day 034 – km 26165

wanaka-crown saddle (1084m)-arrow town-queenstown-walter peak-mavora lakes

136.02km 1715 alti meter

it ended up to be a long day on the road (which usually happens after a rest day) i met up with the group of us-cyclists i met in hokitika a couple days ago, i finally met alex from france (i heard about here and her friend when i was in chile. they were a couple days ahead of me and had a similar route on their further travels), in queenstown i met some more cyclists (from south africa and isreal). i didn´t want to stay in queenstown so i took the steamboat tss earnslaw to walters peak.

day 033 – day off

wanaka – day off

first rest day after 10 days on the bike. i put back on the rear rim brake as a backup. the discbrake gets really hot on long downhills and looses brakepower!?

stacey is part of the unofficial independent ice cream test-team. under test newzealands own “hoky poky”.

day 032 – km 26029

cameron flat – wanaka

nice ride passing lake wanaka and lake howea entering the tourist beach village wanaka.

day 031 – km 25946

lake paringa – haast pass (564m) – cameron flat

121,50km 1325 alti meter

i saw a lot cyclists going to other way and chated a little with some of them.

day 030 – km 25808

whataroa – lake paringa

128,66km 1089 alti meter

late afternoon the rain stops and i get some nice ocean views and beautiful colored farmland. a lot people leave notes on the rocks at the beach and make stone piles.

 

day 029 – km 25696

chesterfield – hokitika - whataroa

125,11km 903 alti meter

in the jade and glasblowing village of hokitika i met a group of 20 cyclists and their 2 supporting vehicles. heavy rains starts in the afternoon and will not stop for 2 days.

day 028 – km 25570

rahu saddle (670m) – reefton – chesterfield

143,51km 469 alti meter

nice smooth downhill to reefton. one of the once important mining village (first streetlight). after 2500km on newzealands road i finaly got stoped the first time by a nice policeman and told that i should get a helmet.

day 027 – km 25427

hanmer springs – lewis pass (915m) – rahu saddle (670m)

108,56km 1468 alti meter

nice climbing day with scenic mountain views but also lots of sandflies.

day 026 – km 25318

coldwater stream – island saddle (1370m) - hanmer springs

84,30km 1001 alti meter

again a nice riding day on the gravel road with less water crossings then yesterday. first real test for the new rear brakes is the downhill to hanmer springs (dropping 500m in 6km)

day 025 – km 25234

belgrove – st. arnaud – rainbow track – coldwater stream

92,36km 1537 alti meter

it rained hard all morning on the climbs to st. arnaud. but then it cleared up and i started to follow the electricity pilon service road called rainbow road.

day 024 – km 25142

havelock – belgrove

123,01km 1051 alti meter

nice riding day. i had to change the rear tire as the side wall was torn.

day 023 – km 25019

wellington – lower hutt – wellington – picton – havelock

70,65km 518 alti meter

thanx to the great support of rohloff and the help from chris&sue (puresports) and tristan (wheel works) i am back on the road. chris exchanged the hub-body of my rear hub and tristan checked the tuning before i took the ferry to picton. there starts the nice windy queen charlotte road towards nelson.

days 022 – day off

wellington – day off

some more relaxing and waiting for a solution for my bike problems..

day 021 – day off

wellington – day off

relaxing and walking around town….

day 020 – day off

wellington – day off

relaxing and checking routeoptions for the south island…

day 019 – km 24948

otaki – whitby – wellington

84,35km 537 alti meter

i stoped at the house of chris and sue (pure sports nz) and hopefully they can help me getting back on the road within a couple days. (once again i managed to break the unbreakable!?) wellington is like a ghosttown this sunday morning after the big rugby / party weekend.

day 018 – km 24863

upokonguro – otaki

137,16km 605 alti meter

the road flatend out a little and there was not much traffic so i decided to stay on the main road instead of the inland detour. nice park festivals with live bands, plays,….

day 017 – km 24726

national park village – whanganui river road – upokongaro

129,84km 1276 alti meter

great smells & views of mountain-farmland, forests, rivers, fresh cut grass, …. watching sheeps getting a “haircut” (but i didn´t) ;-)

day 016 – km 24596

taupo – national park village

113,59km 1138 alti meter

nice ride along the lake and then up to the “alps” with views of snow caped mountains.

brian from north carolina

day 015 – km 24483

pyes pa – rotorua – taupo

137,27km 1278 alti meter

nice ride through farmland and impressive hot mud/water pools

day 014 - km 24345

ngatea – karangahake gorge – pyes pa

120,61km 1006 alti meter

nice ride along the karangahake gorge, allthough i had to ride on the paved road as the walking path was not bike able.