Wet Wet Wet – ‘I feel it in my fingers – I feel it in my toes’

Friday 19th January

We awoke to mizzly rain this Friday morning; clearly [bad word] the cloud cover had returned overnight in the far southeast of South Island. And so for the second time [the first time was leaving Arthur’s Pass last Wednesday week] we faced the imminent prospect of leaving our motel lodge in the pouring rain. Bugger!

What a shame, because the Catlins region of SI is an area that we would have liked to have explored much further. But under the circumstances, with visibility down to less than a kilometre, there seemed little point – even taking a picture or two was futile.

So we pressed on northwards for 2½ hours - getting thoroughly soaked through to the skin – again! – until we reached the City of Dunedin, back on SH1,when the rain suddenly abated. After another refuelling stop in the City we decided to keep on travelling north towards Christchurch until we get at least another 400 km (250 miles) out of the day’s ride. The only obvious drawback to this tactic is that we will traversing the Waitaki River near its coastal mouth, and therefore missing the river’s associated inland valley, where lives the Jones family around 70-80 km to the west. We would both have liked to see John & Pip again, if only for just one further night.

But I hereby give official notice – and advance warning – to the Jones family:

‘HASTA LA VISTA BABIES … I’LL BE BACK! .. You ain’t seen the last of me yet’ – ;o)

By 5:20pm, and 416 km (258miles) after our departure from Papatowai, we arrive at the industrialised town of Ashburton. Time to call it a day. So we book into a ‘Best Western’ motel and once more check the road alas, for the umpteenth time, and confirm to ourselves the earlier preconceived plan to head on through Christchurch tomorrow morning and hopefully get to the ‘special’ Pacific coastal township of Kaikoura by early afternoon, where we intend to stopover for two nights.

Oh – and by the way, my left glove has also sprung a leak! .. :o(

Update – Saturday 20th January

After another 3½-hour journey – again all totally ridden in the pouring rain – we make it to Kaikoura, where the first thing we see a load of people watching a small pod of dolphins that are hunting around the rocks within 50-75 metres of the shoreline. Ellen jumped off for an inquisitive look …

… I didn’t bother, cuz I’ve seen it all before – on the telly! ;o)

We then find our next two nights’ accommodation. “The Garden Shed” just off the high street, which literally is our hosts’ back garden shed that has been tastefully converted into a self-contained – and completely detached! – guest studio unit.

This will do for us just fine until next Monday morning, 22nd Jan, when we must be at the Picton Ferry Terminal, 156 km (97 miles) away in order to catch the 1:15pm ferryboat back to Wellington, North Island.

The South Island journey, so far

Stayed tuned! – As all will be revealed just why we're here, if the weather and a fair wind, and luck is on our side during the next 48 hours or so …