Terry and Jayne Cycle NZ

sydney

2009-03-12T23:38:00.002Z

From sydney and koala hospital

[near the opera house]

From sydney and koala hospital

[Looking back on the city from "Mrs Macquaries chair"]

From sydney and koala hospital

[one from Port Macquarie koala hospital]

Tandem in byron

2009-03-07T10:18:00.002Z

Well after surfing(if you can call our attempts surfing and photos up when i remember to bring the CD ) yesterday. We hired a tandem to go out cycling today. We went out for 4 hours and we were still speaking at the end of it surprisingly !

From byron

Moreton island Australia

2009-03-02T07:09:00.004Z

not many words for these updates , more for family and anyone who feels like looking at holiday snaps, not been cycling so not much to write about !

From Moreton island Australia

Brisbane and Australia/steve irwin zoo

2009-02-26T02:38:00.003Z

From Brisbane

Click the link for Brisbane photos

From Austrailia zoo

Click the link for Australia zoo photos

Off to Austrailia

2009-02-22T00:06:00.002Z

we leave for Austrailia at 6pm tomorrow night. Leaving Fionas today for Auckland and staying in the YHA city tonight before shuttling out to the airport. Fly into Brisbane the same night. We have booked a hostel in town for that night and from there will make our way down the coast to sydney during the 3 weeks we have there !

Billy Connolly - Rotorua energy events center

2009-02-21T23:58:00.002Z

From t

What a show. He was sooo funny. Seats werent bad either despite us being near the back but we were up on the grandstand . much better seats than about 90% of the floor seats!

Auckland and North of Auckland ......in a car ....

2009-02-13T23:43:00.002Z

From terry and jayne drive round new zealand

[jump jump jump]

From terry and jayne drive round new zealand

[27 metre tall......and people were playing in the water at the top jumping in off a rope]

From terry and jayne drive round new zealand

[Jayne pinching the sky tower]

From terry and jayne drive round new zealand

[300 odd foot freefall on a wire...looked fun but again not spending 160 dollars on it ! ]

From terry and jayne drive round new zealand

[Us at the top of the sky tower]

From terry and jayne drive round new zealand

[riding an 8 foot unicycle and stilts while jugling firesticks......in the main street]

From terry and jayne drive round new zealand

[Slowest hire car in the world]

From terry and jayne drive round new zealand

[its high when you realise your looking down on the skyscrapers below]

From terry and jayne drive round new zealand

[just south of 90 mile beach]

In Cambridge now !

2009-02-02T20:57:00.003Z

In Taupo now !

2009-01-28T06:36:00.002Z

After a train to Palmerston North , a trip to the hospital to check all was well (and it apparently was) then a bus to Taurangi We resumed cycling from there. We cycled the 50k to Taupo yesterday and it didnt feel too bad.

But first we headed to the Thermal Hot pools at Tokaanu

From New Zealand Cycle tour

As we headed along the road we got treated to views of the three volcanos in Tongariro national park at the end of lake taupo

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Kid jumping into thermal rock pools]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Here a thermal stream meets the Waikato river giving toasty warm pools of over 40 degrees! The perfect way to relax after some riding.

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Jayne riding her bike off road]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[and again]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[And Jayne riding her bike off THE road!]

After spontaniously deciding to do some mountain biking to Huka Falls, it all went a bit pear shaped when jaynes shoulder bag swung off while riding and dragged her with it. The result was Jayne and her bike lying in a heap halfway down the verge....Mum and Dad don't worry, I'm fine. Just a few scrapes and a lot of jokes from Terry!

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Us after reaching Huka Falls.... all limbs still intact. We saw the falls in the sun this time (we were here just under a year ago in a hire car in the rain.....it wasn't as nice)]

Nelson to Wellington

2009-01-23T05:47:00.003Z

Sorry for lack of updates , been a bit under the weather . Feeling better now though after some rest in wellington

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[friendly ducks in picton ....its not a trick that duck only has one leg and it hops everywhere!!]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Ferry to wellington through the sounds

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[coming into wellington]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[dolphin skeleton at Te papa museum]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[pigmy whale skeleton ...about 25 metres long]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[closest we have seen to an actual kiwi]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[a stuffed tuatara ...they live to over 200 years old]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[the britten homebuilt in NZ daytona winning motor bike]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[wellington cable car]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[playing with the settings on the camera....a flower in the botanical gardens]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[going down the cable car]

Off to get a train to palmerston north tomorrow , missing out about 160k section of mad road. Its very very windy and very very busy ....and not to mention motorway so we are not allowed to ride it anyway. heading up over dessert road to taupo after we get on the road again.

