Christchurch again.

Well, after staying with the Olympian, I went into Christchurch to look around and replace my now-useless rear tire. Found several bike shops, and got a Schwable Marathon Tire, which (for those of you who don't obsessively follow trends in the bike-tire market) is supposed to be an absolutely fantastic tire. Booked into a backpackers called "Drifters", which was a little odd, but friendly. On the way back to the backpackers from doing a little bit of grocery shopping, I ran into a bunch of people (maybe 30?) with strange bikes (not to mention clothes) congregating in Cathedral Square. Some of them were dressed (and painted) as clowns.
Intrigued, I went up to one of the more organised-looking (?) clowns and asked what it was all about. The gave me a little flyer, and told me everything I already know: Bicycles are good for the planet, cars are bad. They had orchestrated a "Fossil Fools Day" Bike ride through the streets (being April 1st), as some sort of protest against something or other. While I was talking to them, I ran into the guy from the couple I had met at Haast Pass, at Pleasant Flat campground. He was just commuting home (on bike), and had been curious about these people, just as I had.



I ended up riding along with them through Downtown Christchurch for a while (except that I was in the Bike lane for the duration), as some people held banners of some sort, and one guy in the rear rolled along a bunch of speakers in a "Rubbish Bin", blasting (alternately) Gangsta Rap and Folk music. After a while--as the procession was holding up the cars in the streets--a police car could be seen growing nearer. I decided that maybe this would be a good time to slowly increase the distance between me and the other people--which was probably a good idea. There was some sort of altercation (maybe an annoyed motorist?), and the sirens started.



A few people got arrested, and later a paddy-wagon-type thing rolled up and herded some others on-board.
Went back to the Backpackers and cooked a bit of a stir-fry, which sort of worked out. Next day I think I just moped around the library, looking at a random selection of books and learning nothing in particular. I texted the couple from the Haast campground, and spent the night with them. Had a very nice nice dinner, and interesting conversation. Talked about the "Fossil Fools Day" people, and about how they sort of make others LESS likely to want to ride bikes. We came to the conclusion that they were just angry. And liked rebelling against... The MAN.

West Coast, then Christchurch.

