Brave, crazy or just plain dumb.....

Pick any one of those three to characterize my ambition to ride dirt, rocks and roots with a semi-loaded bike and skinny slicks for tires. I had some idea of what I was getting into, but a cracked rib on the first day wasn't part of the plan. Yes, a mountain bike trail should be left to mountain bikes, not touring ones. I'll note that for future rides. I actually was able to ride a surprising amount of the Queen Charlotte Track, say 85% of the 51km. The other 15% was either spent pushing, pulling or lugging my bike up the unavoidable and unridable hills or laying on the ground after I ate the good stuff. That being said, I survived and am only a little worse for wear. More damaging that what my body suffered was my childhood vision of Ol' St. Nick. I've always been told he existed, but when I ran across two of them, my faith in the guy was truly shattered. Anyhow, I'm back in Picton, again, and will take an early ferry tomorrow for the north island. It'll be nice to be on the pavement again, at least for the first few miles. Then I'll be having thoughts as to when the next break from the bike will be. Happy New Year's to all of you.

Top of the South Island

Just got up to Picton after 10 days or so on the road. I left good weather in Wanaka and hit up Mt. Cook where I camped in the most unimaginable storm of my life. Sustained winds at 90kph and rainfall over 60cm in a 24hr period. My tent finally leaked which I suppose shouldn't have been a surprise considering. After leaving that beautiful mountainous region that I couldn't see I made my way back over to Chch. where I spent a few days with some friends that I met the first go around over there. Headed up the coast and camped all along the way. Had fairly good weather all the way to where I am now. Tomorrow I head up into the Marlborough Sound, where a water taxi will drop my bike and I off for a 6 day journey back on single track. Hope the bike holds up....and if not and I end up having to push it uphill well, I'll just curse myself for thinking this was a good idea. Merry Christmas everyone. Cheers!! Pics: mural in Kaikura, top of Mt. Roy hike outside of Wanaka, one of 4 different painted bikes on the side of a second hand store Banks Peninsula, me thinking I can still climb underhangs, some beach camp spot 25km outside of Blenheim.

Six days & six hundred kilometers

I'm back in Wanaka having just completed the west coast of the South Island in its entirety. My body needs a bit of a break before I decide what and where is next.

1. My bike (funny I write it that way...like it's someone else's bike) at the top of Haast Pass on the boarder between Otago and Westland. 2. Franz Josef glacier, wonky angle I know. 3. Some steps bolted to the side of a rock, trail leading to F. J. viewpoint. 4. Somewhere along the road leading into Franz Josef.

Broken down....I need a chain whip

I can thank this picture to the wonderful people I ate dinner with the night before. They of course passed me on the road to see if there was anything they could do to help. Packing me up into their car was sadly not an option. Somewhere south of Punakaiki I heard a loud bang and was unsure of its origin until I heard the tick, tick, tick coming from my rear wheel. A broken spoke. Glad I have a couple of spare ones with which I could do nothing with in the middle of nowhere. I needed a chain whip, which of course I wasn't carrying. So I wound the spoke around one of its neighbors and set off down the road to Greymouth. It wasn't the end of the world, just a two hour delay in a town not really worth mentioning or visiting for that matter. However, the guy at the bike shop was extremely nice and willing to get on it and get me on my way.

I've ridden 180 miles since getting dropped off in Westport. I arrived a day and a half ago in Franz Josef - a place where the mountains reach the sky and the glaciers run towards the Tasman Sea. Today was my day off and I hiked 12ish miles from town to gain an overhead perspective of the massive glacier. Always an impressive view. As soon as I can upload pics again I'll try and put one up. I'm heading out of town tomorrow and not sure how far I'll get, but with the three enormous climbs I have between here and Fox Glacier I may only make it the 21km to get there. We'll see.

Down the west coast

So I think I'm figuring out that you need to load the pictures first and write later. Yeah, I'm dumb, but am ok with that. Even dumber after looking at the preview and seeing that I screwed something up.

Anyhow, I just arrived in Westport on the upper northwest coast. My plan is to make my way down south and possibly head back down towards the Wanaka area. If I recall it's about 600 kms or so down that way. Pray for good weather and sandflies to find other people to bite. Ha!

After leaving Wanaka 3 days ago I headed to Christchurch for a couple of days and caught the Ben Harper / Pearl Jam concert. Fantastic. Eddie Vedder and crew sang over 25 songs and Ben put on a pretty good show to boot. High light was during Ben's stint on stage when Eddie came out to help him cover Under Pressure. Couldn't have picked a better song to duo.

Stopped at the Clay Cliffs (middle left) on the way over to Chch. Other pics are from today's stop over at Castle Rocks, just east of Arthur's Pass, which lies in the middle of the Southern Alps on the way to the west coast. I was dreaming of spending some time here (as you can see in my zen moment from up close and afar), gorgeous limestone, climbing etc, etc. That will be my next trip or I'll just have Jason spend a small fortune and send my climbing gear from Seattle. Hope everyone is well and had a lovely T-day. Miss you all.

Keas and calving glaciers

Beautiful hike about an hour north of Wanaka in Mt. Aspiring National Park. Headed up to see Rob Roy Peak and its receding glacier. Waterfalls were everywhere and the hike itself, which wandered through the forest, felt more like the Pacific Northwest. All in all an easy hike with absolutely stunning views.

Selling my bike and settling in

Not really, but the gail force wind in my face for 60 miles has me thinking about it. Just arrived in Wanaka, 3 days and roughly 200 miles later from Dunedin. Spent the last two nights camping and with the current wind/shoulder burn I've settled down in the Wanaka Backpacka for tonight and possibly the next few days. Looking forward to exploring this bustling little mountain town by the lake.

After Christchurch we expedited Jon's time and bused it down to Dunedin. Biked out to the Otago Peninsula for yellow-eyed penguins, fur seals, NZ sea lions and the giant albatross. Rained most of the time, but what are you gonna do? Rented a car for Jon's last day and headed up to Moeraki to check out the boulders (which definitely lived up to the hype) and eat at the famous Fleurs restaurant (which of course was closed on Wednesdays). It's been busy, but has slowed down just a bit. Looking for a little R and R over the next few days before I head out to the west coast. Ahhh, sand flies, rain and of course more rain. Can't wait.