Wanaka - Haast - Fox - Hokitika - Westport - St. Arnaud - Picton
When we arrived at Fox we were much looking forward to the famous views over the alps, but were disappointed as they were hidden in clouds. We had a rest day, went to see the glacier which was quite impressive and the next morning when we woke up it was pouring down. We decided to wait a bit to see if the rain stopped but it just got worse during the day. During the afternoon in addition the wind grew really strong, so that at the end of the day we were afraid whether our tents would 'survive'. We even checked on the prices for a room, but in the end decided to try to spend the night in the tent. It was loud because of the storm outside, but finally we fell asleep, just to be woken up in the middle of the night by water dripping in directly above our heads. So Peter had to get out and luckily managed to fix it. This was the worst weather we have had on the whole trip so far. But luckily the next day it stopped and so we could continue and from now on we had the most beautiful sunny days you can imagine, with blue skies and just the perfect temperature for cycling. So I guess we can only confirm what everybody says, there are not more rainy days here than anywhere else in NZ, but when it rains, it really rains hard.
In Hokitika yet another rest day was necessary. On our trip we had couch-surfed once in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with Brock. Now we couch-surfed a second time at Kevin's place, a real mountaineer and outdoor enthusiast. We enjoyed Kevin's hospitality a lot as he tried to show us some gems around Hokitika. Thanks Kevin! North of Hokitika the road was really nice going right along the coast and when we got to the pancake rocks we had another rest day and went hiking in the Paparoa National Park. From Westport we intended to take a rental car and drive all the way up to Picton and take the ferry to the North Island, because we felt that we were running out of time and there were still so many things we wanted to see. In the end however we decided to cycle and to keep some of the things for our next visit to New Zealand.
So we spent two days cycling uphill till we arrived in St.Arnaud, a small village at another beautiful lake. We spent a day there climbing Mt. Roberts, from which we had a beautiful view over the mountain ranges. The next morning we had quite sore muscles! Apparently we're not used to walking anymore. Finally we also had to say goodbye to Roger with whom we had been cycling almost all the way since Christchurch. Quite sad and with aching legs and bums we started into the day, expecting it to be easy, because it would be downhill all the way. Well, it would have been easy, if it wasn't for the wind again, which somehow seems to be always going into the wrong direction. This is really frustrating, having to pedal hard when it is actually going downhill.
One more day on a nice road going along the coast on the Queen Charlotte Drive to Picton and we took the ferry to Wellington, where we arrived yesterday. We spent the day in the fantastic national museum and its café. In particular the interesting information about earthquakes interested us because of the recent earthquakes in Christchurch and Japan. An earthquake simulation shook us and we could feel how bad it must have been for the people there.
We then followed the advice that we had got from almost all cyclists that were here and took the bus out of town. So today we arrived in Wanganui from where we will cycle now to the Tongariro National Park and, if we are lucky with the weather, we will spend a few days hiking around the volcanoes.
Anyways, only 3 weeks left before our flight back home!! Strange feeling, on the one hand we are looking forward to many things back home (like seeing our families and friends, sleeping in our own beds, wearing a pair of jeans etc.) and on the other hand we are quite sad that our adventure will be over so soon, quite sad to quit that life that has made us so happy during the last year...