From Haast, I zoomed down the astonishingly steep hill and put my tent up at a Dept. of Conservation campsite called "Pleasant Flat". While cyclists coming the other way (i.e. heading up the aforementioned steep hill) may think of it this way, I was slightly disappointed at the leveling-out of the gradient. And the sheer quantity of sand-flies. I tried to make a small campfire in the fire-pit, but after several hours of constantly stoking and, er, "bellowing," I conceded defeat at the hands of the absolutely sodden wood.
However, I did meet a nice family from Christchurch while I was huffing and puffing on those dying flames. I talked to Ian and Sophie for a while (they had two boys, one of which was named Ben), and they helped me with the fire for a bit.
I tried my luck at fishing there, but again, no luck! The sand-flies certainly enjoyed me, though. Maybe after having ridden a bike all day the fish can smell me coming?
The next morning, I left as quickly as I could and pedaled for Haast Township. It was ever-so-slightly downhill, and I made fairly good time, stopping along the way in several places to go for short walks. I got into Haast (well, there are actually 3 places with Haast in the name within about 5km of each-other, which makes it a bit confusing) and looked at the great deal of nothing there. At the "supermarket" I grabbed a few supplies and said hello to a couple in an R.V. parked outside. After that I looked at a couple of backpackers, but in the end decided to just head on and camp somewhere that night to save the money for when it was raining.
So, I ended up doing an extra 50km until I made it to Lake Paringa, another DOC campsite, getting there later than I would have liked. As I dismounted and began unpacking my tent, the couple who I had briefly talked to outside the supermarket offered me a Roast Lamb Sandwich. It was very possibly the most enjoyable sandwich I've ever had the pleasure to consume. I guess people don't usually describe eating a sandwich as "enjoyable", but rather: "tasty", or even "delicious". But then again, MOST people don't cycle 100km with 70lbs of bike and gear and get offered a sandwich by a fellow traveler at the end!
That is definitely something I've learned: When traveling (well, it probably applies to all facets of life, actually) always be nice to everyone you meet, and get talking with them if they're so-inclined. You would be amazed at how often those random people turn out to be amazing and wonderful contacts in the near future.
Lake Paringa was an extremely beautiful spot, with (apparently) excellent Trout and Salmon fishing. Unfortunately I did not toss my line in, as the sand-flies were at their most-vicious-yet. I headed out later in the day after a swim, and continued on along towards Fox Glacier. As evening was drawing near, I started looking for a campsite off the road. From the road I saw four or five R.V.s all parked in a gravel lot, and asked them if I could pitch my tent off the road behind their caravans. I ended up getting a free dinner out of it, which was awesome.
Went to Fox Glacier the next day, and decided to go off the main road to another DOC campsite at Gillespie's Beach. It was 20km one way, with 12km being a steep, narrow, and winding gravel road. It was a nice beach, with, you guessed it, sand-flies. I cooked my dinner on the beach, and met a really nice couple from N. Ireland. After dinner I was walking past two Aussie couples near my tent-site, and they gave me a second dinner, with sausages and veggies. In the morning, the Irish couple invited me over to their camper-van for breakfast (porridge and tea), which was very much appreciated (museli is getting a bit boring). Man, I'm just cruising along getting free meals left and right!
From Gillespie Beach, I cycled over to Franz Joseph Glacier and stayed in a backpackers--at the DOC office there was a severe weather warning, with up to 300mm of rain forecasted, so I decided it would be worth the $20 to stay in a backpackers for the night. I watched "Crash" that night, which is an excellent movie for those of you who haven't seen it.
Of course, because I decided to stay in a Backpackers' for the night, it barely rained at all. I cycled along northwards a bit more, and ended up camping at Lake Ianthe, yet another DOC campsite. That night, all of the rain which didn't come the day before suddenly arrived. At around 10:30pm I decided that my tent wasn't working as well as I thought it would. Maybe the water was getting in through the zippers? So, I semi-packed and ran everything the 400m to the Men's Changing Room over 6-7 trips. I put my sleeping mat and bag on a bench inside the blessed dryness, and fell asleep. I woke up with mosquitoes all over my face. Man, this is a shitty place. What next? So, I pitched my tent (which is free-standing) inside the changing room in order to escape from those vile insects.



So, I was fairly soaked in the morning, but not quite as badly as I could've been. I cycled to Hokitika and stayed in a Backpacker hostel there. It was fairly cheap, and nothing flash. I made Chilli there, which was absolutely excellent for my first attempt. If I do say so myself. There was a fantastic sunset that night (coming to mind is the saying: "Red sky at night, Sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning"? I've been trying to think out how the colour of the sky at different times has such an effect on sailors. I have some crazy theories I've thought up.)



Afterwards I just sat in the kitchen and talked to this couple from Christchurch who were just finishing up a short vacation. They were really nice, and knew quite a bit about the surrounding area. Many days later, as he faced the destroyed rear tire, Benjamin Corner was to remember that distant afternoon when his friends-from-Christchurch told him about Arthurs Pass. Alright, that sentence doesn't quite make sense, but I felt like adding in a literary reference. It was only two days later, and the afternoon when I'd talked to them wasn't very distant at all. Anyways, my rear tire shredded while going over Arthur's Pass, and after I had been off the bike only 5 minutes they happened to be driving by and offered me a lift all the way to Christchurch! I want to reiterate to anyone traveling that they should ALWAYS be nice to people they meet along the way. They can save your ass.
They gave me a bed to sleep in that night, and a meal to eat. As we were talking at dinner, it turned out that the man, Selwyn, had won a Gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in Field Hockey! I actually got to touch it, which was really amazing. It was really cool to actually meet an Olympian. You see them on T.V. and the newspapers, but they somehow seem like an unreal, fantastic, separate group of people. So that was really neat.


Okay, going to stop for the moment, maybe I'll get to update a bit more in the near-future.

