It was an early start this morning.  We left the motel at 6:45am and walked to the Tramway Cafe at Cathedral Junction where we met up with our friends and had breakfast before being picked up by Will and Lewis from Adventure South Tours.  Our luggage was loaded, we piled into the bus and set off for the West Coast.  The scenery was spectacular as we headed towards the foothills of the Southern Alps.  We had a comfort stop at Springfield and lunch at Arthurs Pass.  From there we drove to Ross to start our cycling for the day.

It rained lightly but steadily the whole time we were cycling (the West Coast is a rainforest).  I even had to take my glasses off as I couldn’t see for the raindrops on them.  Eventually, after 32kms, we arrived in Hokitika, deposited our bikes in the bike shed, collected our luggage, found our room and luxuriated in a nice hot shower.  

At 6:45pm we piled into the bus and drove to an off-grid eco house 15 minutes drive away.  It’s owned by a lovely Dutch couple, who built the house about 12 years ago.  The husband works for Adventure South, as well as looking after their garden, and they host dinners for the tour groups to give a local experience.  The wife is an excellent cook, using produce from their garden, and it was a magical evening.  It didn’t take us long to head for bed after we returned to the hotel.


I am way behind with blip, I’ll catch up when I can.