day 21 , Milford to Te anau

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

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

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

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

traded bikes in for solution

From New Zealand Cycle tour

Another Day in the sun

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 ...