Cycling etc.
Arriving in Picton off the ferry from Wellington we cycled down the east coast to Christchurch across mainly flat, dull pasture land. We then headed inland to the base of the Southern Alp mountains and toured around the regions lakes and dams and then returned to the coast and went south finishing in (appropriately enough) Dunedin - the Edinburgh of NZ. (Although it didn't resemble it's Scottish equivalent in the slighest!)
600 miles, two broken spokes (still no punctures), a few hills, meeting and cycling with numerous fellow cyclists in a fantastically varied country - a thoroughly good time was had by all!!
To see the sights of the spectacular west coast in the time remaining, we hired a car travelling to Milford Sound, Queenstown and then north to the Glaciers, upthe coast and then back to Christchurch.
Highlights (in no particular order)
- the wineries of Marlborough. A tasting of the legendary Cloudy Bay sauvingnon blanc (Dave's world favourite wine) & then wobbling back home on our bikes after 4 other wineries and a long lunch!
- the wildlife. A brief encounter with a teenage sperm whale, loads of 'dusky' dolphins, penguins coming home for the night (so the pictures were somewhat dark!) & lazing seals looking just like overgrown slugs!
- Milford Sound. The 80 mile road journey to "the Sound" was truly awesome. Untouched rainforest as far as the eye could see, sheer mountains, waterfalls everywhere & wide meandering rivers all combined to make this a spectacular scene. The boat trip on "The Sound" itself rounded off a memorable journey.
- A weekend in Omaru. We happened to stumble into this small town on the east coast on the weekend they return the place to Victorian times and have a party for three days! Centrepeice of the event was the Penny Farthing championships of NZ. So we were able to speak to some cyclists more stupid than ourselves!
- the friends we met along the way: NEXT