New Zealand

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Auckland, Nouvelle-Zélande ‐ 15 avr. 2018

Some goodbyes with family and friends and preparation for our flight to Nepal! After months of beautiful weather it seems that we are leaving at the right time. A change in wind direction from the south brings a cold snap straight from the Antarctic! The temperature dropped from 25°C to 8°C in one night and howling winds with gusts recorded at 240km/h (crazy strong!!!) leave half of Auckland with no power. We're off to Kathmandu! Time to change maps. You can follow our route in Nepal by click [...]
ing on the downfacing arrow in the blue header and choosing the Nepal Map.
Christchurch ‐ 6 avr. 2018

In order to get quickly back up to Auckland inexpensively, we manage to bag ourselves a paid relocation deal where we pick up a rental van in Christchurch and drive it back up to Auckland.
Twizel ‐ 4 avr. 2018

The tracks from Tekapo to Twizel along Lake Pukaki are pretty spectacular. We’re rewarded with views of Mount Aoraki/Mount Cook at the end of the day just before setting up camp.
Tekapo ‐ 3 avr. 2018
Tekapo ‐ 2 avr. 2018

Lack of time and experience of cycling on the road in New Zealand leads us to catch a bus from Christchurch to Tekapo, the start of the Alps to Ocean trail. We’re surprised by the number of Tourists down here! Even off season the car parks are full of rental vans. But with the beautiful lakes in the area and the mountain views you can see why.
Christchurch

More road cycling. See previous post for my thoughts! Christchurch however was a pleasant surprise. After the devastating 2011 earthquake, the city is still very much in the recovery stages. But as opposed to the bleak and empty outlook that some travellers described to us (everything’s been razed to the ground, there’s none of the English heritage and architecture left) I sensed more resilience, creativity and opportunity than anything else. One great initiative that we discovered is Fill [...]
the Gap, a project encouraging pop up shops, temporary exhibitions, theatre and much more in spaces that are yet to be rebuilt or renovated. We stayed with Grum’s wife Juliette who is just as interesting! (See Hanmer Springs) She’s NZ’s first female Helicopter paramedic; a job that takes her out to sea and into the mountains on some intense missions.
Amberley ‐ 1 avr. 2018

An intense day of cycling along the busy road - we don’t recommend it!! New Zealanders have hearts a gold but as soon as they get into a car these seem to turn to stone. Disrespectful driving coupled with narrow roads makes for unpleasant and frankly dangerous driving. One guy in his pick up truck decided it wasn’t enough to nearly knock us off our bikes; he’d better show his middle finger as well.
Hanmer Springs ‐ 30 mars 2018

After two spectacular days riding around the beautifully remote Saint James trail we arrive in the quaint village of Hanmer Springs, famous for it’s thermal baths. After a hearty fish and chips we were trying to figure out what our next plans were when Grum came up on his bike to chat. He ended up inviting us to stay at his where he was already hosting another french couple through Warmshower. Grum has travelled all round the world by bike and has too many projects to count. He’s currentl [...]
y a postman in the village: “What could be better than getting paid to ride my bike?” He’s also a St Johns Ambulance volunteer as well as heading an artistic project to get more people in the area involved in creative pursuits. This included wheeling his piano behind his bike from his living room to the centre of the village outside the local supermarket so that anyone can have the opportunity to play. He was particularly amused when he got complaints from a resident who was kept up by some late night jamming! Lo and behold we ended up spending more time in Hanmer Springs than initially planned just to listen to more great stories.
Island Gully ‐ 27 mars 2018

We chilled for a day waiting for better weather in this cosy hut! We were even able to dry our sodden shoes and socks next to the wood burner. We met Mariah from Holland who is also cycling around NZ and John and Rosmund from Christchurch who were going hiking and hunting in the area. The five of us ended up squashing in the 4 bunk hut for the night.
Saint Arnaud ‐ 26 mars 2018
St Arnaud

There are some ginormous black long finned eels in Lake Rotoiti just under the jetty. Some are over 100 years old and grow up to 160cm long! We were told that they migrate down the rivers and over sand dunes and across the ocean to breed in the pacific islands. Either way an impressive and surprising sight! I didn’t dare taking a dip.
Wakefield ‐ 20 mars 2018

4 days of heavy rain lead us to shelter at a homely farm in Wakefield. We’re welcomed into the eclectic house share where we enjoy cooking, chilling by the fire, getting to know the house mates including three dogs and learning about dairy farming. We also discover what a whole cow looks like in a fridge freezer!
Nelson ‐ 19 mars 2018

