midlifecycle: Day 18 Notes

Nelson to the Anatoki Fish farm. All I can say is that Nelson is setup for Cyclists, there are paths everywhere and it was awesome to see and experience. From Nelson I headed towards Richmond this was entirely on bike tracks, From there I hooked up with part of the Great Taste trail riding on Rabbit Island and taking the ferry across to Mapua. My breaks took a hammering yesterday and there was some scraping on the front break so at Rabbit island like as a Muppet I tried to adjust the breaks like manual breaks only to find the hydraulic screw first as I said Muppet. So I had no front breaks. I called Graham and he sorted a bike shop in Motueka so it was a cycle from Mapua to Motueka all flat. Into the bike shop and got the breaks fixed I now have new pads all ready, the breaks had to be fixed for the next stage of the day. There were two things that I was really looking forward to on this leg, one was going to the Anatoki salmon farm. I have been there before in 2005ish as really enjoyed it, and I do so like my salmon. The other was going over the Takaka Hill, the Takaka Hill is one of the toughest road climbs in New Zealand and well it did not disappoint, and the road going down was brilliant doing speeds of 50+ for 15 minutes. As I said the trip was also about going to Anatoki fish farm and for that it is an out and back trip. Tomorrow is slower day on the bike as we start the day fishing, have some sashimi ( hopefully) and head back over the Takaka Hill to the Riwaka River Estate ( a small boutique winery for the night).