Start of gravel hell (uphill too)

It was a drizzly morning and didn't look like a great start for the backcountry crossing. The plan had been to go through Rainbow Station to get to Picton for the final ferry segment. A back up plan was to go on the Molesworth Road, but that journey usually requires two nights camping out.

Advice at the information site in town was that two segments of the Rainbow Road were closed, so James' idea of starting on Molesworth and cutting across on the Tarndale link didn't seem so great any longer.

Since the stations we go through are working farms (but with Department of Conservation rangers patrolling) one is only meant to camp at designated locations. I believe that meant the first day could be either 29km or 89km. Not wanting to fall to hubris, we opted for the conservative approach which meant we could even have lunch in town.

Monteiths pasta lunch

Looking over the edge

I stopped several times going up Jack's pass. The gradient and gravel were demanding and I lost mobile phone coverage, ending my streaming of ABC Newsradio.

It was a bit chilly on the other side of the pass, but it would get a lot worse overnight. My sleeping bag was cold to the touch and I filled up my bowl with water just to see.

Frosty panniers

Also, check out the hut. The donation box is on the other side of the fence so financial help for its preservation/restoration is more difficult!

Dinner was pasta, salmon with bits of bone and pesto. The pasta did take a little longer to took. We also used a fair bit of fuel to treat the water. I had my wristwatch set to a three minute countdown, which is what I normally use for Aeropress coffee. It turned out to be the recommended boiling time  to treat the water, which was convenient.

Soggy Ride

2/2

I started the day with cottage pie, which was disgusting, and Aeropressed a coffee. It was wet outside and I bought a pair of dishwashing gloves from Countdown - being one of their first customers for the day.

I got going but also needed to take a dump. There weren't any public toilets in an obvious and convenient location in Rangiora so I pushed on. There was a good tailwind as forecast and it wasn't until Amberley that I took a break (and that shit).

The next part of the road was sketchy as it was a shared route with the main north-south highway, with plenty of articulated trucks kicking up road mist as they passed. Once off the shared route, traffic was bursty and could be avoided by letting it all pass while I pulled off to the side. Burstiness came from the roadworks that controlled the flow of traffic. This seems to be the regular way to fix up a road in NZ... close it down and only allow one direction at a time.

I don't remember much of the remainder of the ride as it was wet and cold. James mentioned he stopped in Waikara due to being blown off his bike and falling on his shoulder! Well today the winds were much better behaved. James joined at Waikara, but soon dropped me as I was riding double the distance.

We had a quick bite in Culverden.

While getting to Hanmer Springs, I was considering getting on a coach on the next day back to Christchurch and making my way home. At some stage during this trip I cycling with the load that I had tipped the experience into unenjoyable. I think some of it can be broken down into:

• extra mass, especially felt going up hills
• awful oscillation when out of the saddle
• long distances
• not enough energy at the end of each day to enjoy the destination

I also realised I had left my USB type-C cable back in Rangiora so I was unable to recharge my computer until reaching civilisation again.

It was also only after reaching Hanmer Springs that James sees the website notice that Rainbow Road is closed!

 

Culture and all that stuff day

1/2

James decides to set off towards Hanmer Springs. He called it at Waikara - about half way. The following day's winds are far more favourable for that direction.

I have a bit more yoghurt with all the probiotics and wait for a lift into town. The ride takes about half an hour and I catch up with a friend from Australia, who also happens to be travelling at the same time (the one that didn't quite sync up for Fox Glacier). We go with their friend (who is doing all the driving) to a cafe that serves curly fries by pneumatic tube. As they had a lunch and onwards engagement, I got to spend the rest of the day in Christchurch as planned.

Christchurch seemed particularly dusty and windy today. I sussed out the Canterbury museum and art gallery.

Real mature

Just you wait for the fidget spinners to land on the top of that midden

The bus station seems pretty modern with screen doors. Cooling wasn't working though.

I took the bus home and that ended up being a trip time of 77 minutes. It was delayed just getting out of Christchurch. The heatwave meant that the driver tried driving with the doors open, something that the girl in front of me made a short video to send to her brother.

It was full of high school students but I got back to Rangiora with enough time to spare.

I wanted to send home a few things.

Over trousers

Mitts

Countdown bag

Random other stuff.

I also bought some supplies for the next few days.

Reused church?

Dinner

Fleeing the storm

31/1

On this day, I got up a bit earlier and made myself an Aeropress coffee. I had resupplied with some 'Havana' beans from New World. We didn't quite make it on the road as early as I had hoped, but it was still a good start. Pulling into Bealey Hotel, we had breakfast there.

Bealey Hotel pancake, bacon, banana... something else breakfast

The sky is angry behind us

But not angry where we are going

We had a brief stop at Castle Hill, where part of Lord of the Rings was allegedly filmed. To me it was a bunch of rocks.

Rocks

People admiring rocks

I also catch up on some messages and the remaining 2/5 of my ciabatta.

We make good time to Porters Pass. Here is the descent. Brakes were applied to remain stationary at the top of the pass.

