Cycle touring New Zealand South Island day Wanaka to Queenstown
They the Crown Range and down into Queenstown. The highest point on the route. It was a slow steady climb then an excellent downhill full of switch backs and brake squealing hair pin turns. Along the route there was a breast cancer Memorial. A fence lined with bras. And an interesting old hotel in C...
Cycle touring New Zealand South Island day 20 Wanaka to Queenstown
They the Crown Range and down into Queenstown. The highest point on the route. It was a slow steady climb then an excellent downhill full of switch backs and brake squealing hair pin turns. Along the route there was a breast cancer Memorial. A fence lined with bras. And an interesting old hotel in C...
Cycle touring New Zealand South Island day 19 Makarora to Wanaka
Bob paying his respects to the Canadians who were swept away by a slip in 2013. He left his Canadian kerchief. Read about the tragedy here. We crossed in to the youth hostel and found that there was some sort of triathlon on and there were many people in the town. It was busy but we managed to secur...
Cycle touring New Zealand South Island day 18 Haast to Makarora
After a great sleep and a pannier full of freshly laundered clothing we hit the road. Haast seemed kind of a depressed village. Not really a home for anyone. There were helicopter excursions, fishing Outfitters and things to do but there seemed, to me, an underlying air of not fitting in. We made it...
Cycle touring New Zealand South Island day 17 Lake Paringa to Haast
The town of Haast is made up of fishing and excursion businesses. There is no grocery store and things are quite expensive.
Cycle touring New Zealand South Island day 16 Fox Glacier to Lake Paringa
The rugged coastline of West Coast of NZ. We met this tandem coming the other way. From guess where? KANATA! We arrived at our accommodations. The cabin was lovely and we were beside a couple of men from Seattle. They come fishing here for 3 months while their wives are in Arizona for the winter.
Cycle touring New Zealand South Island day 15 Franz Joseph to Fox Glacier
It was a short but up hill ride with 3 saddles to contend with. There were steep and long. I managed the first 2 but walked The last one. We arrived safely and into the youth hostel. Did you know that the YHA gives cyclists an eco-discount. Because we arrived early and it was a lovely day we decided...
Cycle touring New Zealand South Island day 14 Hari Hari to Franz Joseph
Check out this video [youtube=pQPqU7hlqG8] We left our lovely site in Hari Hari and we're hoping for a rain-less day. The Sun was out and little wind so conditions looked favorable. During the last week or two there have been some significant rain events and the main road South, number 6 had been cl...
Cycle touring New Zealand South Island day 13 Hokitika to Hari Hari
The started out very nice and we had some good views. We arrived in Ross, had a cup of hot tea and a sweet treat and headed back out. The clouds hung over us and we got very wet.
Cycle touring New Zealand South Island day 12 Milltown to Hokitaki
We had a great ride. It was nice to see the Sun shining. After 4 days of rain and overcast weather we hoped the rain would hold off for a few days.
Cycle touring New Zealand South Island day 11 Greymouth to Milltown
We took the west coast bike trail thru to Kumara and then on to Cowboy Paradise in Milltown. Coffee break in Kumara The trail was interesting and very picturesque. The accommodations were kind of a dilapidated place. One man's vision of a Western town. Very remote and run on a generator. It was kind...
Cycle touring New Zealand South Island day 10 Greymouth
It poured rain and Gale force winds so we stayed 2 full day so 3 nights in Greymouth. There were several roads closed due to slips and we decided to let the weather subside before we made our trek.
Cycle touring New Zealand South Island day 9 Reefton to Greymouth
We left our cozy cabin at the Reefton motor camp ground and crossed our fingers as we looked to the overcast and grey clouds in the sky. Reefton was an interesting town founded on gold and now scratching a living out on tourism. The local museum has a replica gold mine shaft and displays of mining r...
Cycle Touring New Zealand South Island day 8 Spring junction to Reefton
When we arrived at springs junction we thought we'd just mosey into the local motel and stay the night. No vacancy! The cashier did tell us that there was a holiday park just 5 minutes drive. The only thing was is was 5 minutes drive in the opposite direction to where we wanted to go. And 5 minutes...
Cycle Touring New Zealand South Island day 7 Murchison to Spring junction
The day started off well and we had a good day in front of us. A great sleep in a comfy hotel leads to a perfect day. We had a good deal to cover, about 78km and with a good climb mid day or spirits were high We passed some beautiful scenery including this gorge. The River gouging out the rock. We m...
