Overnight there was strong winds and rain and it was not much better by the time I got on the road at just on 8am, however, as I rode toward Wellington the day showed signs of improving.

The road surface out of Waikanae was generally smooth with a good shoulder and only the odd railway overhead bridge to traverse where the road narrowed. The wind was pretty favourable so it was a good run in and the rain had stopped so it was getting better all the time.

Passing through Paekakariki, I gave a quick thought whether for old time sakes I should climb Paekakariki hill and get into the Hutt, but it was only a fleeting thought! I had raced out this way when I was a junior, which is some years ago now, travelling up from Nelson for events.

There was a lot of traffic, although not as much as I thought there would be, which was lucky as there were sections, particularly along the coast toward Pukerua Bay where there was basically only a very small shoulder and then there had been slips forcing you to ride in the vehicle lane.

The sea was a bit choppy with white caps, but probably just normal, although the first 100 m or so was a dirty brown colour. You could only see a small section of Kapiti island as it was obscured in cloud.

It was a bit of a climb out of, or up to Pukerua Bay but the road was still good with a reasonable shoulder. I was keen to get into the city before having breakfast in case of any navigational issues as I had decided to get the 2.45pm ferry and keep pushing south as against staying in Wellington.

It was interesting to note the electonic signs, showing the average time for drivers to get to the CBD.

I saw the sign for cyclists to exit at Porirua which is just at the start of the motorway and although I knew that the route basically followed the old road and went through Tawa and other suburbs before Johnsville, there was a lacking of even basic signage. It might be obvious for locals, but some signage would assist as you would think that this is a regular route for touring cyclists. Despite this, there was only one minor navigational error that probably only cost me 500 m and I did not need to retrieve the tablet to check the Map application.

Even the exit onto effectively the motorway at the top of Ngauranga Gorge was not signed, but I was that close whether I was supposed to be there or not, I was using it… The road was great and it was a real hoot that could have been a 90 if not 100k decent, but backed off due to the gusty wind and had to settle for I think 76ks. Again there was poor signage to get off the motorway (there was a sign for Ferry traffic which I took), but as a cyclist if you kept going you would be on the motorway going to the Hutt somewhere you should not be…

Got to the ferry terminal and after purchasing the ticket for the 2.45pm ferry, as I had a couple of hours to fill in, it was a jaunt around the harbour and intended to have breakfast at a cafe situated by the boatsheds at the end of the around the bays. When I got there it was closed, buggar, so then it was a ride back to the city through the Victoria Tunnel and I was disappointed that only 1 driver tooted…! What is wrong with Wellingtonians!!

Found a great cafe in the Victoria Cafe for breadkfast and then it was a visit to Velo to use a track pump and Capital Cycles, before heading back to the ferry terminal after riding down Willis Street and Lambton Quay. The wind was fair howling by now and I was starting to wonder what the crossing would be like, despite the indciator at check in showing that the seas were slight…

The ferry was the Aratere (propellors hopefully fully attached as well as the extension done in Singapore) and I had the only cycle on board, there being a different set up than on the Arahura using the wheel rack type system. I did not like that so Mr Scott was strapped sideways onto the rack using the bungy cords that I had borrowed from Al and which were just what was needed.

Despite the wind, the crossing to my relief was pretty good and the Aratere seemed to be very smooth. It was funny watching people though trying to walk on the deck as the wind made it very difficult and it was not that warm either outside in that you could not seem to find a place to get out of the wind. The advantage of going south on the ferry is that when you reach the Sounds you know the worst is over and can enjoy the rest of the trip and be comfortable taking on board food!

Although you are last on with a bike, you are also first off and it was good to be standing on the good old “mainland” and it was a 2 minute ride to the motel which I had arranged on the ferry being the same one I stayed at on the way north, which seems a long time, or a lot of pedal revolutions ago!

Tomorrow I am off to stay with my sister Anne and brother in law Kevin at their “estate” in Tasman and will be interested to see what developments there have been in the landscaping since I was there last late last year.

Total for the ks to Wellington was 58 and then there were a further 60 of a tour of the CBD, but this also included the ferry crossing!

Finally, I might have got a bit ahead of myself with yesterdat’s post saying that comments could be now posted as there was still a missing step in the settings, but this has now been done so fingers crossed should all be good!