07/11/2014 Springs Juction - Greymouth

2014-11-07 click for more photo's

Garmin Connect click to see height profile etc

07/11/2014 Springs Junction to Greymouth

A cold night with a frosty start. The road was quiet but went immediately into a 9km climb which soon got us sweating despite the cold. The Kennett brothers book described this section as amongst the best on the planet and with an abundance of snow capped mountains, babbling streams with waterfalls galore and a gentle long descent through 40 km's of beech forest it was hard to disagree. The NZ beech doesn't look anything like it's European namesake though. I guess cycling at this time of year in NZ means that it often is still quite cold and wet but you do still get snow on lots of mountain tops which does give that extra sparkle.

At Reefton we turned 90º to the SW and the gentle wind became a headwind which slowly picked up as we made our way to the West coast and Greymouth. I was very grateful to tuck in behind Malc and let him catch the worse of the wind. The scenic back road to Blackball was really pretty. There were some beautiful river crossings.
With tiring legs and a fair way to go there was only one thing to do to power up. Headphones on and Alabama 3 for Malc, Idiot Wind and The Tallest Man on Earth for Marjet.

06/11/2014 St Arnaud - Springs Junction

2014-11-06 click for more photo's

Garmin Connect

06/11/2014 St Arnaud to Springs Junction

Wall to wall sunshine at the start of the day was misleading as the temperatures was freezing with the wind from the South. The first 60kms to Murchison were relatively easy despite the gentle headwind and by midday we were stocking up in preparation for a wild camp if we couldn't reach our destination of Maruia. Feeling very reassured to have a warm sleeping bag thanks to Simon.
Turning South in Murchison the road turned unexpectedly into a gravel track after only 5kms. Worse still the surface had just been graded and was slow and slippery. Fortunately after another 5kms we met and passed the grading machine, after which the surface was hard mud and easier. The views and scenery had been stunning all day but the climb over Maruia saddle was fantastic cycling with several river crossings requiring confidence and a good line to get through without falling off. We only failed once (actually only I (Marjet ) messed up.) and had to wade through the water meaning the rest of the ride would be with wet shoes and socks.
We realised that we would be able to reach Maruia and the comfort of a motel and made rapid progress when we reached the sealed road again.
Having already done a difficult  120 kms to goal and feeling tired we were more than a bit disappointed to be unable to get hold of the owner of the motel and were faced with the prospect of camping or pushing onto Springs Junction. We chose the latter and just stayed ahead of the rain for the final 20kms which were in fact pretty easy. 140kms and 10 hrs but another great day.

This time I made it

05/11/2014 Nelson - St Arnaud

2014-11-05

Garmin Connect

05/11/2014 Nelson - St Arnaud

I felt a little sad as we cycled out of Nelson. We had such lovely days with Simon and Janneke. It was like having a bit of 'home time'. But at least we would be seeing them again soon. As it happens we saw Simon again very soon! Luckily Simon found Malcolm's sleeping bag lurking under the bed some three hours after we left. Despite a very iffy phone reception Simon managed to relay a message to us and he promptly set off in hot pursuit after us. What a hero, Malc would have been very cold without it.

The ride to Wakefield was all at sea level and the the climb over Reays Saddle (429m) and Kerr Hill (632m) pretty straightforward. What we hadn't anticipated was a continuing undulating road into a cold head wind with a total ascent over 1400 m. After the days of indulgence in Nelson today’s ride was a bit of a shock to the system. We did manage to take a stroll to have a look at lake Rotoiti (Nelsons Lakes). Very beautiful in the early evening sun and surrounded by high mountains. Other guests in the Lodge had been out walking in this Alpine countryside.

We managed to buy some very basic supplies (eggs and a frozen loaf of bread)in the local shop and retired early for some much needed sleep.

03/11/2014 and 04/11/2014 More fun time in Nelson

2014-11-04 click for more photo's

03/11/2014 and 04/11/2014 More fun time in Nelson
Our guest editor might write another blog. In the meantime I've  just posted some  pictures.

2014-11-03 click for more photo's

2014-11-02 click for more photo's

Cable Bay Nelson with Janneke and Simon

Malc and Janneke on the beach in Nelson

Janneke kite surfing Nelson

Late again to the party!