New Zealand South Island - Day 6 Rotoroa to Murchison
With an early start and a tent full of flies we stuffed our bags and headed out over the Braeburn saddle. With an elevation of 650m the wind was strong and cool. Almost refreshing. Then it was a mostly down hill day. Bob packing his coat back in his panniers. Slightly cloudy. Gravel track mostly dow...
New Zealand South Island - Day 5 Tapawera to Lake Rotoroa
After a mostly comfortable night we headed for Rotoroa. Not to be confused with Rotorua! We met a local in the kitchen here who entertained is with his hitch hiking stories and trapping tales. He once got picked up by a priest. Who had too much to drink. And decided to not take a chance in the ride...
New Zealand South Island - Day 4 Wakefield to Tapawera
We seem to start and think how will we ever finish this day. Before we know it... We have arrived. [youtube=xfIeOrZu-Ek] Leaving the Wakefield hotel Spooners tunnel 1.3 km in length. It was very dark and apply in the tunnel. Built between 1891 - 93 it was quite a great feat of engineering.
New Zealand South Island - Day 3 Nelson to Wakefield
Another glorious day. Sunny, warm and humid! A short day. We kind of decided to do a short day in between 2 longer days. The backpackers was clean and quiet. And a safe place for our bikes. Beautiful kitchen. I think it used to be a restaurant. The ride today was in an old rail line. A straight line...
New Zealand South Island day 2 - Havelock to Nelson
We were up early and on our bikes by 7:08am. This is mostly to avoid the extreme heat at mid day. We also had a long day with 72 km to eat up before we got to Nelson. All packed up and ready to head out. We stopped at a cafe in Pelorus Bridge. As we climbed higher there was fog rolling in.
Picton to Havelock -Day 1 South Island
Atlantis Backpackers What an experience. Like how I would imagine Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds meets the Yellow Submarine. The rat warren like corridors of the Atlantis Backpackers are painted with murals of Atlantis and under sea adventures. This includes a Sponge Bob Square Pants scene to enterta...
To Masterson
We were anxious to get to a town that had a grocery store and possible some internet. We arrived early afternoon and the streets were plugged with people and traffic. We sat down at a cafe/bakery and had our mandatory sugar fix (apricot slice and carrot cake) and proceeded to look for a place to sta...
Palmerston North to Eketahuna
We weren't sure we're we would stay as we rolled into Eketahuna. There didn't seem to be too many places identified. We opted for the local camp site and followed the directions down a side road and into the camp site. We were surprised that there was no office. We asked a couple of campers and they...
Waipou Forest to Dargaville
We had a great ride they waipou Forest. And by great it was tough. Steady up hill climbs (3km of 5 and 6 percent) followed by enjoyable down hill they the canopy is the first. Practicing Our Math While at the camp ground we meet a young German cyclist who was also heading in our direction. When we l...
Waipoua Forest
We had a long 5km ascent into the Waipoua Forest which is a protected area administered by the local Maori iwi (council). The forest contains some of the last of the large Kauri trees in New Zealand including Tane Mehuta, the largest known living Kauri.
Apihara to Rawene
December 5th Apihara to Rawene We left the comfort of our cabin and hit the road. The Apihara Holiday park was the nicest park we stayed in (so far). Maybe because we had an all self contained cabin but generally speaking it was clean with excellent kitchen facilities and there seemed to always a yo...
Cape Reinga to Ahipara
Wow... An early start and a trail wind makes for a great day. We unexpectedly had excellent conditions for riding today and rather than settle for the campsite at 72km we pushed on to the village at 105km. Not without some hiccups though. We broke camp very early, in the dark because we had to be on...
Tapotupotu to Cape Reinga
We made it to the 'top' of New Zealand !! From our camp site in Tapotupotu to Cape Reinga was a 6km ride, up hill from sea level. An interesting place because it is where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. It holds many Legends for the Maori as Cape Regina is where the spirits of the deceased l...
Pukenui to Tapotupotu DOC campground
DEC 1ST 49.2KPH max 10.1kph 70.7km Today's word- cape Because we hope to make it to cape reinga. Spoiler alert. We made it. It was a tough day that started very early. We broke camp at the Pukenui Holiday park at 6am and after a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and fruit cocktail we were on the road by 7...
Mangonui to Pukenui
Mangonui to pukenui. Average 12.9kph Max 53kph Dist. 64.5 It's 8:16am, we've left the comfort of the hotel and hit the road, biked 1.3km and I can feel a bead of sweat slowly streaming down my forehead into the corner of my eye. My back is wet and we have 63.2km to go before the end of the day. Need...
