10/11/2014 Hari Hari to Franz Josef Glacier

2014-11-10 click for more photo's

Untitled by malcandmarjetpatterson at Garmin Connect - Details

10/11/2014 Harhari to Franz Josef

We had a meal in the hotel bar last night and in my wisdom I choose the whitebait patties. It was after all the last week of the whitebait fishing season and I like whitebait. Mostly fish meals have been excellent even in takeaways with lovely fresh fish and huge portions. Not this time I got a very overcooked omelette with some crunchy bits in it. Those of you who know me know how much I like my food so this was a serious setback!

We were expecting wet weather so were quite relieved to see a bright sky. Neither of us was too keen to stay another night in the hotel and had expected to be sitting the day out due to the predicted bad weather and were surprised to have good weather for cycling and made the plan to aim for Whataroa or further if the weather held. Which it did fortunately and we made it to Franz Josef in the dry before the weather exploded from dry to monsoon.

Anyway the ride was very straight forward and not taxing at all. It was a bit of a shame that we didn't get good views because the mountain tops where all in cloud but hey ho we were dry and it was plenty warm enough to stop for some lunch along the way. As per usual we headed for the I site in Franz Josef to search out the best value place to stay. We were directed to the Glow Worm , a lovely friendly hostel with free hot tub, free popcorn, free evening soup and free breakfast. We delighted in listening to the absolute downpour throughout the rest of the afternoon and night. Fully intending to stay another day to let the bad weather pass and visit the local hot springs and wildlife centre where we would have the chance to finally see a kiwi (the bird varity). 

Power food

Reminded me of Chris and Sue

09/11/2014 Hokitika - Hari Hari

2014-11-09 click for more photo's

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09/11/2014 Hokitika to Hari Hari

After several long days today would be a  shorter one  as a spell of bad weather was due to roll in from the afternoon for 2-3 days. Another beautiful track to start the day along an old timber tramway added a few kms but kept us of the highway. The mostly hidden sleepers gave us plenty of bumps. Once in Ross we found ourselves with time to spare and stopped in a cafe for coffee and full breakfast. The owner seemed to take pity on us and served the one meal on two plates with enough for two. Sometimes cyclists do get preferential treatment it seems. We finally met and spoke to another cycle tourer who was doing a small loop of middle South Island. He was from Peru and we swapped stories of New Zealand and South America touring. It seemed odd to recommend where he should travel in Peru as he hadn't travelled through a lot of the areas we had been through.
The motel in Hari Hari was closed for refurbishing but fortunately there was a hotel but at £55 it was more than we would have normally spent,little choice though. There was only one shop in Hari Hari which was part of the cafe and inevitably prices were high and stock limited. Frozen bread again. 

Should be a good fire tonight

08/10/2014 Greymouth - Hokitika

2014-11-08 click for more photo's

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08/11/2014 Greymouth to Hokitika

How to fall off

It's always hard to make the journey longer when you're on a long distance route but today was a case in hand where it was worthwhile. Hokitika was 40 kms on the highway or 100kms via cycle and tramping tracks following the West Coast Wilderness Trail, which is what we chose. The trail was graded as easy and as it was a Saturday with sunshine we came upon several other cyclists for a change. So much time effort and money has been invested in developing these tracks which are so much fun and always very beautiful. The day started by hugging the coastline before heading inland and looping back to the coast at Hokitika. Lots of single track, lots of North Shore, lots of switchbacks and inevitably swing bridges. The highlight for Marjet was watching Malc tackle a steep in and steep out river crossing and then falling into the ferns on the way up in a too hard gear, 5 minutes later an almost identical river crossing presented itself, a quick change into the easiest gear, go for it, legs spinning madly, bugger, the chain comes off mid stream and Malc falls off in the middle, filling one pannier with water and getting a good soaking. One of us thought this was hilarious the other didn't.
A day we would definitely repeat given the chance except for the awful Thai Takeway in Hokitika. 

Too much coffee again

07/11/2014 Springs Juction - Greymouth

2014-11-07 click for more photo's

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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

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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

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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