My Nelson adventure ride started with a moderately bumpy ride on a front loading ship / washing machine . After dealing with a Wellington rush hour commute , I was first in line to board and spent the first part of the trip filing a GST return , then the bumps came and I shifted to a calmer part of the ship and ended up chatting with a road racer from the past called Paul , so we chatted about the Marlborough Series , TZ Yamahas , and various mutual friends and acquaintances from last century , bike shops in Wellington ( he had part owned one ), electricity and the limitations of batteries , coastal currents , and when the bumps and wallows stopped we went back to our own travel mates with stomach contents intact . The first repair of the trip was at NPD Picton . As I was on pole embarking the ferry a bloke pulled up beside me with a brake issue , so I offered to sort them for him in Picton . I bent the brake pedal back into line and my act of random kindness was done for the day .