Abel Tasman Kayaking

2009-01-16T21:01:00.002Z

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[fishermans island]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[lots of posh boats about]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Rocky shoreline]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[warm water]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[snorkling]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[sunset anchorage]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[early morning paddle]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[rocky beach]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[fish right at shore line]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[they had a fleet of these old tractors for transporting the boats. They transport you up the slip way and right to the kayaking center in the boat and your about 50meters in land before you actually get off the boat ! ]

Westport to murchiston

2009-01-11T21:47:00.002Z

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Lower Buller gorge]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Huge Dragonfly]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Upper Buller Gorge]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Nzs longests "swingbridge" (read suspension bridge)]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Again the whole bridge though]

off kayaking in Abel Tesman on wednesday and thursday which should be fun.

New Map......

2009-01-10T03:11:00.002Z

Now in Westport

Fox Glacier to Westport

2009-01-10T01:04:00.004Z

a short hop over to Franz Josef Glacier of about 25k then another 60 to Hokitika with a a steep climb in the pouring rain , here it rained for about 36 hours non stop really , we took shelter in a motel which we then turned into a sauna with our wet kit and the heater. From there we went on to Punakaki via Greymouth where we got sunburnt and viewed the pancake rocks and blowholes , this was an 90k day and from there a shortish but hard with headwind/hills day to Westport. We have taken a day off here to recover and arrange Kayaking for Motuaka.

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[the top of the haast pass]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Some long distances there ]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[The gates of haast]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[falls at the gates of haast looks tiny in the shot but if i tell you that from where the shot is taken to the water is about 3 times my height]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[blue skys]

<

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[rainbows at Fox]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Fox Glacier Terminal face]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Fox Again]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Chris , one of the Austrailian couple we played leapfrog with between fox and Hokitika]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[jayne]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Franz Josef glacier terminal face]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[again with people to show just how big it really is when you are there ]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[us with the glacier in the background]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[a lunch stop in Ross]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Riding along past these Sandy Bluffs(cliffs) you could hear them crumbling away sounding like they were going to collapse at any time ! ]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[It looks nice when the rain stops. Much of our ride from Hokitika to Westport was made up of Waterfront roads , unfortunantly with these come the wind ! ]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Looking for Austrailia]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Drink stop at Barrytown.....Baz vegas as far as we could tell was their name for the pool table and the ping pong table with a discoball over it ......]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Bluffs at Punakaiki

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[sun set at pancake rocks]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Pancake rocks blowhole, the sea smashed into the cliffs some 40-50foot below and came up a crack in the rocks and blew out the top like steam!!]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Interesting staircase on the cliffs]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[The view back to the cliffs]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[the sleepy town of westport...still one of the more populated places we have seen.....this year.]

We hit 2500kms on the odometer yesterday also.

Also while reading the local paper we learned than the bannockburn hotel which the Bannockburn classic race we did on december 30th has had its roof blown off in a freak tornado.....glad we aint in the tent in that area still !!!

http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/bannockburn/38754/mini-tornados-lift-iron-roof-bannockburn-hotel

Long day ...Fox Glacier

2009-01-04T07:20:00.004Z

We did a very long day today (for us) from Haast to Fox Glacier in a 125 k single swoop. The wind was kind and did not blow in our faces all day long as it has been. We had planned to stop at Jacobs River but we arrived there at 2pm and decided to do that last 45k to Fox.

Tomorrow we are going to do the final 25k to Franz Josef and look at the Glacier. This will help us regain the lost day from the Hawea flats - Makarora day

We met 4 other cycle touring couples in the holiday park here , 1 set on the road and a french couple in the campsite at haast .....safe to say its a popular destination for tourers !

New year ........Couch surfing, Makarora , Haast

2009-01-03T07:06:00.005Z

Most people reading this wont know what couchsurfing is so i suggest checking out http://www.couchsurfing.com/

We found our selves in the wanaka area with no where to stay. No where had spaces left , most places either laughed at us or told us that they had been booked since april ....thats tent , hostel , motel , cabin ....everything

Andrew the irish man from earlier in the journey told us about the above site so we tried it and found our selves staying with Jamie and Liz.A kiwi and a Londoner staying in Hawea flat who took us to a friends indian(curry not native) themed party who was a scot from Helensburgh and we met another guy whod been based in arbroath at 45 commando.

[Our hosts]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[where we stayed ]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[has everything you need for couchsurfing and more]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[The view from the door ]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[it rained again...Makarora]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[We paid for this hut....looks nice on the outside but wasnt a patch on the couchsurfing hut....]

We Met up with spook from nofuss on New years day , he is looking well and "coping" with the "stress" of living over here HAHA . It looks like he has settled in well.

We are now in Haast so dont expect to hear from us after this for a while as we havnt had a phone signal for 2 days , the landlines have only just come back on after being out for some reason or another and it only gets remoter ...the next city is about 300k.

The Real Meaning of continental shifts!!!!!!!