We roll into Springfield and have a chat with David. I won't mention his nationality, but there does seem to be a trend with almost every young traveller we meet! David has a pretty well beaten bike with the front rack broken and a few spokes missing in the back wheel. He was hoping to make it up Arthur's Pass, even hitchhiking, but with the storm coming in, I suggested ice cream at Darfield instead. He's done just about every significant road in NZ. He also mentioned some ridiculous scheme where the place that he bought his bike will refund him half the purchase price upon return of the bike in any condition.

People off their bicycles at the Springfield Donut

At this point James wanted to book accommodation at Oxford and for once I was the one saying to hold off. We bash our way with a kind of cross-tail wind until we get to Oxford and refuel at the supermarket. It was only 4PM at that time and I wanted to push onto Rangiora, for my own selfish reasons. But maybe I can be a Randian hero today.

So James then books some motel on his phone and we push 30km/h to Rangiora. The motel is quite reasonable but the room is hot. We go to Monteith's for dinner under advice from the motel operator.

$20 mains night

I decide to stay in Rangiora for another night and book the same motel for about $25 cheaper, because that's what I do.

Feijoa yoghurt

Cheat Day

30/1

Impeccably timed, this day bought us time in getting us from Fox Glacier to Arthur's Pass without encountering any of the storm/Cyclone Fehi.

Impressive:

About 90 people are stuck in cars between slips near Fox Glacier, and are set to stay there overnight, according the Westland District Council.

Approximately 800 people are stuck in Haast as the town is cut off due to the weather.

Police say they are safe and well and that Civil Defence is the lead.

SH6 between Franz Josef and Fox Glacier is also closed due to slips and downed power lines.

There are reports of people trapped in the middle of the slips and work is underway to clear the road at both ends.

James did mention that I'm some sort of cycletouring weather good luck charm for him.


The bus driver taking us to Greymouth on Intercity/GreatSights didn't want the bike surcharge payment as long as he didn't have to touch the bicycles. However, he was adamant that the wheels had to come off. It was a bit sketchy loading the bicycles onto the coach luggage area on the traffic side.

SH6 switchbacks between glaciers

The highway between glaciers is only 24km but very lumpy and many fellow bicycle riders complained that the segment cost them half a day.

Franz Joseph glacier was a bit of a mess for the journey; the coach driver visited pretty much every single accommodation in town instead of going to a central point. I don't think it was the best path either.

The coach service was very generous with the number and duration of breaks. There was an extended break at Hokatika which was declared as lunch. The bus driver did a lap of the town. I took the opportunity to buy supplies for dinner, as Arthur's Pass doesn't have much in terms of groceries nor restaurants. I also managed to eat 3/5 of a Hawaiian ciabatta.

I didn't feel all that well on the coach ride, possibly due to the ventilation.

Greymouth coach terminal was a complete clusterf-. There's not much space between coach parks and the coaches need to reverse into the spot. The driver did warn everyone not to get up until the coach engine was switched off and sounded his horn several times during the manoeuvre.

Our connecting shuttle was waiting for us a few metres away, but the luggage was inaccessible. I explained the situation to the shuttle driver and he was understanding. We were only five minutes late in getting underway and had a bike rack on the back of the vehicle. Still, the bikes were a bit squashed from other people's luggage under the coach and my mudguards were a bit off.

The bikes were held in place with elastic cord, which I felt was a bit suss... but they held in the end. I still wasn't feeling great and missed seeing the Otira viaduct.

Accommodation at Arthur's Pass was pretty good. We shared a cottage with an NZ-Canadian family. I let James deal with the social stuff as I had even less social energy than usual.

We did some walks in the evening and bumped into them.

Ice Climbing

Doing ice, at great expense, with arms flailing and a lot of kicking. Getting high and coming back down again. Being cold and hot at the same time!

Not much to say about food on this day - didn't eat out at all.
It was an exhausting day and my knees were sore afterwards. I hope I didn't damage my foot either from all the kicking - it was a bit tingly. There was a bit of sunburn on the back of my neck as I transitioned from wearing a jacket to taking it off after overheating, but not applying sunscreen on  the extra exposed skin immediately.

Haast To Fox Glacier (and mobile reception)

28/1

Since my last sighting of Lake Wanaka, I had been outside of mobile phone coverage. I also didn't find the value in paying for a small amount of internet access. How awful!

Leaving Haast we competed with Belgian cycle tourists for patches of warm ground to dry our tents (not really - there was heaps). One of them had a Rohloff hub.

When retrieving my drink bottles, I noticed that the leftover frozen veg I had marked as free and placed in the freezer was already gone! High value food item.

Better views of the sea than at the highway monument

More generic fantastic scenery

The lunch stop was at Paringa's Salmon Shop - a few kilometres east of Paringa as marked on Google Maps.

Extra value buying the 1.25l bottle at a $1 premium over the 600ml

Later on there was also a little shack on the roadside.

Low dangly clouds near Fox Glacier

Pulling into Fox Glacier I get a call from a friend who hoped to meet up around here, but hadn't yet acknowledged geographical reality and travel times. It had been a long day on the saddle so I didn't have the motivation to explain right then and there.

Dinner was steak at the restaurant under the accommodation. It was mediocre. The rooms lacked ventilation and windows were kept open, with sandflies etc coming in.