Waitangi Holiday park to Mangonui ( Cooper's Beach)
Staying at a real motel! at Mangonui which is a resort town in the North (quiet now). Came across a tribute to the New Zealand creation Jandal (sandals). Had brunch at a seaside cafe with many seagulls in attendance. Also, got our first flat. Not even Schwalbe tires can withstand the spike that Bob...
DOC to Waitangi
The Waitangi holiday park was a welcome sight after a hot day of pedaling. It seemed as though we were cycling up hill the whole day. We were concerned about the big "bump" at the middle of the day, but the end of the day was a grueling pedal as well. See where it says 860 m climbing. Well according...
Ruakaka to DOC camp ground
The DOC (department of conservation) CAMP GROUND WAS VERY REMOTE. There were no kitchen facilities, grills or flush toilets here. There was beautiful peace and quite. The camp ground is at the end of a long road thru a cattle pasture (red and black Angus and there was a bull!). Then hiking in your g...
Mangawhai Head to Ruakaka
We stayed at a lonely holiday park near the beach Holiday park is a privately owned camp ground. They have kitchen facilities, grills, showers and flush toilets.
Sheep World to Mangawhai Head
We made it. A great day with the wind with us. The first 10km were on hwy 1... STAY away from hwy 1. Under construction. We had to get escorted they one construction site because the barriers were not allowing any room for cyclists. And there were many trucks. The site supper had us walk or bikes th...
Sheep World Warkworth
Sheep World We arrived at sheep World after a harrowing experience in the highway. The demo included a short display of how the dogs worked the sheep, a shearing example and loads of fun on how they sorted sheep. I even got to help shear a sheep! Getting the Bike Fixed Because Bob's bike was acting...
The KKK Hotel to Warkworth
We spent a comfortable night at the KKKHOTEL. KKK by the way, stands for Kau,Kapa,Kapa. Joseph, our host arrived in New Zealand, from Southern India to give his family, wife and child a better life. He has a Master's in Business and works as manager at the hotel. Also he works as cleaner and cook. J...
Kumeu to Kaukapakapa
Day one. WE wanted an easy day so we decided to have a short day. There were 2 very steep climbs. And by that I mean I had to walk my bike, or at least decided to walk my bike, while Bob pedaled on a head. The road was paved and there was light traffic. Not to many cars or buses. At one point howeve...
Kumeu pictures
Added a couple of sheep and dog pictures. The little black lamb is 7 weeks old. The dogs love tug of war with an old hat.
Getting Camping Fuel
Although just a little over 17 km one way, we decided on this scenic route rather than taking the more travelled and busy Hwy 16. The back roads were lovely calm and heard many different types of birds and sheep. We even came upon a movie set near Taupaki where they had traffic stopped in both direc...
Mokoroa Falls,
We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go to visit some local highlights of the area. It was a beautiful day and we desperately underestimated the strength of the sun as we started out at 12 noon at the peak sun of the day. we slathered up with sun screen and hit the road. It was...
A day at the beach
[youtube=kMmc5PMTYQs] We decided to spend Saturday heading to the coast to see a local Gannet colony. New Zealand is very hilly. Even more hilly when you are on a bicycle! With no packs, just us, we made quick work of the hills. Some of them were very long and quite steep.
Our First Day With Chico and Baby
Today was our first day with Chico, 4 yr old Bull Terrier, and Baby, 1 yr old Bull Terrier. Both are high energy dogs for about 10 minutes then they are ready to relax and chill. Their regime is pretty flexible and their diet is completely raw food. We are talking minced chicken, sausages, steak and...
Hitting the Road
We made a commitment to house sit in Kumeu (pronounced QUE-meu). We left the beautiful Ponsonby studio and made it way out of town. There is a beautiful bike pathway 90 percent of the way to Kumeu. The last 10 percent is, however, not very nice. It involved riding on the plaved shoulder of a very bu...
Hello New Zealand
We made it. And after 14 hours in a787 we landed safe and sound in Auckland! Warm with a slight drizzle. 18 Celsius The adventure begins. Did you know they drive on the left hand side of the road! It takes a little getting used to. I thought an autonomous car turned in to the gas station then I real...
Good bye Ottawa
Leaving is always difficult. Our home during the last 6 months was a 2 story condo in the downtown of Ottawa. Mechanicsville. The eclectic collection of urban sprawl and new world gentrification with 2 story single family dwellings slowly being pulled down and replaced by new architectural apartment...