Cycle: 35km

We had a leisurely morning as we knew the ride in to Picton would be a relatively short one. We chatted to a man from Bath who was also cycle touring round the South Island as part of a year-long world trip. He'd done the whole thing without our Bible, the Pedallers' Paradise, and I have no idea how he coped without it!

We also chatted to the hostel owners who were building a new wing with no insulation and a corrogated iron roof - brrrr...once we set off we very quickly turned off of the state highway onto the shorter and hillier but way more scenic Queen Charlotte Drive. We had a lovely ride and stopped at every opportunity for photos and to drink in the views. Its funny how on a short day you still have as many breaks and get as tired as on a long day. I think it must all be cycle-logical. Anyhow, despite the hills we had a great ride into Picton. The views were amazing, green water and tree clad hills, lots of sunshine and swanky properties to marvel at. We had almost completed our loop of the South Island! We passed the end of the Queen Charlotte Track which was the first thing we did in the South Island and so was quite a milestone for us to pass. The final sight coming into Picton was a view of a timber yard (Scott liked) and then a Jersey flag flying high from a nice house by the view point over town.

We'd made it round the 4706km round the South Island!

We found our hostel easily, helped out by the name being screamed from its rooftop! Tombstone Backpackers was like a hotel! Lovely. We had fluffy white towels and balcony with a view over the port which I loved (I like ports I do). We showered and chilled out for a short while before heading into town for a drink at the Flying Haggis. Town was much quiter than it was when we were here in February!

After a sneaky beer we trundled through the back route to visit my friend Becky and her husband Ade who had been living in Picton since August. Becky is trainig to be a Dive Master with many specialities with Dive Marlborough and Ade has a great job with an engineering firm in Belnheim and is biulding a winery! We had a super night catching up, ate a yummy curry and drank lots of wine. Thanks Becks! We made it back to our hotelesque lodgings after 3am! Good job all we had to do was sit on a ferry tomorrow, poor Ade had work.