West Coast Rainy Days

Hey guys, we're writing from Fox Glacier. We're finally warm and dry at a hostel after a week of camping in the rain at DOC sites. Here's what we've been up to.

Our ride from Abel Tasman to the west coast took us down the Motueka Valley Hwy to our first stop at Tapawera. We continued onto Murchison, where we met several other cyclists. The next day took us through the beautiful Buller Gorge to Westport. A day off in Westport brought us to Cape Foulwind, where we saw a young seal colony and ate lunch on the edge of a cliff. Pictures to come. That night we bought a rigger of lager from a local brewery and shared it with some new friends, mostly from England, whom we met at our hostel. Mmm.

The next day it was back on the bikes. Riding towards Punakaiki, we stopped to explore a goldmine (it reminded us of an ant colony, and some of the tunnels seemed near collapse, scaring us as we ran through!) and a jade workshop in Charleston. Punakaiki is the home of the famous Pancake Rocks, meriting a day off the bikes. We visited the rocks, which really do look like pancakes, twice. The first time was in the morning and at low tide, and it was nothing compared to our second, nighttime visit at high tide. The sea was rough and the winds were high, pushing massive amounts of water into the air through the blowholes. We got really wet!

And we´ve been wet ever since. It rained the next day on our way to Greymouth, and the next, and the next, and the next. John and Mikaela caught up with us a little outside Greymouth, which was an awesome surprise! We camped and rode together the next few days, and really roughed it. DOC sites are often very beautiful and wild, and also pretty basic. Mikaela and Torrey took to bathing in lakes :) Several attempts to get our broken tent pole fixed proved futile, driving us to buy a new pole in Hokitika (we´re pleased to report it´s been holding up). But now we have a new problem. This one at least provided some entertainment, though. Our fuel canister exploded!

The night before last, we were camped near Franz Josef glacier, and in the middle of cooking our lentil stew, we switched fuel canisters. The new one must have had some kind of leak, because it burst into flame (causing a surprised Luc to cast it to the ground!) and, as our shocked neighbors looked on, blew up with a loud bang! So we no longer have a stove (it melted), but our neighbors, who come from Montreal and are touring the world in a year (!), were kind enough to let us use their motorhome kitchen. And let us tag along on their Franz Josef hike the next day! The glaciers are stunning and blue, and it's been fun staying here and getting to know Michele, Charle, Jean Francois, Patricia, and kids, but now it's time to move on. So we're taking a bus to Wanaka tomorrow to get Luc's bike fixed (I forgot to say! On the way to Franz Josef, it broke a spoke. That was when we split off from John and Mikaela for the second time. We hope to meet again in Wanaka).

So, take care, all. Hope this post isn't too confusing! We're writing on a Mexican laptop and the keys are all in different places; that's our excuse :)