2008-12-30T22:00:00.001Z

From New Zealand Cycle tour

While browsing the local magazine shelves we spotted a familiar name....dad we didn't know that that's where you go when you have 4 days on. You're apparently a famous spear fisherman in Oz!

Queenstown to arrowtown then cromwell/ Bannockburn

2008-12-30T21:51:00.003Z

From New Zealand Cycle tour

{look at the thermometer}

From New Zealand Cycle tour

{in lake dunstan to cool off}

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Tee shirt for my dad]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[We decided(too expensive at 165 dollars] not to do it this time but we had a look again]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Shotover jet boat , twin 660bhp chevy engines forcing a few hundred litres of water a second through a hole the size of a coffee cup....again looks fun but at 130 dollars for 25 mins ....no thanks]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[lake dunstan where we went swimming]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[pancakes on an MSR whisperlite....YES]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Us]

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T22:19:00.001Z

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Queenstown Revisited.

2008-12-24T21:51:00.003Z

We headed back from Glenorchy along the same road (only road) back to Queenstown

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[on our way back to queenstown the lake was calm]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[More reflections]

Back in Queenstown we heard a pipe band , upon finding them they promptly finished their set and made way for "Dan Ger" from "Hashishstan" a Steet performer

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Dan Ger setting up and starting his show]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Dan Ger / Bruce from Melbourne finishing his show atop a bed of nails , 15 foot up a pole juggling fire sticks!]

Glenorchy to Kinloch ,

2008-12-23T22:07:00.004Z

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[me on Glenorchy wharf]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Jayne under a bridge that on our version of the map doesnt exist on the road to Routeburn track]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[The view under the bridge]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[The dart river from the other side of the bridge]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Again the dart , Its really that blue in real life]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Our pitch at the Glenorchy camp ground at night]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[view from the wharf at night]

We are now back in queenstown for xmas and will be in our hostel in a couple of hours for the next 2 days, looking forward to the extra space we will have after the last 17 consecutive nights living in the tent !

Queenstown to Glenorchy

2008-12-21T06:04:00.003Z

we had to get out of Queenstown as it is a tourist mecca and thus everything is so expensive and sometimes under par on quality.

So 45kms out to the north west round the lake lies Glenorchy and is now where we are till tuesday when we will head back to Queenstown for Christmas. We have our hostel confirmed and we have bought tickets to an international orphans christmas dinner at a renound travelers pub in town which should keep us entertained !

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Queenstown wharf at sun set]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[ Me with my not so sub par quality hot chocolate from Patagonia chocolates on wharfside......but it was bloody expensive......$15 for 2 .....we normally pay $7 for 2 ... but it was nice and it was the only place open at 10pm for non alcoholic drinks]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[After bad weather yesterday the good stuffs back! ]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Nice lunch spot ? ]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[It snowed on the hills last night , the snow level wasnt that much above us at some points on our ride ....and we were only at a max of 450meters today]

Fergburger-Queenstown

2008-12-18T23:17:00.005Z

From New Zealand Cycle tour

We had been told from more than one source that Fergburger was somewhat of a legend in Queenstown and that we had to try it. So how fitting be it that once we had pitched the tent that the first place we see when walking into town was Fergburger

From New Zealand Cycle tour

{Exchange rate yesterday was basically divide the figure on that menu by 2.5}

I had the BIG AL and jayne the tropical swine and yes they were right , they are the stuff of legends.

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[me and burger at Queenstown wharf]

http://www.fergburger.co.nz/

Mavora Lakes and Queenstown

2008-12-18T06:39:00.013Z

We rode from Te anau to Mavora lakes on Tuesday afternoon after the rain stopped.

Mavora lakes is a basic campsite (toilets table and water) in the middle of no where so all food has to be carried in and all rubbish carried out. It was 70k into the lakes and 50k out the other side on gravel 4x4 trails to Queenstown

From New Zealand Cycle tour

{gravel trails}

From New Zealand Cycle tour

{Swingbridge at mavora.....very wobbly}

From New Zealand Cycle tour

{our fire .....our first in nz as its the first time we have been allowed , most places have strict fire bans in place due to bush fires starting easily}

From New Zealand Cycle tour

{sun setting over the hills and the lake from our campsite}

From New Zealand Cycle tour

{The first obstacle after mavora in the form of a ford .... with knee deep water, Socks and shoes off and through we go. Also in the picture are an american couple touring the west coast that we met in Te Anau and again at Mavora}

From New Zealand Cycle tour

{many sheep blocking the path .... they ran infront all the way to the gate then ran back as us parting round us}

From New Zealand Cycle tour

{We got the TSS earnslaw over the lake to Queenstown from Walters Peak farm}

From New Zealand Cycle tour

{Walters peak farm}

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Us at the water front before the ship came in]

We also recieved news that Alpkit are going to refund us for our broken arric sleeping mats and so we have purchased some new ones at Kathmandu (a nz outdoor brand) for 20 quid ....

