs during the early part of the spring. Instead of wasting those lambs’ corpses, she placed 5 round the base of each citrus tree. This has clearly impacted on the crops since, as they have rich foliage and abundant fruits every year. The lemons are delicious!!

Today, the 18th of January is a very wet and miserable day, much like the day we endured on or way up to Farewell Spit last week. The difference today has been that we are not forced to spend the day out in the elements and we can enjoy a rain free, warm and cosy day catching up with blogs, emails and watching films on our computer. In fact, it has been quite exciting to see the weather forecast on the news, we have been warned that 2 cyclones are passing our way and they may produce a great deal of rain and wind. Watch this space.

A few days ago Mel and I hired a car to head back to Nelson and collect our stuff which we had left at Tahuna beach campsite. It was nice to collect our bag and to go and collect our new cycle panniers from the post office which had been sent down by Bruce from 'Adventure Cycles' in Auckland. We didn’t linger in the town for very long as we wanted to travel round a bit before coming back to Takaka.

We visited a few beaches and drove on some nasty unsealed roads, the sort of stuff we wouldn’t have had the chance to do on the bikes. It was a nice day. Once we arrived back we decided to give our cycle trailer to Judith. She needs something for running into the town and back to so shopping etc and we no longer have any call for it with the new panniers. It is good to see it going to a good home and I’m relieved to not have it dragging me back down the steep hills of the south island.

Near the town of Takaka there are some Limestone rock formations, one of which is know as Labyrinth Rocks. On Sunday Mel and I went for a long cycle ride to explore them. A couple of days previously we had been shown another, similar area of rocks when Judith had taken us on a ‘Ticki-Tour’ in Pat’s car (‘Ticki-Tour is the name given to a trip visiting somewhere or something). That evening Judith had showed us some of her favourite areas of Golden Bay. Some limestone formations called ‘The Grove’ were the most memorable for me. For those of you who have seen or visited the Temples at Angkor, you will be familiar with the crumbling ruins which are slowly being enveloped by the buttresses of trees and the many thousands of years of weathering thereupon the ancient structures. The limestone boulders and cliffs of Golden Bay are similar in appearance, though not built by man, but by millions of years of natural weathering of the rocks. There are pathways through the rocks which are augmented with palm trees, vines and wild birds. Deep greens, set off brilliantly by the different shades of rock and the dim light which was somewhere above the canopy. At ‘The Grove’ we walked up to a stunning lookout, through the boulders and cliffs and towards the lowering sun which we could see at the end of a path. Up the steps we climbed until eventually we walked out and saw what seemed like all of Golden Bay, from the mountains to our left, stretching round passed fields painted golden and green by the evening sun and out into the Tasman Sea which stretched away to our right. We could feel the warmth of the evening sun, still strong despite it being past 8pm and we took the time to breath deeply on the softest of summer evening air and take a couple of photos to help preserve the memory.

 The ‘Labyrinth Rocks’ we visited on Sunday were different in that they were mostly on the same level and had been characterised by the inclusion of many different plastic action and fairytale figures, all of which had been placed strategically on the rocks near every turn. It truly was a Labyrinth, it took Mel and I a long time to find our way out again.

That Sunday we also cycled back to one of the Bays which Judith had shown us on our drive. It has been called ‘Cornwall Haven’. It was too windy to sit in the sun, so we took a couple more photos and went for coffee on an old fishing trawler in the port. It is a novelty to drink a coffee on a fishing trawler, and even more of a novelty to drink a coffee on trawler which was at one time owned by the famous Frenchman; Jacques Cousteau.

It was a nice way to top an interesting weekend which had also included a visit to ‘The A&P Show’; a 114 year old tradition in the mould of our agricultural shows at home. There we saw all sorts of old collectable steam driven engines, classic cars and farm machinery, as well as well as prize winning farm animals, food stalls and sheep shearing competitions. We stopped to watch one of the sheep shearing competitions, naturally won by a Scotsman by the name of Stewart who finished a good minute before the other two pretenders. There were also wood chopping competitions with the usual muscle bound, beer gut laden men, carrying their axes around, but when we watched it was in fact the ladies tournament. There was a really mature looking woman who must have been in her 70s or 80s and she was ripping this log apart with serious skill! Good old New Zealand women eh?!

Anyway, I better go as Mel and I are cooking dinner this evening, we are attempting a chickpea salad and some Thai style veg.

Takaka to Farwell Spit and Back 9th-11th January 2011

Farewell Spit turned out to be a very hard slog on the bikes. It was only around 40 odd km but as it turned out they were the most rainy and windy of any which we have cycled to date in NZ. Absolutely relentless head winds and blankets and blankets of rain which soaked everything we possessed almost to the core. We were so drenched by the time we arrived in the settlement of Pakawau that we had to book into a cabin for the night, just so that we could attempt to get everything dry. Mel left me outside the only café in the area, which doubled as the booking office for the campsite and went in to ask if we could have a room as opposed to a tent site for the night. Once everyone inside the place realised what we had just been through in order to get there, she received a round of applause for her efforts. She arrived back outside and told me what had happened and we had a little chuckle on the way to our lodgings about it. The cabin itself is more of a shed really, although it does have 2 bedrooms and a kitchen, but no toilet, we would have to brave the wind and the rain in order to pay those a visit. We did mange to get everything dry in the end though, I set up a makeshift drying room in one of the bedrooms, using a ball of string and the frames of the 3 bunk beds as a makeshift clothes, tent and pannier drying area. Our trainers didn’t dry over night mind you, they had been so wet that you could literally pour the water out of them after we had removed them from our shrivelled up feet.

