Fox Glacier to Westport

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]

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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