From New Zealand Cycle tour

{the red line shows our route so far}

the local birds

2008-12-15T01:30:00.004Z

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[on the peer]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[came up to us at lunch]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[on the edge of our table at lunch]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[on the empty chair at lunch]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[I think this is what they were all after]

And to ensure we avoid more random posts of this ilk we are back on the road again tomorrow morning. Heading for Mavora lakes and then down the the TSS Earnslaw for a steam ship entrance to Queenstown.

Today we also found the swimming pool that time, cleaners and health and safety forgot. Fiordland Community college pool was at one time i think an outdoor pool that someone built a roof over ! I was in the changing rooms thinking someone had left the shower on but no the roof was leaking. At least the pool its self was clean and a refreshing swim and muscle soak was had by all.

And lots more photos of more interesting things added to the album as well !

Mt Luxmore

2008-12-15T01:19:00.002Z

Having watched Debbie win the Luxmore Grunt the weekend past we decided to go see what the run consisted of at the better pace of walking. It was a 25k round trip from Brod Bay. We got a water taxi to brod bay to cut out the boring coastal walk from the control gates to brod bay which would have added about 3 hours to the already long day.

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[our water taxi made 3 hours into 5 mins]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[at the beginning]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[the view through the trees after only about half an hour onto a mirror like lake]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Negotiating a fallen tree]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Stairs to get up the Limestone Bluffs]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Top of pitfichie Dh anyone ? ]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[To combat people camping anywhere and leaving there waste anywhere you have to stay at Doc huts at certain places en the route. These are like Bunkhouses on the hill which are manned all season by doc staff ... we thought at $45(we usually pay $25-35 if we stay in a bunkhouse) they were rather steep(thus we didnt stay) but we can see the reasoning behind them.There was room for 55 people in this particular one.

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Lots more hills]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[The view from the top , the inlet to the left is one of the inland fiords from lake te anau]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Us on the return to the hut for our lunch]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[another of the limestone bluffs , visible from te anau with jayne in for scale]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[showing how dense and green the forest actually is]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[some kayakers having fun]

Te anau Xmas parade

2008-12-15T00:43:00.003Z

Saturday was The local areas Xmas parade through the town center. I wasnt aware that there were this many people near here. It got quite busy

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[new car ??]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Docs lorry]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[another well polished car]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Some Clowns]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Stylish race transport]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[the local pipeband]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[A very large Strawberry in jaynes hand, all the way from Auckland according to the box]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[A microlight out over the lake]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Looked breezy out on the lake , not on shore though]

We also sorted out the hiring of a pack and a pair of boots for going "tramping" or Hiking on sunday.

day 21 , Milford to Te anau

2008-12-12T03:20:00.003Z

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Homer Tunnel , 1.2km of darkness up a 1:10 gradient]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[They have large Bees here .... thats Jaynes glove for scale]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[The kea , notorious for wreaking cars , tents , saddles (jaynes) and tried to steal her glove too....got that back though]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[mirror lakes]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[and again]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Te anau Downs domain]

We managed the 20km climb from sea level to around 950metres in 1 hour 40 ... we guessed the whole morning would be neeeded. We then decided to try and make it all the way back to te anau in 1 day , a 120k day which took us just a shade under 7 hours. Glad we did it too as the wind would have blown hard in our faces today

Today has mostly been resting and cleaning kit. Tent needed dried out after enormous ammounts of rain and panniers and bikes needed cleaned. My bike needs a new rear tire after only 1400kms ! must be due to the weight of the kit !

Milford sound by boat

2008-12-12T03:09:00.003Z

When we arrived at the homer tunnel on the way there we were greeted by a mass of tourists from all over the world armed with cameras and camcorders....I think they either thought we were famous cyclists or were just impressed that we had cycled to the highest part of the Milford Road! Either way it was pretty cool if not surreal. A nice driver of one of the coaches who again maybe thought we were famous or poor gave us a discount card for one of their cruises....which were at our cheaper end of the budget anyway. So we boarded the Mitre Peak 1 and went for a cruise. Ps dont pre book ... just go on an early morning cruise and book at the Milford Sound Lodge..... saved us about 15 dollars each over pre booking at te anau

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Not our boat]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Bowen falls , generates all of Milford sounds hydro Power]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[steep high sides make Arbroath cliffs look like stairs]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[stirling falls]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Stirling falls again ... look closely for the kayakers]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[seals]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[looking back into the sound from the tasman sea]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[me on a rock]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[me and jayne]

day 17 - 19 Te Anau to Milford Sound

2008-12-12T02:54:00.006Z

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[allow 2 days more like !]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[sun came out on day 2]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[its the same road honest]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[so warm the road actually stuck to my tire that is tar]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[20km Downhill ....very steep]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[first thing in sight at Milford.]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[jayne on the board walk]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[Mitre peak]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[campsite or pitch and putt .....you decide]

