Heading out tomorrow

[Peg]

Our first longer ride this season. 10 days riding, focus on the middle of the South Island, where spring should be in full bloom, high-country lupins , riding some of the few remaining roads we've not ridden over the last few years.

Day one: New Plymouth to Wellington. Boring, done it too many times, like any other road that's close to home, know every pothole. Longest day of the trip - stay at my sister Lou's in our capital city for a few days.

Day two: Ferry to Picton, then over to the west coast. Staying at Westport for the night.

Day three: Check out the historic mining area of Denniston, then down the west coastline to Franz Josef. We'll take a look out at the wetlands in Okarito on the way.

Day four: Travel on south and through the Haast pass to Queenstown for the night.

Day five: Take a look around the lake to Glenorchy, then back through Queenstown, up through the Lindis Pass & over the Benmore & Aviemore Dams, spend a night in Otematata, at the pub.

Day six: North to Mount Cook Village, catch up with a friend working there, on through Tekapo to Methven for the night.

Day seven: Another pass - Arthur's - arguably the most scenic of them, and once over, we'll cut away around Lake Brunner and through Blackball - for roads less traveled. Overnight in Reefton.

Day eight: Lewis Pass back over to the east coast, short day, so we may take a dip in the hot pools in Hamner Springs en-route. Heading for Kaikoura, where lobster is probably on the menu that evening.

Day nine: We're booked to go out on a whale-watching cruise in the morning, then it's a short day's ride in the afternoon back to Picton to catch the late ferry. Stop at Lou's again, one night this time.

Day ten: The run back home to New Plymouth. Depending on the weather that'll be via the usual most direct route - or over the Rimutaka Hill and up the middle.

Weather can be changeable in springtime, so I've planned for days of mostly between around four hours. That way, if it rains, we can seek shelter in cafe's, or travel early or late to avoid the worst of it. On the upside - there'll still be quite a lot of snow on the mountains - and springtime can be very scenic in that part of the country.