Picton. 

We meet numerous cyclists getting on the ferry to flee the winter already coming down south. That is where WE are heading. They introduce us to South island.

We stop by Havelock. We meet there a paraglider that shows where to fly nearby for the morning. That gives us an opportunity to fly a nice grassy hill. There is no wind, it’s a splendid area with various sheep running everywhere.

The Warmshower.org bike touring community connects us to Peter and Erika, a WWOOFing family in Nelson. We help them in their skillful organic garden for paying back their hospitality.

Climbing to the top of Barnicoat Hill gets us to the best of the Nelson paragliding spot. Many pilots are flying out today. That includes a group of French pilots touring NZ and paragliding all over the country. They drive so much in 15 days that I really wonder what their point is. Check this and that. Good bye…. This is definitely what our society is getting about. Fast and efficient, even in holidays!!! 

We prefer taking our time (and not ‘wasting it’ as we have already heard) to walk slowly up, have a shorter flight, but at least, we feel prepared for that. We feel deserving it. We feel living for real.