From New Zealand Cycle tour

[ps...those that laughed at the large spanner im carrying .....the tent wouldnt have been pitched without it there ....](the campsites at milford ...officially the most expensive and worst "camping" ive ever done.....good job the sights made it worth it )

fed up of sore backsides

2008-12-07T05:25:00.002Z

traded bikes in for solution

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Another Day in the sun

2008-12-07T04:30:00.002Z

From New Zealand Cycle tour

More of the hills from the shores of Te Anau

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Yes i am infact here on this trip too ... in the water

From New Zealand Cycle tour

from left to right .... Matt ,Malcolm (hiding) ,Stephanie , Debbie , Shona , Person whos name ive forgotten, Sandra and Nigel . some of the people we were staying with to watch the kepler at the weekend

From New Zealand Cycle tour

The bach where we stayed for the weekend. (thats holiday home to you people in the UK)

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Jayne Paddling (with my hat on! ) .....dont worry i made sure she got soaked after she took it off ...

Day 15 Tuatapere to Te anau

2008-12-06T01:11:00.004Z

HEADWINDS !!! just HEADWINDS !

from 10am till 7pm we battled headwinds. The wind channeling down the valley so no matter which way we turned it hit us face on.

With no services for 80K we had no choice as we only carried a days food !

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Clifden Bridge

From New Zealand Cycle tour

The hills were big

From New Zealand Cycle tour

following the tour of southland has its advantages .... we passed through the "hurt box" and then there was the "alp`d blackmount"

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Hills near Manipouri

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Debbie winning the womans Luxmore Grunt

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Te Anau from the control gates

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Hills over Te Anau lake

Very Random day. Sat in a Manipouri cafe and got speaking to a local who invited me out on a ride to Moke Creek. Turned out he was Marcus Roys father (a rather famous MTBer in NZ who came over the WC at Fort william)

Day 14 Back on the road

2008-12-03T22:48:00.005Z

After resting(i mean riding with the locals in the woods...some of whom had never heard of cyclocross and thought i was just riding a road bike off road!) and riding some of the latest GT bikes out at bluff ......If anyone wants to give me a Carbon Marathon for next year i wont say know. Some very posh kit.

Managed 5k this morning before our first puncture of the trip(Jayne tells me this is your doing Ron ??). Large chuck of glass in my rear tire on a cycle path of all things ...somethings are just like home !

heading out to te anau for the weekend in a two part journey- Invercargill to Tutapere and then on to manapouri/te anau on friday

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Surfing at Colac bay

From New Zealand Cycle tour

seafront we rode along for most of the day

From New Zealand Cycle tour

apparently its windy here ....those trees were growing like that

From New Zealand Cycle tour

The wind had stopped by now and was allowing us to progress to tuatapere

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Tried to trade my bike in ...but they werent having it

Day 10 Invercargill

2008-12-02T02:45:00.002Z

From New Zealand Cycle tour

We arrived at Matt and Debbies on Day 10 , we reached the 800k mark just upon arrival. We have been glad of the last few days rest using things like real towels and propper beds !

We have still been keeping the legs spinning though !

From New Zealand Cycle tour

We have also been eating!

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Zookeepers cafe are big into cycling and this is their staircase

It has also rained , well thunder storm....but we didnt get wet

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Then ten mins later

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Note the blue sky and Christmas Decorations!

day 8 and 9 Cromwell to Gore

2008-12-02T02:41:00.002Z

From New Zealand Cycle tour

A giant motorcycle sculpture on the road to Cromwell

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Riding along side lake Dunstan (again manmade hydropower lake)

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Riding the rail trail from Clyde to Alexandra

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Clutha river between Cromwell and Clyde

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Look familiar ? Riding through the teviot valley and i was looking for the tweed on my left and expecting to see a sign for Glentress or Innerleithen

Day 7 Omarama over the lindis to Cromwell

2008-12-02T02:30:00.005Z

Riding over the lindis almost seemed easy as it was just a straight up then down hill as oppose to alot of the rolling hills we had encountered previously.

Ive also located a computer with picasa so i can upload an album of photos....just stuck a selected few up ...i have 600 so far and didnt want to bore you with them all. click on the photos below to get into them

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Day 5 and 6 , Lake Tekapo to Omarama

2008-11-30T08:16:00.008Z

The end of the canal dropping down to lake Pukaki The sun set over omarama

town center of twizel

The journey from lake Tekapo to Omarama was difficult due to strong north westerly sapping our speed at every opertunity. We cut short at the town of Twizel(60k from Tekapo) which was a nice place to stop. We found a local camp site and set up camp. I rode into town and the local radio station is played into the town square via speakers....which at the time was playing dualing banjos .....freaky

The next day we rode on to omarama after a lazy morning to omarama via the lake

Jayne riding onto the manmade Rowing lake just outside Twizel

first leg over

2008-11-30T03:10:00.003Z

Thats us in Invercargill

800kms from christchurch according to the odometer

internet has been sparse and even here it is crap and wont do photos. Will try to find somewhere over the next couple days that does let me do photos and update the missing days.

been some interesting things and people along the way but they need photos to tell the whole story.

