Day 16 : Mussels, Salami & Takaka Hill

From Motueka we set out on a wet morning to head over Takaka Hill to Golden Bay. We passed through a bunch of hop fields which was pretty exciting (for beer nerds anyway). The hill arrived pretty soon...it's 800m up over 10km which isn't too bad. Kym made short work of it although I had to walk a couple of km's due to my war wound (knees). Coming down was awesome although we were pretty wet by this time but our spirits were raised when we found a Organic Salami Vending Machine by the side of the road. Golden Bay is well known for it's quality produce and munching on hot chilli salami made the next 10kms very enjoyable. Kym wasn't too impressed as they seemed to be out of Tofu ;-)


After a brief stop in the hippie town of Takaka, we decided to press on to Onekaka, mainly because it has a pub-brewery called the Mussell Inn. It's amazing how your knees are capable of another 15km with the right motivation.

Anyways, we arrived at our accomodation called Shambala 3km down a dirt road and over a small low bridge (will become relevant later). It's a great joint, very eco-friendly and beautifully set over a beach. It has solar lights, showers, composting toilets etc. The owner John is very chilled and runs meditation / yoga sessions etc. Anyway, no time for meditation we had important business at the pub which was a 3km walk back up the track and over the low bridge (again the relevance will become clear). We briefly discussed whether we should take a torch and decided not (these random facts will come together soon I promise). I'll talk more about the Mussell Inn in my upcoming beer blog (still collating info !), but suffice to say they have a bunch of nice beers all brewed on the premises and a great atmosphere. Kym tried the Manuka beer which is flavoured with the tips of the Manuka tree, and I had a Monkey Puzzle which was 10%. Anyway, both of us got through a large quantity of fine ale, and we were basically oblivious to the rain lashing the windows. So, time to leave. It's now chucking it down and due to the cloud cover it's pitch black we can't see a thing. Hmmm...Kym comes up with the awesome idea of using his iPhone as a torch. I think this is at least the second time Kym's iPhone has saved our bacon.

So, two drunk dudes staggering down a dirt track in the pouring rain, using an iPhone as a torch. We arrive at the low bridge (remember that) ? It's not really a bridge anymore, More like a ford really. Anyway, with a skinful of beer we both bravely waded in and actually crossed without any incidents except we were both soaked. On getting back, Kym had some choice words to offer regarding John and his failure to warn us about the "bridge / ford". I have this on video if anyone's interested.

Interestingly, the "bridge / ford" features heavily in the next post. see that suspense building there ?

For now it's off to bed oblivious to tomorrow's events...zzzzz

Stats :

* Distance : 74.2km
* Time : 5hrs 40mins
* Height gain : 800m