NZ trip part 4 (see previous posts)

January 16

Today was a wet day in Fox Glacier. We slept in and ate a hearty breakfast before venturing out to the glacier access road.

There was a lovely cycling path through the woods which led to the start of the glacier access walk. There really is something special about visiting the rainforest in the rain – I think we both particularly enjoyed the trail.

The glacier access walk was quite short (it seems that the last part is currently closed for safety reasons). Still, it was nice to get another look at the ice and rocks.

We took another short walk while cycling back. It was also a pleasant little excursion in the forest.

The rest of the day was quite, and we are now full of pizza and chocolate cake. I think that it was the best use of a very wet day, and I really can’t complain about the sights we saw, even if Mt. Cook is hiding from us.

(0 km on our way)

Pretty pond on a rainy day.

January 17

We got a good start from Fox Glacier in chilly weather and immediately started climbing. The road to Franz Josef goes up steeply, down steeply, up again, and then gets a bit gentler. The uphill was – in a way – a bit easier for me than the rather tricky downhill. We made it to Franz Josef safely, though, and decided to skip the glacier walks.

With a couple of pieces of cake in our bellies, the road to Whataroa passed by very quickly. We are back in farmland now, and much of the terrain was gentle.

After lunch in Whataroa, we continued along the river (very pretty) and reached Hari Hari. For a town of 650 people, the store was astonishingly small. We were making good time in great weather, so we pushed on to Lake Ianthe, making today the second longest of the trip.

The lake was perfect for a quick dip, dinner was delicious, and the flies seem slightly less vicious than elsewhere. It was another lovely day of cycling, with cloudy mountains to the right and pastureland to the right.

(Fox Glacier to Lake Ianthe: 103 km)

Looking back toward Franz Josef

Different scenery.

January 18

The morning at Lake Ianthe started out foggy, but the sun came out as we were leaving and we had beautiful views looking back on still water and mountains.

The first part of the ride took us through lush rainforests. The gradients were gentle, the sun was shining, the road curved pleasantly – it was perfect! There’s a surveyor’s monument along the road that gives a great view of the ocean and the mountains.

We made a stop in Ross and took a little time to walk around an learn about its history as part of the gold rush. Mining for gold included a lot of water and equipment, so both the mechanical engineer and the naval architect had lots to enjoy.

Our lunch break was at Lake Mahinapua. Sitting on the end of the dock with mountain views was yet another perfect moment on this trip.

The road to Hokitika was very flat and straight – a little boring, even. It was nice to be near the ocean and to hit a major grocery store with lots of fruit, though. We continued on straight flat roads to Kumara, and we are camping by the rugby field in a damp tent (but we ate pancakes, so everything is just fine!)

(Lake Ianthe to Kumara: 83 km)

Lake Ianthe

Looking back toward Lake Ianthe

There is definitely a prevalent wind direction here...

Reloaded bikes!

January 19

We did it! We made over Arthur’s Pass today (we cleaned Arthur’s clock).

I should start from the beginning, though. We woke up to a sunny morning in Kumara and got on our way pretty quickly (for us…). The road started out very gently and we work our way through different types of forest and into farmland, speeding merrily through the first 40 km.

We took a break for lunch a Deception Valley, where we were able to walk across a swinging bridge and sit by the river. From there we continued to Otira (hot chocolate and cake) and then made our way up the gorge.

The mountains were really closing in on us and the road quickly became very steep. The 16% grades made for some tough climbs. The viaduct, while slightly less steep (11.7%) was also quite treacherous due to the winds.

We pedaled our way up (seemingly providing great entertainment for some onlookers) and rolled down to Arthur’s Pass Village for juice and a few supplies. With the weather on our side, we pushed a little further to Klondyke Corner, a camping area without water just a few kilometers from Arthur’s Pass Village. It is windy and rainy now – fingers crossed for better weather in the morning.

(Kumara to Klondyke Corner: 79 km)

Things were pretty easy by the river in the morning...

Swinging footbridge

Getting going up the gorge (we finally mounted a camera to Dražen's bike)

Warning signs in the other direction

A kea! I was very glad that they never got interested in our bikes...

The viaduct.

The top of the pass!

Proof that we made it to the top.

A rainbow seen from Klondyke Corner

January 20

It was the warmest morning in recent memory and we enjoyed beautiful mountain views as we ate our oatmeal. The flies were eating us as we tried to eat, so we didn’t linger too long at Klondyke Corner.

The day’s cycling started out with sun, beautiful panoramic views of the mountains, and downhill interrupted by short steep uphills. The uphill sections became gradually longer and steeper. We took our lunch break after one of the more substantial climbs and chatted with a couple on a tandem. They claim that the body stops reacting to sandflies after several years…

After lunch, we continued in mountainous terrain, steep short climbs and descents. We took a short break to look around near the entrance to some caves and another break to refill our water bottles.

The headwind started to head us pretty hard around the same time we started to climb to Porter’s Pass. A cloud of fog was essentially being blown directly into our faces. It was cold and wet and frustrating, and Dražen suffered a nasty little fall due to chain problems.

With no serious injuries and with some PB&J and chocolate in our bellies, we finally made it over the pass in tight fog. Visibility was poor and I was shocked at how many cars drove along without lights.

We met another cyclist at the top of the pass, an Italian fellow headed in the opposite direction with no clue about the dearth of food and supplies ahead of him.

The descent from the pass brought us much better visibility, but it was a cold descent in light rain. Our stop for the night is Springfield, back in flat farmland. This domain camp is very well-equipped and inexpensive – the $1 showers were a major highlight of the evening.

Total # of chain slips today: 6

(Klondyke Corner to Springfield: 75 km)

The scenery in between the two passes was beautiful

An action shot!

Trying to get over Porter's Pass... This picture doesn't do the wind justice!