Days 3 and 4 - lake tekapo to Omarama

2008-11-26T03:30:00.005Z

This part of the journey was supposed to take us a single day but the weather and the head wind were so terrible we cut short at Twizel for the night (60k). Glad we did , very nice town. We also bumped into an american couple touring down from Auckland over the last 3 weeks

Today we cycled the 40k on from Twizel to Omarama where the lady at the campsite gave us fresh (real) towels and 10% off cause we were on bikes !

The good news is the next 5 days are showing great weather with little or no wind ! heres hoping as tomorrow is 120k over the lindis pass (970m) down to Cromwell.

Internet here is crap wont let me put pictures up

Day 2 and 3 Rakaia Gorge to Lake Tekapo

2008-11-24T08:56:00.002Z

[climbing out the gorge]

Day 2 started with a big climb out the gorge which lead us onto a gentle downward slope to Geraldine , this sounds great but it was soul destroying long straight roads with no corners or inclines to gauge distance and we just seemed to keep going on the same road. We decided to stop early in Mt somers for lunch at about 35kms. [shop in mt somers]

After lunch we continued onto mayfield where we stopped and a woman told us of a "severe weather warning" so we got out the radio and listened to the news , sure enough there was a severe weather warning for otago and canterbury ....we were sat directly between the 2.

[how we loaded the bikes]

We arrived in Geraldine early and asked at the campsite where the old woman behind the desk assured us that the storm wouldnt hit us. She was right !

[Geraldine campsite ...yes it does look like someones garden there....]

Day 3 started with a gentle climb up to fairlie where we met a bunch of other cyclists on a college excursion. We had lunch here and spoke to them for a bit but we were going opposite directions.

[group of cyclists]

[snow capped peaks]

The road to Burkes pass village was quite gentle but after the village it climbed violently. Ontop of the pass you could be mistaken for thinking it was scotland or the canterbury plains again , very barren and ugly. It then started to tip down with rain so we decided to cycle on quickly to Lake Tekapo ......it wasnt very pretty for pictures up there anyway. We opted for a hostel as the rain was minging and we were soaked through.

[lake Tekapo]

Over dinner in the hostel we met a guy from Belfast who has been riding since june from the uk and has ridden nearly all the way to NZ over europe and the likes! He had some interesting storys to tell ... such as the tandam couple he met carrying 200kgs luggage on the tandem ...

Day 1 , Christchurch to Rakaia Gorge

2008-11-24T08:41:00.003Z

[the hills seem close ...but we never got there !]

From the city centre to the outskirts(6km) was quite pleasent , but from there on the crosswinds over the plains were hellish but we had plenty of supportive toots from drivers inc one from scotland and another with a bumper sticker from Elgol (its in skye)

To Darfield the winds were awful and trying to blow the bikes over. We stopped for lunch in Darfield at the local bakery which was tasty. After lunch the wind had died down a little and allowed us to make progress. The local landowners had also lined the roads between Darfield and Rakaia with tall hedges to break the wind !

[windy by name windy by nature]

[our campsite , look steve its your washing line]

[and looking out from our camp]

The view from the campsite was actually amaizing and all for 6 dollars a head (about 2 quid) with hot showers and washing facilities !

Port hills mostly

2008-11-21T08:22:00.005Z

We travel ALL the way across the world and the first Scottish person we meet comes from Kyle of Lochalsh and knows Jaynes old flatmate. Small world eh !

[Lytelton Harbour from atop the port hills ]

[me looking down from the port hills into the bay]

[Us having ridden up the port hills with Christchurch in the background]

We still got sun tan(or burnt in Jaynes backs case) even though by locals standards it was over cast and cold !

[Jayne riding in town]

Look at the width of that dedicated cycle path ! and the cars just dont venture into it ! We have been riding round the city for the last 2 days and not once have we felt threatened by a cars presence !

[tame little bird]

Last update for a few days , the tent doesnt have internet access and we are leaving the hostel tomorrow for Raikara Gorge and to Geraldine on Sunday before we hit the hills !

Another Day in CHC

2008-11-20T06:43:00.003Z

we bought a phone .... look at the address

our bikes in hagley park

us in hagley park

having woken early today and done a little research into the surrounding area we have decided to take in the godley head and port hill trails tomorrow (friday) and set off on the road on saturday , although the weathers meant to be bad although today was "cloudy and drizzel" we have had nothing but blue skys and sun !

