What a difference a day makes!

“What a difference a day makes” is exactly how I felt when I got back on my bike after a rest day in Reefton.  My body felt recharged and my enthusiasm was back – so to speak.  Little did I know it would be several more days before another rest day!

Reefton – Greymouth (88 kms)

We cycled to Greymouth via Ikamatau and Blackball, on the Taylorville – Blackball Road.  Much quieter back road through dairy farm country.  Stopped off and visited the Pike River Memorial.  Very moving experience – every miner who died had a special rock with their name, names of loved ones left behind and a variety of memorabilia representing each person.  The sign below showed where the different miners had come from.

Arriving in Greymouth was quite a shock, it was abuzz with people and tourist buses.  We couldn’t get over the number of tourists waiting on the railway station platform for a train ride to Christchurch.  The train was due to arrive at any time. 

We rode out to the end of the Greymouth Bar lookout to view the mouth of Grey River and read about the shipwrecks etc that have happened of the years.  This is also where The West Coast Wilderness Trail starts which we will ride tomorrow.

Stayed in a campsite and went out for dinner at Paroa Hotel which was a short walk along the walkway/cycle trail.  We were very hungry and when one of the menu options was for Pork Belly roast and vegetables – I couldn’t resist.  It was delicious while I was eating it, but ooh was my stomach upset for several hours afterwards!!!  Not a good night’s sleep – thank goodness I remembered my Carom seeds – which incidentally helps upset stomachs.

The West Coast Wilderness Trail – Greymouth – Hokitika (97 kms)

I awoke this morning “out of sorts” the result of that Pork Belly roast and lack of sleep!!  It seemed to take me ages to pack up and get on the road.  In all honestly the last thing I felt like was riding.  Had to have a severe talking to myself to get my act together and make the most of it.  It’s a fabulous trail, very well marked, – gradual inclines, amazing scenery and of course no traffic.  You follow a variety of different trails from single track to 4 wheel drive.  Much of the time surrounded in beautiful West Coast bush.

Cowboy Paradise is the half way point where we ate lunch consisting of delicious bacon and egg toasted sandwiches with endless cups of tea.  It’s an interesting destination in the middle of the wilderness.  The buildings are very well made and bit like walking into a salon through those saloon type doors.  There was even cowboy clothes in the corner of the large room – apparently you can be a cowboy or cowgirl for a day!!  Both Sari and I felt the owner was different – something not quite right about him!!  (Since our visit and whenever we talk about Cowboy Paradise – the comments and feedback have confirmed our thoughts and feelings!!!) 

As it was only 2 pm we decided to continue to Hokitika.  Majority of way down-hill riding.  We followed more beautiful trails, did a walk to Lake Kaniere and rode into Hokitika approx 5.30 pm.  We thought we’d be able to get accommodation!!  But this wasn’t to be, eventually we found a campsite 5 kms north – it was the last thing we felt like doing at the end of a tough day.  After buying some food we headed north and what a lovely camping ground it was, aptly named Cloud 9 Lifestyle Park – and it did feel like it.  Friendly owners and very friendly guests.  We both had the best sleep ever – we were shattered!!  Bonus we were able to wash and dry our dirty clothes and organised a leisurely start the next morning.

Hokitika – Ross  (54 kms)

It was great to have a later start this morning.  I had arranged to go and visit one of my nieces who lives just south of Hokitika, Shelley and Reese (husband was at work) and their six children.  Sari was going to do her own thing for the morning and we’d meet up early in the afternoon.

I was very happy I made the effort to visit Shelley (Les (brother) & Carol’s youngest daughter) live on a 50 acre block which has recently been logged.  It was a mountain bike track to their home – and fortunately the kids had left a sign at the beginning of their track to let me know which way to go.  We had a wonderful time together.  Shelley and I reckoned it must have been at least 20 yrs since we last saw each other – quite a bit has changed during that time!!  Shelley & Reese have built their own home, have solar panels, self-composting toilet and Shelley home schools the children.  I was treated to homemade muffins and hot cross buns and played Lego with the kids.  The kids have plenty of space to explore and do stuff.  Shelley has amazing patience and I loved her outlook “one day at a time”.  A couple of hours well spent – thank you Shelley and kids.

I meet Sari down the road and we continued to cycle along the Wilderness trail to Ross by which time a nice southwest wind was blowing headon.  We found a lovely little camp site quite near the ocean – no traffic noise only the sound of the waves crashing.

Ross to Franz Joseph Glacier  (100 kms)

After a good night’s sleep we were on the road by 7.30 am only for Sari to have a flat tyre, thick gorse was to blame we think.  It didn’t take long for that to be changed.  We arrived in Harihari about 10.30 for a much needed coffee and hot scone.

Wharaoa was our lunch spot – always think of Tony & Carly’s daughter and son-in-law (was local policeman) when this place is mentioned.  The café owner didn’t offer a ‘pot of tea’ you had to buy another cup of tea at $3.50 per teabag – jolly good profit eh!!  She was not very accommodating but she was the only business in town!  No competition is not a good thing.

Franz Joseph was our destination and it rained all the way there.  This was our first day of riding in the rain.  We were very glad to arrive there – I was tired, very hungry and wet.A  gain accommodation was an issue – very lucky to get last two beds in a backpackers accommodation Rainforest Retreat  sharing with 4 other people, two males and two females, luckily no-one snored and we were all mature backpackers.  There were so many backpacker/tourists staying here – quite amazing and unbelievable.  The number of different nationalities and ages of the tourists – such an eye opener.  Franz Joseph was “on fire” with visitors so to speak.  By the time we’d showered, the rain had stopped, the clouds lifted and views of the surrounds peaks were magic.

Another long day in the saddle, the body seems to be adjusting and getting stronger.  Should sleep well tonight  🙂

Franz Joseph to Pine Grove Motels 35 kms south of Fox Glacier (64kms)

It’s appearing that accommodation is very difficult to get without prior bookings.  Apparently November and February are the busiest tourism months for the West Coast.  We couldn’t even get another night’s accommodation in Franz Joseph – as I said earlier the place was humming.  We did organise the next night’s accommodation at Pine Grove Motel (before we left Franz Joseph) because it was forecast to rain, along with thunder and lightening.

Today we had 3 passes to climb – I’m always a little anxious about the climbs – wondering how I’ll cope!  Did cope, they were steep, did some walking to relieve the hamstrings and lungs, at the same time trying to keep out of the way of the traffic.  On the other side of the climbs we stopped off at Fox Glacier for a much deserved coffee and muffin and onto Pine Grove Motels.  All this travelling along highway 6.

As we cycled saw the results of the severe storm they had down here couple of weeks back – major slips, where trees had fallen across main roads and random trees uprooted along the side of the road.

It was good to arrive reasonably early in the afternoon at our destination, time for a shower, read and rest.  Another early to bed night.

No cell phone coverage & very slow Internet

As the cell phone coverage is non existent in parts of the West Coast and Internet access very slow, I’ve decided to finish my blog here.  I want to say I’ve had my rest day here in Haast – oh it’s been sooo good.  It’s enabled me to post my blogs – and have a rest.  Tomorrow Monday we cycle over the Haast Pass and camp somewhere in the hills and bush.  I can’t even upload any more images, so you will have to wait until next time – when and where that will be anyone’s guess.  Take care.  Living the dream – even though at times tough!  Night night – GoldCard gal.  🙂