More Easter pics

Abel Tasman and Farewell Spit

13 - 16 Apr

Met another cyclist, Melanie from Austria. I still can't cycle and am getting bored of Nelson so we borrow Zoe's van again and go for a trip to Abel Tasman NP and Farewell Spit. We sleep in a tee pee and do sea kayaking in Abel Tasman. Later on we meet Sharon from Canada who joins us for some walks at Farewell Spit.

Team Nelson in Kaikoura and Christchurch

The team enjoying dinner at Kaikoura after a hard day

Hiromi, aka Yoko is our star

The beautiful Kaikoura beach

Team meeting, the Midcity Oasis resort, Christchurch. Matt taking minutes.

Team Nelson

8-10 Apr

Setting off for Christchurch in our cool yellow van that Dave bought this morning.

Unfortunatelly it stops in a first hill after about 10 km and refuses to go further - what would you expect for $350? :-) Calling our friend Zoe to the rescue.

Zoe, can we borrow your van? Yes!!

Yes Casper, we all know you're hot...

... Honk, honk!

Current update

Crossed to the north island yesterday. Staying in Wellington for two days, leaving on Sunday morning. Catching a bus to Wanganui then cycle from there to Taupo. Did two short rides two days ago and today and feel fine. Keep your fingers crossed.

Off to Christchurch again

8 Apr

Leaving Nelson for Farewell Spit and Abel Tasman NP. Packed all my stuff, get on the bike and head off. Peddal 200 metres before getting horrible cramps, the pain is excrutiating, can't even walk! Try to stretch next to the road for a while then get back on the bike but after a minute or so it's the same.

Get back to the backpackers where my friends are just about to leave for a short road trip in a van to Christchurch. Join them and that's the beginning of Team Nelson: Hiromi, Dave, Casper, Matt and me. The mission: drop off Casper at the Christchurch airport with a short stop in Kaikoura on the way. We're gonna be back in two days but meanwhile we're gonna have loads of fun.

Nelson

Planned to stay here only two days, get my bike fixed (another spoke) and have a day of rest but got stuck here bit longer. Have been here over a week now. Reasons?

1. Cute little town with relaxed atmosphere
2. Got horrible muscle cramps and can't cycle at the moment
3. Met a crazy bunch of people

A picture is worth of a thousand words...

Current update

Back in Christchurch. Second time in less than a week and, again, completely unintentionally. But having a ball!

Rain, rain, go away...

4 Apr

Left Christchurch early in the morning and arrived in Greymouth in the afternoon. It rained all the way from Christchurch, over Arthur's Pass and in Greymouth. The outlook for next few days: rain and more rain. Welcome to West Coast!

There's a bus to Nelson leaving in 20 minutes so decide to change my plans radically and go there. Plan to bike to Farewell Spit (the northernmost end of the South Island) via Abel Tasman NP and then work my way to Picton and catch a ferry to the north. Yeah, sounds good!

Spend all day on bus to arrive in Nelson after dark. No idea where to stay but luckily there's a couple of "people hunters" from backpackers so I just randomly pick one of them (because it's only 2 minutes away? or was he the most assertive? not sure myself) not aware that this serendipity will turn into one of the craziest times in my life... (to be cont.)

Current update

Uploaded pics to all previous posts. Yeah! So long.

Crossing the Alps, or there and (not quite) back again

31 - 3 Mar

Planned to hang around Fox and Franz Joseph and have a rest day but it was cloudy and rained so decided to catch a bus to Greymouth. After a month of biking I feel stronger and fitter and I'm ready for the big challenge - the Southern Alps Circuit, crossing the Alps twice over Lewis Pass and Arthur's Pass.

First day it's an easy ride gently uphill to Reefton. From there it's all uphill for the next 70 km with two rather steep climbs over Rahu Saddle and Lewis Pass. After that it's mainly downhill but with several pretty steep hills. It was cloudy in the morning but the sun is shining on the other side of the Alps. I had an early start and manage to do 145 km to Hanmer Springs by the end of the day! By far the longest day and it's a well-deserved treat to soak in the hot springs at the end of the day.

Catch a bus to Amberley some 50 km before Christchurch next day and bike from there to Ashley Gorge. I should head back to Greymouth over Arthur's Pass the next day but there's a heavy rain and storm warning for West Coast and it usually dumps all over the Alps. There's a strong head wind in the morning and clouds coming in. I change my plans and end up back in Christchurch where it all started over a month ago. Catching a bus to Greymouth tomorrow.

West Coast

28 - 29 Mar

Two of the most enjoyable days of the trip. It's funny how the moods change within few hours - one moment I'm considering quitting and next I'm doing over 210 km in two days nearly without an effort!

Just when I'm about to set off I meet a German cyclist, Jurgen. He's a very interesting guy, has cycled around the world, hitchhiked across the Pacific on sail boats and this is his third NZ cycling trip.

Everything seems to be perfect: the climb to Haast Pass turns out to be very gentle, seems like no climb at all compared to Crown Saddle. But afterwards it's nearly 75 km downhill all the way to Haas. We're in area where it's meant to rain all the time, they've got something like 7 or 8 metres of rainfall annually here, but we're blessed with great weather. Two days of sunshine, very warm, first time since I left Christurch that I can cycle just in a T-shirt and don't feel cold. Even the nights are warm. And the views are stunning!

Next day is more hilly and the second half is basically all uphill but the climb is very gradual and gentle. We arrive at Fox Village quite early in the afternoon and have time to go and see the glacier.

Wild mood swings

27 Mar

Planned to do 135 km to Haast today but feel tired and sore. Stay in the camp and sleep all morning, then have lunch and set off. It feels tough and after about 10 km I've had enough. For a little while I'm considering quitting and re-scheduling my flight. Then I stop at a lookout and within 10 minutes three cars full of young Czechs independently on each other pull over attracted by my Czech flag. It's nice to talk to them, they're very supportive and it brings my spirit up. I manage to do 50 km to Makarora.

Have nice dinner, do some stretching and meet a few more supportive people in the camp. Then go to a pub for a beer and meet two 'insane' kiwis going lightweight on racing bikes doing daily 200 km. They offer me to sleep in their cabin which I thankfully accept. I'm much better in the morning - the crisis is over.