Hokitika - Franz Josef

03.02.2010

Another cyclist told me about a possibility to shorten the distance a bit on the way to Franz Josef... Sounds great to shorten a distance of round 130kms to Franz of course ;) In the end I have to say that I'm not completely sure if he really meant the way I took, but it brought me to Ross and it was indeed some km shorter then the distance on the road around. But it definitely was more exhausting then just to stick to the normal road!! :) Anyway it was a nice little “side adventure”

don't know how long this sign is already standing there...

...but it doesn't look like they are really trying to build or repair something here ;)

really lot's of those old wood bridges around here and I am constantly wondering when the one is coming that is simply too old and damaged to actually make a save way over it... but as I don't want to turn round and go back all the way, I just keep going and see how far I can get ;)

the view to the left...

...and the view to the right... not much of a difference
The was the last bridge before getting back on the road in Ross. Or at least their remains... Had to make the decision, wether to go around here (and waste the saved kms) or just stay on the straight line I was on for the last kms already... Didn't take too long to figure that out :) Was just a bit complicated to climb down the 5m or so on the way back - to get my bike bottle back, that had dropped down in the river - and then up again to get the backpack ;)

I wonder if my tripod is still lying there on the other side *damn* realized that of course few days later

after 136kms I was sooooo happy to finally arrive in Franz Jo in the hostel. The last kms and few hills were really hard and uncomfortable ones! ;)

Hokitika gorge

02.02.2010

Plan for the day in Hokitika, was to round Lake Kaniere, as I was told that would be a nice thing to do for an easy day. But then the campsite owner told me it'd be way better to go out to Hokitika Gorge (would be gorgeous she told me :) )... well then :)

Now that was well worth it :) Just a pity that I realized when I took this pic, that the SD card for my cam is still 30km away on the campsite *d'oh*

Punakaiki - Hokitika

01.02.2010

On the 1^st of Feb I finally moved out of Punakaiki and followed the west coast road to Hokitika

lovely road along the seaside...

...with lots of little hills to keep it interesting and keep the legs busy :)

1^st view of the mountains *jiippiiiee*, this is what I'm heading to :)

...but at the moment it only seems so near thanks to the good zoom of my cam... ;)

during a long, straight, even (there for booooooring) stretch of road, things like that are more then welcome

after I pitched my tent on a recommended campsite in Hokitika, I headed for the town itself and its beach and found that standing round. *hmmmm tattoo....* ;)

the whole town seems to meet down by the beach

remains from the driftwood festival that took place last few weeks. Missed it by few days I found out :(

cloudy Punakaiki

22.01.2010

I think that was the only day without sun in "typical" west coast weather ;)

Punakaiki Beach; even beautiful on a cloudy / rainy day

on the walk along the Pororari river

22.01.2010

Westport - Punakaiki

20.01.2010

The weather forecast said it would rain and as I quite liked the location of Carter Beach I decided to just sleep in and decide spontaneously if I move on to Punakaiki or stay for a 2^nd night here on the campsite.

It started to rain a bit in the morning, but then stopped again round 11. I took that as a sign to move on and was on the bike at 12 to go for only 50kms to the Beach Hostel that several people already recommended during my time in the Golden Bay.

Was a lovely bit of road, mostly directly next to the sea, if only the shifting between my gears was working properly....

Without the low gears working (just couldn't shift into them...) all those little hills got more and more challenging.

Just lovely to get to a beach like this directly besides the road with 70km/h :)

this is what I expected the west coast to look like

had to wait for quite some time till one of the seagulls around, was so nice to be at least close to the spot I wanted it to be in for the photo

Carter's Beach Westport

19.01.2010

Evening on Carter's Beach just outside of Westport. Campsite is 200m away from the beach, so still got the sound of rolling westcoast waves in the tent ;)

As I still felt perfectly fine after ~100km, I decided to follow the advice of a local to go for a nice evening ride on the beach. Bought a bottle of ginger beer and a packet of chips first, to have something to do at the end of the beach :)

all along the beach, past that factory, to the end of the beach...

the factory from bit closer

it did a good job today, so it got a photo as well :)

on the way back to the campsite my legs finally realized that it had already been a long day today, so going back on the pressed sand got longer and longer...

Damien rocks the step up @ Sticky Forest Wanaka

those cracks meant the definite end of riding for the next days or few weeks and a very easygoing way back to town only with a front brake ;(

sunset on Carter Beach in Westport after a nice long roadcycling day from Murchison

Should be the last picture of my werks frame then...
Hope the new one arrives here within the next 2 weeks *hopehopehope*

Hi!
First blogpost since last weeks and first one from Wanaka...
Will be able to put some more piucs on for sure next days and weeks. :)

To give a short overview over the last weeks:

Made it from Punakaiki over Hokitika to Franz Jo on my bike (longest dayride so far from Hokitika to FranzJo with 136kms), then twisted my ankle on a hike in Franz Jo and had to by bus over Haast Pass to Wanaka...
After some time of resting the foot and working I went out for very nice bike ride in the Sticky Forest nearby the township here.
Was amazing riding with a Canadian and a French guy i met there till the rear part of my frame where the brake is attached broke...... *doh*

Now I'm waiting for new frame to arrive here within - hopefully - the next few days.
At least the service from Rose was - once again - really good and uncomplicated and they send me a complete new Tusk frame (and a smaller rotor to avoid the same thing to happen again) as it's 10 years warranty on the frames...
Now I'm just really looking forward to hit the trails and tours round here because it's just AWESOME!!!!!! :)

Will stay here at least for this month together with Damien (the French rider) at a nice place almost next to the trail network of Sticky Forest *yeah* and will go on working in the Cheeky Monkey Cafe as a dishwasher...
When the ankle is back to original strength I'll try out the several climbing spot aswell, so it won't be boring here I think ;)


more to come in next days :)

greeeeeeets from the lakeside of Wanaka