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Blog entry: 11th December 2016
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Day two was a pretty quiet day with not a lot of riding happening. After spending the night at Byrons Resort we headed off towards Wellington. Taking SH1 and exiting the motorway at the Thorndon exit. The morning was easy riding & by 10:30 we were having our brunch at Espressoholic which was a bit of a disappointing experience. Given the title of the café, you’d think they would remember a coffee order. 3 times I enquired with passing wait staff each time being reassured it is on its way before going up to the counter & discovering they had lost the coffee order. So, we left there with change in my pocket in place of the coffee.
After brunch we took a quick ride around Oriental Parade where we stopped to enjoy the morning sun before returning back the way we came & headed towards the Interislander ferry terminal. Once at the ferry terminal, the clouds started to roll in so we started to wonder whether we would have a rough crossing.
After boarding the ferry, we spent about 10 minutes strapping down our bikes. We would have been quicker if either of us had done this before. It was not difficult to do but, as this was the first time making a long crossing, there was an element of worry that something is going to happen to the beautiful beast you ride so you check & re-check that you have your tie downs as tight as possible. You are also keeping an eye on your neighbours to ensure they too are as concerned about their machines to tie them down properly. I would recommend making sure you have 3 tie downs with you; two for the front & one for the back. The ferry does supply tie downs but you do not want to rely on these being available as the number seems to vary.
The ferry crossing across Cook Strait was uneventful & the bikes survived the crossing unscathed. Luckily, we did not have a rough crossing that the clouds had threatened. After a 3-hour ferry ride, I was ready to hit the road again but this time the journey was a short ride to Whatamango Bay where we setup camp for the night. The ride, even though short was an enjoyable ride along Waikawa Rd to Port Underwood Rd which provided some nice bends to enjoy.
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