The bike shop had our bikes ready and we have cycled a paltry 15kms on them , mostly too and from the shops.

We visited Hagley park which is one of the largest green spaces found in inner citys apparently. Its very nice , with lots of different areas and parks within , and its cycle friendly !

Arrived safely (Just)

2008-11-19T05:36:00.003Z

Jayne infront of the indoor gardens at dubai airport. Shortly after id narrowly avoided being arrested for taking a photo near security ! . questioned and made to delete said photo which showed jayne on a chair with mirrored pillar behind ... they reckoned i was taking a photo of the security set up !

Then when entering arrivals at Sydney airport Jayne was hauled into the security booth and frisked and bag swabbed and checked for explosives ... a random and normal proceedure apparently. More worryingly the guy coming through behind us who had been on our previous flight was carrying scissors and razor blades in his hand luggage.

The sun set en route to dubai, Nothing compared to the thunder and lightening as we came into sydneys airspace but i was never quick enough off the mark with the camera !

Arrived in Christchurch early this afternoon and made our way to the YHA on Manchester street, Seems a clean friendly place. Popped down to the bike shop and paid off the remainder of our bill and we will be picking the bikes up tomorrow morning. Then we popped down to pac n` save for some food. All the food pictured above cost us $22.85 NZ which is roughly 9.50 GBP. Whats there will provide tonights tea and with the addition of daily milk , breakfast for a couple weeks ! With a bit of thought budgeting shouldnt be too hard.

Did a bit of research while in the supermarket , and as i remember from our last trip most things seem to be about half the cost of home except milk which is roughly the same.

Hoping to be on the road on friday More then !

The last few pieces of equipment arrive

2008-11-11T17:10:00.005Z

Popped into the Angus Bike Chain after work tonight to pick up some more stuff that had arrived

first , our racks which will hold all our belongings too the bike. I was going to get penny sports in christchurch to fit some from stock but as i was unaware what there stock contained i opted to order in some quality stainless steel ones from Madison. Off road pannier racks take a propper pounding and its not uncommon for alloy and cheaper racks to break welds.

So today a pair of Madison Summit SS racks arrived
[hopefully wont have to test the 5 year guarantee!][Rear of rack showing solid construction]

4 blackburn MTN bottle cages to take 1 litre bottle in each
[only bottle cage i havnt broken on the mtb]
[Mountain suds from BackPackingLight.co.uk for cleaning everything from clothes to dishes to me ]

[Screen saver , spf 25+ again from BPL.co.uk]
[udderly smooth chamois cream from wiggle]

Kitchen , Bedroom , Tools

2008-11-02T18:10:00.000Z

My kit packed into my Altura Orkney 56 paniers and dryline 8 litre bar bag(thanks to zyro for a great deal on 2 pairs of these). as you can see the panniers are no where near full but on more than one day i need to carry food for 2 for 2 days when we do some of the higher mountain passes. I still have to add a toiletries bag to that photo also but it wont fill my bags ! The tent will travel on top of my rack between the panniers under my camelback bladder which will be used for keeping us with a fresh supply of water rather than only the 2 bottles on our bike. Meaning if we have to boil water at camp we can do a whole days worth rather than having to find it and boil it all the time.

First Things first , keep the bikes rolling. Ive opted for quite a simple tool kit as you could go on for ever and in reality most things can be bodged , if they cant then its terminal and no amount of tools will save it (from a professional point of view as a cycle mechanic) We have a 10" draper adjustable , a 15mm park cone spanner(rear cones) modified to incorporate a chain whip, a 13mm park cone spanner for the front cones, A leatherman Blast , An SKS toolbox travel , Cyclo Freewheel remover, puncture repair outfit , truflo pump (not pictured thats an old blackburn there thats not coming with me) a rag and some motorex drylube. Its not comprehensive but with the addition of some spokes , a small tub of assorted bolts etc and a couple of tubes it should keep us going. Till we reach a bike shop anyway

Next up we have the kitchen ! The photo above shows the kitchen in its transportation state. The black net is the same depth as the biggest pot in the photo below. It contains 2 pots , frying pan, pan handle , small absorbant towel, the burner/windshield/fuel pump for my MSR whisperlite , my homemade folding spatula , a ti spork , and a plastic spoon(non stick pots you see) In addition to the above we also have Orikaso folding crockary, tested previously with some sketicism but have stood the test of time (had them for about a year) and passed the angus bike chain careless tea drinkers test. To power the stove we are taking the medium sized primus fuel bottle on advice of adrian at Basecamp in arbroath since the stove was a last minute purchase due to difficulty in finding compatible fuel for my old faithful camping gaz twister.