When we left the cabin the next morning it was a much brighter day. We walked down onto the beach and took a few pictures of ‘Farewell Spit’ from the sea shore, we decided not to attempt to cycle any further along the road and instead to head back to Takaka.

 

We phoned ahead in order to secure a tent site at a place called the ‘Barefoot Backpackers’. 3 hours later; we pulled up there and got set up for the night. It didn’t rain a drop on the return journey and the sky was almost clear. It gave a very different impression to the landscape that we had endured the previous day. Some great views over Golden Bay, plenty of sheep and cows to chat to on the way, and some breathtaking mountains bathed in sunshine.

That evening we picked up some fresh veg to cook from an independent farm shop on the outskirts of town, so much better than buying from a supermarket. 1 big bulb of garlic, spring onions, red cabbage, broccoli and a green pepper for $7 – that’s pretty good for NZ! During the evening Mel sat in the tent and wrote some emails while I played pool on the free pool table and watched ‘Cable Guy’ with couple of Dutch girls who were also staying at the hostel. I woke up early in order to listen to the F.A. Cup 3rd round match between Norwich City and Leyton Orient. I needn’t have bothered though as we lost 1-0, such is life.

We both needed haircuts when we arrived back in Takaka, we booked into a small hairdressers not far from where we were staying on the Saturday morning, a 10am appointment. Mel had been really looking forward to getting her hair seen to as we had not had the opportunity since before the wedding back in September. In booking the hair appointment we set the wheels in motion for one of the best weeks of the trip so far…

Nelson - Farewell Spit, 3rd - 9th January 2011

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Having been forced into staying at Tahuna Beach Holiday Park for an extra night, Mel and I were relieved to finally be on our way again on the 3^rd of January. We had, in part, only stayed at the beach for that length of time because we had  been warned against not having anywhere booked for Christmas and the new year. As it turned out, as it almost always seems to turn out, the advice was wrong and there would have been accommodation had we have looked for it. That’s a point I would like to make as it is constantly being reinforced everywhere we go in the world.

“Oh, you don’t want to go there, it’ll be full of gangs, you won’t get a good welcome.”

“You better not go to Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge will kill you.”

“Ipswich is a nice place, you should visit some time.”

“Oh, Nelson is a no go zone if you haven’t booked for Christmas.”

“You’ll find your journey tough today, the hills here are the worst in the world.”

All advice, all rubbish, so if your planning a journey any time soon, my advice is not to listen to anyone’s advice and make your own mind up as you go.

The Tahuna Beach Holiday was great if you are Kiwi family looking for a Kiwi holiday with lots and lots and lots of other Kiwi’s. It wasn’t for us. So, as I said, it was great to be heading off to another, less frequented area of the island.

We were cycling in pretty intense heat as we headed towards Motueka and Mel was struggling somewhat as we had to climb up some testing hills due to the conditions. By the time we reached a campsite, we were both very dehydrated, with sore bums and tired heads from having to concentrate so hard through the dust of the journey that we were really delighted to be able to jump into a nice cool swimming pool before we even thought about putting up the tent. Not only was the Motueka motel and campsite much smaller than Tahuna Beach, it had better facilities, including free internet and it was $6 cheaper a night to stay there.

We ended up staying for one night. Mel found a really good book for me in the book swap, ‘Shakespeare’, by Ivor Brown. Printed in the 1950s and hard backed, it makes an interesting read and I’m enjoying it immensely.

We decided to by-pass the seasonal work (fruit picking) office which is in the town on our way out to Takaka as we will be going back through the town on our way back to Nelson and we can enquire as to the possibility of getting work then, rather than worrying about it before we have seen Farewell Spit.

We are currently staying at a place, just on the outskirts of Takaka, a character Tavern and Backpackers called the ‘River Inn’. It wasn’t easy cycling here mind you, we had to cycle up to the highest point we have ever had to climb so far; 791 meters above sea level to be precise. It took us 2 hours of cycling, all be it with a few breaks. The 11 km down-hill on the other side was worth the job though. Sadly our cycle computer has given up the ghost, so it is impossible to say exactly how far we have travelled to date, but it is roughly 2,500 kms.

Takaka is a nice little town, with all sorts of hippy type shops and cafes. We had lunch in an organic place today, lovely food and no animals harmed in the process of making it! Afterwards we cycled to Pohuna Bay and went for a walk on the beach, before heading back through the town to collect some provisions for dinner and back to the Inn to eat, shower off the grime of the humid day and get our rest up for tomorrows cycle up to Farewell Spit itself.