Queenstown, The West Coast, and Arthurs Pass

Well, just after I finished writing the last blog, I went up to the counter to pay for my time on the computer and the guy behind it gave me $5 off in exchange for me delivering a small package to someone about a block away. So, I got a good deal there!
Headed out of Te Anau, and had a bit of a tail-wind for a large portion of the day, which was excellent! For the last 2 hours I was positively flying down the road, with the combined bonuses of a slight downhill and a tail-wind. That night, I ended up camping just past Mossburn, near the Oreti River. There was a small, rough road going off the side of the highway along the river as an angler's access point. I did a little bit of fishing, but didn't catch anything (again).
The next day I rode along towards Queenstown, and camped about 3km short of Kingston, the home of the "kingston Flyer" vintage train, which I was kindly woken up by the next morning. Here, I met a guy from Australia who had been living in New Zealand for the last 20 years, and who had the second-most unintelligible speech of anyone I've met on my trip (the first was a guy called "Brownie" in Te Puke, of whose spoken words only about 1 of five could be decrypted.) This guy, who called himself "John Dingo", was traveling around by car, but had a problem with it and had broken down beside the highway. Apparently, instead of calling a tow truck or mechanic, he had just stayed in his car for 2 nights, until, he said: "a Christian helped me move my car."
He was an odd fellow, but nice. Next day, I rode into Queenstown, which was fairly uneventful. I stayed in some very confused accommodation, called "Resort Lodge Backpackers". Unfortunately for me, that night it was St. Patty's day, so there were drunk people singing outside all night, slightly limiting the restfulness of the hostel. Queenstown was pretty much what I expected it to be: touristy. In fact, while I was there, I met a grand total of two locals! I did have a very nice pizza at a small restaurant called "The Cow". I stayed another night, and the next day, just as I was about to leave, I met a guy who just happened to live in the Powderhorn neighbourhood of Minneapolis, and who plays Frolf at the course just downhill (obviously) from Highland! That was pretty funny.
So, I headed out to Arrowtown, an old gold-town where the residents have now switched to mining the rich deposits of cash in tourists'wallets. At a suggestion from Dad, I thought I'd try to go up to Macetown, which is 25km up a river gorge and is now nothing but a ghost town. The 4x4 "road" crosses the river 22 times (or so), at fords of varying depths. After spending about an hour ferrying bike and panniers across several fords (at least the river was very low), I had only made it about 1500 meters from the start of the "road". I was getting a little dispirited to say the least, and decided to ditch my bike in the bushes somewhere and just take my hiking pack up, with my camping stuff inside. However, once I had gotten everything into my pack, someone else walked up and said they thought I was almost done with the river crossings, and that I should keep on going. So, back on the bike everything went, and I pushed onwards. However, about half an hour later, another couple in a 4WD stopped and offered me a lift in their car, which I gladly accepted! I hid my bike and panniers in the bushes, and jumped in. Going up, I'm extremely glad I didn't keep on going on my bike, as it would've taken me probably 15 hours to reach the town remains.
They were really nice, and dropped me off at the top. I met 2 couples there who had driven up with everything in their 4WDs. There were two from Queenstown, and two from Chicago. I said hello, and ended up getting a dinner and company out of it! Interesting people, and it was nice to have some interesting conversation as well.
The next morning, they gave me a lift down to where my bike was stowed, and even took my extra bags to a(n amazing) candy shop in town which they owned! That was really nice of them.
I sat around on the green grass in the middle of town for an hour or two, and then decided I really should be getting going. I left town, and chose to go to Wanaka via the Crown Terrace, which happens to be the highest-altitude 'high'way in New Zealand. Of course, I ended up getting a flat about 1km (length, not height) from the top of the climb. Fortunately, a couple with a trailer picked me up and tossed the bike in the back. I had left it a bit late anyways, so it was good to get into Wanaka that night.
I happened to be in Wanaka during the "Warbirds over Wanaka" airshow, and I caught snatches of that over the 2 days I stayed there. Next, left for Haast Pass. Made it up and over that without too much trouble. Time almost up, so:
To Be Continued...