This is the retrospective post for the other days in Nelson.

Took Mum and Dad on the Cable Bay walk with some beautiful sea views, forest tracks and hill tops which Mum has already posted photos of. Unfortunately Simon was then off to work, but we didn’t miss him! ;-)

 Dad did get out kitesurfing in the channel but, (in what I believe may be a ‘first’ in his lifetime) declared that it wasn’t safe enough for Mum and I as the current is so strong that if you fall off you’re toast.

 However, better weather with sun and good winds the next day, so Mum and I had some successful Kite surfing at the proper beach which was good fun and very satisfying (although I was pretty strongly hoping that I wouldn’t see anyone I know when Mum and I had to do the wetsuit swap at the shore line, freezing in our undies!)

 Had a nice fancy meal out on the last night then Mum and Dad off in the morning and me trudging out to work! 

Janneke x 

01/11/2014 Nelson

2014-11-01

01/11/2014 - 03/11/2014 Nelson

Hello!

It’s the new guest editor of the blog Mum and Dad have had the kind inclination (or error in judgement) to let me write this segment!

Unfortunately the red carpet wasn’t really out on their arrival as I was still fast

asleep in bed at 3pm having just finished night shifts. Despite my better judgement, I welcomed them in to the fab pad!

I later learned the error of this when I took a good whiff and had to ‘mouth breathe’ for a good 15 minutes while Mum tried to chat to me. The clothes climbed themselves in to the washing machine with zero assistance.

I assume any soap they may have brought is still in it’s packet.

A luxurious start to the next day was then followed by an epic 6.5 hr walk up mount Arthur which was covered in snow at the summit. We all felt totally hard-core as we passed THREE other groups who all gave us the advice to bail out before the top as ‘you just don’t know how deep the snow is’ and the weather was looking pretty dodgy – lots of cloud, strong winds etc. but to our good

fortune the skies cleared and (following simon!) we managed get to the top! It was so steep at the top that walking down wasn’t really an option. We later learned that the technical name for our descent is ‘Glissading’ but it looks an awful lot like slipping down on your arse! (See photos)

Next day had some cheerleading of Simon in his tennis, too many poached eggs and an early Christmas present for me in a Kitesurfing board! BBQ out on the deck and lots of red wine to finish the day.

Speak soon!

Janneke x

31/10/2014 Pelorus Bridge - Nelson

Garmin Connect

31/10/2014 Pelorus Bridge – Nelson. Yippeeee !

We were both excited. Only 54 km between us and Janneke. We set off at about 10 and wound our way up a couple of hills. Nothing too strenuous. The biggest problem was the head wind which slowed us right down. Unfortunately we had to cycle on quite a busy road but there was mostly a hard shoulder. The alternative route off road just looked to difficult to contemplate with our bikes. Very bouldery and steep. It would be great with proper mountain bikes though. As we cycled along the coast road we could see Nelson in the distance for ages and then it worked out that Janneke lives in the far side of town. The last few km's seem to take forever because we were so keen to get there. We were rewarded with a warm welcome and wonderful views from her house over the sea.

30/10/2014 Wellington - Picton ferry- Pelorus Bridge

Garmin Connect

30/10/2014 Wellington – Picton Ferry- Pelorus Bridge

2014-10-30 click for more photo's

The sun had come out again today and the ferry crossing to Picton was beautiful. We sat in the warm sunshine on deck soaking up the views for three hours and chatting with another female cyclist who was going from the Cape to the Bluff but following a somewhat different route to ours. It would seem that we have to be prepared for some wet days on the West Coast but for now all is great. The views cycling along Queen Charlotte's Drive were stunning. You wanted to stop on every bend to take another picture only to realise that you can't really capture it all in a photo.

I had a very lucky escape today. I didn't assemble our stove correctly and when it wouldn't light I leant right over it to see what was going on when a huge flame shot out and burned my fringe off. Luckily I was wearing glasses ( two pairs in fact, sunglasses on top of reading glasses) so my eyes where safe. I just look even more of a mess. We camped up at Pelorus Bridge. Right by the river. Apparently this is where

one of the scenes in the Hobbit was filmed (In the 2^nd Hobbit film where they travel down the river in barrels ) Another good day.