The bedroom consists of an Alpkit Wee Arric, An ajungaluk(mammut) tundra summer sleeping bag, a vango cotton liner , and a buff over an inflated dry bag for a pillow. Each of these items will be stored inside a dry bag and then inside the panniers , although the panniers are waterproof for the weight of a dry bag its better to be safe than sorry. The arrics will be carried ontop of Jaynes rack.

meet "home"

2008-11-02T14:53:00.000Z

Here is our home for most of the next 3 months ! Its a vaude taurus 1. Its not a new purchase I got given it by my parents on my 21st birthday , since then its been on numerous tours inc Raasay 07 where we were battered by rain and force 9 gales all night. The Strathpuffer 08 race where again we were met by driving gales. Its very easy and quick to pitch , rain fly first or inner + outer together depending on how you pack it.
as you can see here it isnt the "biggest" it comfortably sleeps 2 , the vestibule stores day sacks and not alot else. Our dry bags containing clothes and the cooking stuff will fit in no bother but the panniers will have to live outside.

Base maps

2008-10-30T02:55:00.000Z

Base maps to be updated as we travel.

less than three weeks to go !

2008-10-30T02:23:00.001Z

following some conversations with friends out in NZ we have made some adjustments to our kit.

mainly and most expensively we changed the camping gaz stove to an MSR whisperlite multifuel number as the camping gaz gas is pretty limited in supply weeks and counting

our sleeping bags after looking at the karrimor offerings in the shop and deciding they felt and looked rather poor quality we opted for some ajungaluk tundra summers with cotton liners at the same price as the karrimors as we got an end of season deal

added an MSR spatula and strainer to the kitchen

added a homemade foot print to the tent

A fuji film S5800 superzoom camera (for keeping this blog updated with pretty pictures)

a small tripod for said camera !

we have also purchased our bikes.

Thanks to Mark for recommending penny sports cycles in Christchurch for our bikes. With the help of Kat over the email we managed to secure one of the last remaining 2008 kona jakes in Christchurch and the very last Kona Dew Fs. A

quick phone call with a deposit and the deal was done.

{my Kona Jake}{Jaynes Kona Dew FS }

Having had a bit of a pack on sunday past i have 6kgs to play with for weight , the tent , both loaded panniers and loaded bar bag comes to a total of 13.9kgs ! i have little equipment to add, only sundries like chamois cream and toiletries.

4 months of stuff !

2008-08-28T00:40:00.000+01:00

like going minimalist but i just recieved my Altura Orkney56 Panniers and they look so small !
im just not sure how im gonna fit it all in there !
i have 56litres of pannier space and 8 litres in the bar bag
what have i forgotten and what essentials have i missed for a 4 month trip round nz in their summer. and more importantly what are the chances of it all fitting , and leaving me some space to get the days food in from the shops !
obviously ill be wearing one set of clothes at any one time but
*cycling kit*
2x fs260 shorts
2x cycling jerseys
2x underarmour warmwear vests
3x socks
1 x polartech fleece
1 x arm warmers
1 x leg warmers
2 x buffs
1 x overshoes
1 x gridlock waterproof
1 x waterproof shorts
1 x spd shoes
*casual kit*
Sandals(probably stored outwith the bags)
1x packable columbia shorts
2x tee shirts
1 x swimming shorts/goggles
*Cooking*
Camping Gaz Twister piezo
cv270 canister
non stick nesting alu pans
ti spork
leatherman blast
matches
Iodine Tabs
*sleeping*
Vaude Taurus 2 {on top of rack in dry bag}
Alpkit wee arric {on top of rack in dry bag}
Karrimor synthetic global traveler 1100(18cms/30cms)[in pannier in dry bag which is also pillow]
*toiletries*
1 x tub chamois cream
1 x small toothpaste
1 x fold up toothbrush from the flight
1 x soap and scrubing net thing
1 x travel towel
*luxuries*
1x mp3 player/small speakers
1x book
1x tarp strapped onto the top of everything for use if we dont fancy the tent or for storing kit under during the night in heavy rain
1x tool kit and small selection of nuts and bolts for panniers , brakes etc
1x small deterrant lock

The Jist

2008-08-27T23:52:00.000+01:00

(us in the Angus Bike Chain tops and Dave Brookland in sport southland top)

Having been to NZ as part of a prize for No Fuss Events in February 08 and loving every minute of it we promised the people we were staying with we would be back.

How soon we did not realise!!

fast forward 6 months or so and we were soon planning our return by bicycle tour.

We have both just finished university and have taken on remedial jobs to fund this trip

The plan is , not to really have a plan and just spend 3 months touring round New Zealand. Our only confirmed stop is Christmas in Queenstown where we have a hostel booked. To take our time and enjoy our selfs is the aim , id quite like to do some racing while im out there so that will determine some of our path but not too much i hope

We leave on the 17th of November 08 for Christchurch and wont be back till the 23rd of March 09 the bit inbetween will hopefully be what is documented in this blog for the people back home to keep track on where we are and what we are doing