Picton to Tasman Bay, New Zealand day 3

We stayed at what I loosely call a Bed and Breakfast last night.  I think their kids are all gone, and they rent out rooms. The owners were very nice, but leave for work at 7 am, so we were instructed on where to find the bowls and cereal.  I was a bit surprised because every B&B I have stayed at before, the owner made you a hot breakfast.  There was also another couple staying in the room next to us, but they left early. I know this because for some reason I woke up at 6am and could not go back to sleep.

The Queen Charlotte Drive was calling, and we headed out. This time I used the GoPro to capture some video of me pretending to be fast! We have been watching the videos back each night to see if it’s even working or if we need to tilt it differently.  I now know why people put music to all the motorcycle videos I see on YouTube; the sound of the wind noise gets pretty annoying. I am already making plans to try to edit all the videos together with a music soundtrack. After all, riding a motorcycle is like living in your own personal movie.

Frank had 2 fun looking roads on his agenda for the day. The first one would take us toward Mahua Sound and Kenapura Sound.  This road feels like it could go on forever, and it did not disappoint.  Turn after turn, with lush trees and ferns, that would open up to get a peek at the aqua water below. It was a beautiful ride, but I was feeling the effects of getting up too early.  Because of the position of the sun, and all the trees, my eyes were getting fatigued from scanning the shade and sun on the tight curvy road. We decided not to go all the way to the end, and returned south to the main road.

Cullen Point Outlook was a fun little hike up to a series of steep steps with a nice view of both bays and Havelock to the west.  We stopped for lunch in Havelock, and sat next to the marina at the Slip Inn, where I had some amazing fish and chips

Up next was Opuri Rd, which turned into Ronga Rd. that again was a really long one way in and out type of road. Halfway in we stopped at Okiwi Bay, which was so beautiful and peaceful. Lots of families out enjoying the day on a small boat or kayaking.  I was really tired from having woken up too early so I sat down for a break on the beach and took a power nap. After that I caught up on some typing while enjoying the the beautiful bay as my office. Oh, did I mention that people here use their tractors to put their boats in and out of the water? 

We stopped in Mapua for dinner and to buy some snacks at the local market.  Apricots are a big crop here, so I made sure to pick up some fresh apricots as well as some apricot muesli-granola bars, and an apricot crumble bar sort of thing for dessert.  Our final stop for the night would be at another B&B, but this time on a small farm in Tasman. I’ll let you know if this one impresses me more than the first.

Our basic route for the day: Picton-Queen Charlotte Drive-Whenuanui Bay-Ngakuta Bay-Momorangi Bay-Kenapura Rd to Mahua Sound and Kenapura Sound-Cullen Point Lookout-Havelock-Canvastown-Rai Valley-Okiwi Bay-Whangamoa-Nelson-Mapua for dinner-Tasman