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...