The storm only intensified overnight, I woke often to hear rain lashing and wind buffeting my little cabin. Climbing a thousand metres above sea level in such weather didn’t promise many new sights, so I rolled over and dozed throughout the morning. With a break in the torrential rain, I dragged myself out and allowed the wind to push me around to Pohara – where I promptly stopped at the first cafe I found.

There was another likely-Six Corners bike in the rack, so I went to find the rider. We were soon joined by two more and a large and long lunch commenced. Tales of much bigger and stronger riders being buffeted and blown off their bikes were enough to have me reaching for another cup of tea. It’s always good to hear others’ bikepacking stories and pick up little tips; at the start of a two week tour, I took the advice to ride just a little further around the coast.

It looks nice, shortly after I was blown across a lane of traffic battling through a wind-funnel of a cutting.

Down to Ligar Bay from Abel Tasman monument.

I battled back to my little cabin and pored over forecasts as I was planning to ride the Heaphy Track to the West Coast the next day. It was fifty-fifty, and it didn’t look like the snow would get down much below the highest point (900+ m) – still “blizzard conditions with gale westerly on the tops”. So I prepared to leave the following morning, when hopefully the wind wouldn’t quite be gale force.

Waking early, the forecast had deteriorated further and the snow was due much lower. As the day dawned, I could see snow on the hills behind Takaka (basically coastal) down to 300 m. The wind continued to howl, so it seemed prudent to wait it out. I went for breakfast downtown, checking out of my airbnb and finding another cabin at the campground – cooking facilities would give me something to do and remove the need to eat out for every meal.

Heavy rain blew through and I couldn’t just sit around for two days. When the sun appeared I set off for another corner – Totaranui. I’d continue past the monument and a couple more bays before climbing a few hundred metres into Abel Tasman National Park and dropping to Totaranui on the other side.

Wainui Inlet

The wind pushed me gently east, and it only started to rain after finding the gravel and starting the climb. A convoy passed me, many teenagers and their instructors heading to start hiking the Abel Tasman Walkway. A soaking descent to sea level, I looked around briefly, had the wind blow my parked bike over (cracking the visor on my helmet), and chatted to some hikers before turning back.

Without it, I quickly found just how much I use the visor on my helmet to keep driving rain out of my face – a lot, that is. The wind was picking up almightily by this stage. Back down to sea level, I turned briefly south and was fair blown towards the Wainui Valley. That didn’t bode well as I cut west, crossed the river and turned north to head up the other side of the inlet. Progress was slow.

Suddenly I was blown fair across both lanes of the road and narrowly avoided being thrown into a fence. Rather startled, it was time to again start pushing my bike along a flat road. Rain continuing to drive into me, at least it wasn’t quite cold. The twenty kilometres left may take some time. When a couple pulled up beside me and offered a lift, I had no hesitation in accepting – no point in putting myself at risk of being blown into traffic. I lived to ride another day, or as it was the following day – sit it out and watch the snow come down the hills behind town and retreat whenever the sun returned. I was itching to get moving again, thankfully the next day looked a pearler so I prepared for a big day on the Heaphy.

To my surprise, my bike was assembled from its travel bag and I was ready to leave Nelson by half-eight Friday morning. I was well excited to be going on my first solo tour of more than a few days for over six years. A small bikepacking event over the weekend was drawing me finally to Golden Bay, and after that I was looking forward to a couple of weeks on the West Coast riding some of the long backcountry trails that the area is blessed with.

First, to Takaka; with a whole day, biking there was the logical choice – even with Takaka Hill in the way. Much easier than organising a bus anyway. Flat cycle trail took me out of town, skirting the estuary and past a large sawmill. I missed the reopening of the Mapua ferry by a day, so was left to find the quietest route west on the fly. The backroad to Motueka wasn’t that desolate, but it wasn’t a highway.

After a few spits of rain, the day cleared nicely.

Hitting Motueka for an early lunch, I made sure to fuel up for the 900 metre climb. I didn’t get far into it and found a complimentary/compulsory shuttle through a lot of roadworks, so that cut out a couple of hundred metres of climbing – which I was both pleased and disappointed by.

Almost at the top of the road, a short side trip for the view.

Yup, the hills certainly climb away from the coast very quickly.

Near the summit of the main road, I turned off north and continued to climb before eventually dropping to Canaan Downs. So many rocks everywhere in the paddocks, and a little native bush to ride through. It looked a sweet place to camp as the downs opened up, and I found a cheeky bit of singletrack to ride, confusing the sheep and avoiding orienteer scouts, before the Rameka Track started.

A very old track, as far as NZ European history goes, that’s been revitalised – it was great to work my way down to sea level. A loaded rigid bikepacking bike may not the best stead for it, but I was thrilled with the descent through the bush. Occasionally the views opened up, but I was having too much fun to stop much.

Before long I’d lost all the altitude and was rolling into my Airbnb on the outskirts of town; a top day getting to Takaka and moving the legs a little before the weekend’s challenge.