April 13th, Nelson to Picton Return - 240 kilometers

We were at the gym early and then it was off to Picton. It is another beautiful day for driving, sunny with blue skies and a temperature approaching 20 C. The lady at the gym was originally from Zimbabwe and when they first immigrated here, she and her husband were terrified the winters would be too cold for them. Fortunately they located in Nelson, the warmest and sunniest location on the South Island, a micro environment that they quite enjoy!

Dave unfortunately had a rear tire with only 7 psi so he has a slow leak. After filling the tire we headed off but after half an hour it was leaking air so he headed back to Nelson, to arrange repair first thing in the morning, since nothing is open today. I headed on to meet Howard, who is arriving on the 4:30 ferry. At Havlock, I took the Queen Charlotte Islands Drive to Picton; 34 kilometers of twisty road along the coast where you cannot go faster than 55 kph and successfully negotiate the bends!

I met Howard outside the ferry dock and his first question was “Feel like a cappuccino mate?” We headed off through the twisties of Queen Charlotte Drive and got fuel in Havlock. A tanker truck driver warned us about a speed trap 25 kilometers up the road and it saved us a ticket! We arrived at Nelson at dusk.


1. Queen Charlotte Sound 2. Howards Ferry Landing

3. Havlock, Green Mussel Capital of World 4. Bandit on Queen Charlotte Drive