35 km

A couple of days in artsy Nelson to rest and reorganise. We visit the World of Wearable Art museum which exhibits the impressive creations of the annual WOW competition. There are various themes, my favourites being the anti consumption and reuse pieces. We get inspired to get back into knitting!
Pelorus Bridge ‐ 17 mars 2018

We take the mountain bike trail to Nelson via Pelorus Bridge. This involves a relatively steep 700m climb on a loose rocky path. Astonishingly, two ladies in their 70´s on electric road bikes have also endeavoured to undertake this adventure! When they can no longer steam up the slopes using their electric assist and have to start pushing their extremely heavy bikes they start to wonder what they've really got themselves into. We reach the top, worry about them so go back to help them up the hi [...]
ll. Unfortunately the descent is no reward for them. With the steep and difficult terrain and their thin road tyres with little tread they have no choice but to try and clamber down on foot. Our bikes are somewhat better adapted. We catch up with Steph and Annette once arrived in Nelson and thankfully they're proud that they made it and are still planning on cycling the length of the South Island! ——————— Après 20km de route, nous bifurquons sur une petite piste forestière réputée raide et éprouvante pour rejoindre Nelson. Alors que nous suons corps et âmes dans la montée, deux mamies de 70 ans nous doublent tout sourire sur des vélos de ville électriques ! Elles voyagent à vélo dans toute l'île du sud...Nous les rattrapons un peu plus haut en train de pousser leurs vélos, la piste et trop raide et escarpée pour pouvoir continuer en selle. Et un vélo électrique, c’est lourd... Une fois au col, nous laissons nos montures et redescendons à pied pour les aider ! Impensable de s’aventurer sur ce genre de pistes à cet âge et avec ce materiel, merci pour la leçon, nous penserons à vous dans nos futurs moments difficiles !

Mangatapu Track
Havelock ‐ 16 mars 2018

Depuis Anakiwa, direction Havelock, village de pêcheurs auto-proclamé capitale mondiale des moules vertes ! Nous nous arrêtons en chemin boire un café avec Louise Bic et son copain, qui travaillent dans le village de Picton. Petit monde... Au camping de Havelock le soir, nous rencontrons James et Amelie, couple Anglo-français qui voyagent en NZ depuis 4 mois. ——————- From Anakiwa we pop back to Picton to pick up some left behind belongings and catch up with friends before rid [...]
ing the scenic road to Havelock. Havelock is a quaint fishing village, self proclaimed Green Mussel Capital of the world! We arrive to a full campsite of St Patricks day revellers who are simultaneously in town for the Saturday Mussel festival. We meet Amelie and James, a french british couple also touring NZ by bike.
Anakiwa ‐ 15 mars 2018

3 days of beautiful single track through native bush along the ridge of the mountains straddled by the turquoise waters of the Queen Charlotte and Kenepuru sounds. ———— Trois jours de vélo sur un sentier superbe entre arêtes, forêts, et campings au bord de l’eau, on en prend plein la vue et les jambes pour la reprise !

+25

Queen Charlotte Track
Ship Cove ‐ 13 mars 2018

Nous embarquons avec les vélos de bon matin dans un bateau direction Ship Cove, d’ou nous commencerons le Queen Charlotte Trail, 3 jours de VTT sur une arête au dessus des fjords. Avec nous de nombreux Vttistes, tous ultra légers, on prend un peu peur nos vélos sont toujours lourds ! ————— We caught a water taxi from Picton with our bikes to Resolution bay nestled in the Queen Charlotte Sound to start a 3 day bike trek.
Picton

Arriving from Wellington on the ferry through the Malborough Sounds was pretty spectacular! ————- La traversée depuis Wellington est superbe et spectaculaire, le ferry se faufile entre les bras de mer pour rejoindre le village de Picton. Ile du sud, nous y sommes !
Wellington ‐ 9 mars 2018

We take a bus from Auckland to Wellington as with limited time we want to make the most of the South Island after managing to explore a fair bit of the North during our days off work. In Wellington we’re welcomed into the family of Nils and Margreet who Nathan happened to meet whilst working at the surf shop in Auckland. They couldn’t have been lovelier hosts and Nils even took us for a ride around the mountain bike tracks in the Wellington hills. We were lucky enough to have perfect blue [...]
skies and no wind (which apparently isn’t often the case!) Wellington as a city was refreshingly dynamic with a noticeable identity after the expansive suburbia feel of Auckland.
Auckland, Nouvelle-Zélande ‐ 1 oct. 2017