Day 14 Wellington to Nelson, 3.5 hrs. on the ferry and 110km on Spot. Showpony makes a comeback of sorts

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Day 14 Wellington to Nelson, 3.5 hrs. on the ferry and 110km on Spot. Showpony makes a comeback of sorts

The Donkey got dropped off at the ferry terminal by Butterfly and the busy little hen early the next morning. The weather had finally turned and was beautiful. The crossing was smooth which was good as donkeys do not have sea-legs. The highlight of the trip was a huge school of dolphins accompanying the boat in the middle of Cook Strait. All the passengers were oohing and aahing. Everybody loves dolphins, the Donkey thought. Surely it does not happen often that a donkey with a bike called Spot traveled on a ferry but nobody took any notice of the Donkey. He wished he was a dolphin

The Donkey sat beside a desert rabbit from Dunedin who was also doing the tour. He was a young 49er. They exchanged stories and when they arrived in Picton they decided to team up for the first part of the ride. They were very happy to finally be in the South Island. The Donkey wanted to sing, so happy was he, but he decided not too as donkeys are not supposed to sing, so he contained himself..

The desert rabbit was a good bike rider and the Donkey could only just hold his wheel. You do any bike racing? The Donkey asked. The desert rabbit answered in the negative. The Donkey told him to get a road bike and enter the Otago time trial championships for desert rabbits over the age of 40 as he would do well. The desert rabbit seemed to like the idea. He had a very smooth, efficient pedaling stroke and was a joy to sit behind. The pace was a little bit too fast for the Donkey but he wanted to be in Nelson before dark and they only left Picton at 12.30 so there was need for some urgency. They stopped for a quick lunch in Havelock and parted ways a bit later at the Pelorus Bridge as the desert rabbit was a hard out mountain biker who was going to do the off road trail to Nelson, called the Maungatapu Track, while the Donkey choose the chicken route over the main road, a bit longer but the Donkey still preferred the risk ending up as road kill over bush kill.

The weather was beautiful all day. Tailwind and Blue Sky had finally re-appeared. The Donkey wondered with so much luck if Showpony was close by and sure enough, who came sailing over the crest of a hill, not far from Nelson? Yes, Showpony, in full glory. Of course he was not sailing as there was no water in sight (yet), he was riding Scott. It was a happy reunion. The Donkey wanted to hug Showpony but a show pony and donkey hugging would be an awkward sight so they shook hoofs and Scott and Spot gave each other a wee kiss with their front tires. Uh, you stink, Scott said to Spot.

Showpony had brought his mate, a rhinoceros, who is also a mate of the Donkey and the three of them rode together for the last few kilometers into Nelson. The rhino lives in a beautiful house with a beautiful missus, on top of a bastard of a hill, and the three of them rode up the hill, as, being males, none of them wanted to be the first one to call the rhino's missus to come down and pick them up. Showpony’s wife was there too, she is a normal, ordinary pony (but from a good stock) with a bit of a giraffe in her genes as she has beautiful soft eyes and very long legs. They all had a meal together and they drank champagne and they brought out a toast to the South Island and to friendship.

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Comments

[Maria LYFTOGT]

Yay!
Yay yay yay! You have made it to the South Island! Our obsession with your whereabouts continues. We might even be able to catch up with you en route mid-week...before these Turkeys head off to Turkey.