After a bumpy ferry across the islands, with Tom and I both feeling slightly worse for wear after 3 hours sleep, we arrived in the South Island. Seriously high winds meant we wanted to find a campsite with some decent shelter, which luckily we managed. In the morning we set off down the stunning Queen Charlotte Drive. I stopped 6 times in 2.91 miles and spent most of the ride riding in a wobbly line staring at the staggering scenery.
We were a bit worried about whether we'd get to the next town (Nelson) or not, so we packed up enough food. We soon got to Pelorus bridge, the site of the scene in The Hobbit when they all float down in barrels. This was a crystal clear river lined by high rocks that people were jumping in off. There was no way we could pass this spot without having a swim, and there was a campsite there. For once (almost) we took the lazy option and opted to spend the night there. We spent the afternoon swimming down the river and jumping off rocks. Well if I'm honest, I'm the only one that actually jumped off any decent rocks. Mum was absolutely pathetic. In the evening we had a lovely surprise when Jan and Jonas, cycle tourists we'd spent a few nights with before, arrived at the campsite bearing fresh local mussels! We had another great evening with them.
The next day we set off towards the Abel Tasman national park. This was a diversion from the route and it meant we couldn't go particularly far up. We camped on a beach with a gorgeous view of the park,
and then heading south again in the morning. On our way we saw these really cool land sailing boats. We had stopped for lunch when we saw Riley, an American from a group of cycle tourists who we'd overlapped with lots, and steadfastly ignored eachother. He was alone this time, having decided to take a day off while his friends cycled on. It turns out we should have spent the past week being friends as we got on really well. So well in fact that we decided lunch stop would be it for the day. We went to a campsite that contained more cycle tourists than I've ever seen in my life.
We then headed to Murchison in the rainiest day yet. It turns out it was so rainy that the next day the road was flooded and we had to switch routes. If anybody's worried about cars not seeing me...
We diverted to Reefton in yet more rain and stayed in a Backpackers that looked unchanged since 1800. The owner had moved to the area from Australia specifically for the fly fishing. For once I was okay with being gender stereotyped into not being into fishing, as Tom had an hour and a half lesson on how to catch the perfect trout. I did get to see the pictures though so that was nice for me... After Reefton the coast beckoned and we headed for Greymouth. Waiting for us at that campsite was our university friend Steph who has been in NZ for 3 months with a van. We also saw Riley and his pals and had a fun evening filled with beer and burgers. We all had coffee in the seaside town of Hokitika, before going our separate ways.
We had hoped to get quite far that day, but the rain had other ideas and we didn't get to the Franz Joseph glacier until the next day. It was a 90 minute walk to the actual glacier which was more tiring than a day of cycling.
At this point the Americans had caught us up and we linked up. We had some gorgeous riding along the west coast, with mountains on one side and sea on the other. The hills were tough and the wind was strong, but New Zealand does reward you.
We soon arrived at the small town of Hasst, where we'd be leaving the coast to cross the mountain range we'd been looking at for the past few days.
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