Steve Morgan - www.stevemorgan.me.uk - Cycle Tour of New Zealand, South Island, 2004

Whitebaiting on the West Coast

Knights Point - Onroute to Fox Glacier

An inquizitive cow, SH 6!

Day 8 - Just another beach...

Decided (as all of the guided glacier walks were full in Fox) to make my way up to Franz Josef instead. Storing my luggage at the backpackers I took a side trip down to Gillespies Beach, to see a seal colony. It was a 20km ride over some unsealed (i.e. gravel) road to find that this just took me to the beach and I still had a 3 hour tramp to get to the seal colony!! (doh!) Gave up on the seals and hit the road to Franz Josef, there were 3 hills between them (on a ride that was only 23 km!) but they were some pretty tiring hills! Stayed at sister hostel to Bunig Chatueax Franz - $18, free soup!!

Day 9 - My First Glacier Hike

Paying $110 for a full-day hike and I believe it was one of the best activities in NZ! My guides were nuts and very passionate... they went off hacking through the glacier a new path attempting to get to the holy grail of glaciers, a new crevice! These things appear every so often and they make a bee-line for them! The glacier itself is quite outlandish, with pure blue patches (no oxeygen in the ice).. A great day, and thoughrly recomended!

Glacier Hike, Franz Josef

Glacier guide cuts out a new route..

Squeezing through!

Day 10 - Mount Hercules!

I'd told a few locals about my days journey, they all smiled and said 'wait untill you get to Mt. Hercules'... One hill, and what a hill! Think it would be a lot nicer to attempt from the other direction!! I passed a small town, (pop - 2, and a giant plastic sandfly!) called Pukekura, which I decided to head back to after dropping my bags to get a comedy photo of the aforementioned sand fly... The hostel was an old church, that this guy had literally moved down the road (he showed me photos, they just stuck the whole thing on a flat-bed truck!)! I cycled back to Pukekura (about 8kms back down the road, even though the women in the Old Church offered me the use of her car!) and the Sand Fly had gone in :( I condoled myself with a beer... and a natter with one of the two residents (who owned, the bar, the tourist centre and the giant sandfly... The Old Church - $20

Day 11 - Rained again..

Got up nice and early in an attempt to beat the rain.... and wished I hadn't bothered! It rained for the first 30km's, and then the wind kicked in! The road was bordered with large open farms (not a tree in site) though it did follow the coast, which made up for the wind! The penultamate 10 km started with some shelter (finally) from the wind and a shoulder appeared so I could avoid the giant logging trucks! These luxuries didn't offset the dangerous, one-lane bridges (one lane for traffic, poor cycle-tourists and trains!) with a rail track to negociate. The book warned of this, and there were even signs of cyclists falling (see pic!) Stayed at Noah's Ark (where every room is named and themed after an animal!) - $21 (bears room!)

Pukekura - The giant (missing) Sand Fly!

The Old Church Backpackers, nr Kakapotahi

Caution, bludey rail tracks, on a one lane bridge!

Day 12 - A day of rest

Day 13 - Who's afraid of a little wind?

I'd seen a weather report warning of 35km/h winds due to hit in the afternoon, so I cut my day short and stayed at the wonderful 'Beach Hostel' in Punakaiki! It's run by this great german guy who bakes fresh german style bread and muffins! Nearby were the Pancake Rocks and some nice walks! Oh and the wind never came! With all the energy I saved I decided to add a side trip to Cape Foulwind the next day...

Day 14 - NOT Via Cape Foulwind..

Was intending to go via Cape Foulwind, but then I got pissed upon all the way, so gave up on that idea. Got some bar-ends fitted to my cycle to allievate the numbness setting into my hands and met this guy called Alex with a car who took me out to the seal colony at Cape Foulwind! I liked the hostel (Basil's - $20) but all my food got stolen!

The bike at Puneikaiki's Pancake Rocks

Seals at Cape Foulwind


	Day 8 - Just another beach... Fox Glacier - Gillespies Beach - Franz Josef Ave Speed - 15.5 km/h Time - 4 hrs, 27 mins Distance - 69.34 km Total Distance - 458 km
	Decided (as all of the guided glacier walks were full in Fox) to make my way up to Franz Josef instead. Storing my luggage at the backpackers I took a side trip down to Gillespies Beach, to see a seal colony. It was a 20km ride over some unsealed (i.e. gravel) road to find that this just took me to the beach and I still had a 3 hour tramp to get to the seal colony!! (doh!) Gave up on the seals and hit the road to Franz Josef, there were 3 hills between them (on a ride that was only 23 km!) but they were some pretty tiring hills! Stayed at sister hostel to Bunig Chatueax Franz - $18, free soup!!
	Day 9 - My First Glacier Hike
	Paying $110 for a full-day hike and I believe it was one of the best activities in NZ! My guides were nuts and very passionate... they went off hacking through the glacier a new path attempting to get to the holy grail of glaciers, a new crevice! These things appear every so often and they make a bee-line for them! The glacier itself is quite outlandish, with pure blue patches (no oxeygen in the ice).. A great day, and thoughrly recomended!


	Day 10 - Mount Hercules! Franz Josef - Kakapotahi Distance - 95.88 km (108.7 km) Ave Speed - 16.3 km/h (16.6 km/h) Time - 5 hrs, 53 mins (6 hrs, 32 mins) Total Distance - 554 km (567 km)
	I'd told a few locals about my days journey, they all smiled and said 'wait untill you get to Mt. Hercules'... One hill, and what a hill! Think it would be a lot nicer to attempt from the other direction!! I passed a small town, (pop - 2, and a giant plastic sandfly!) called Pukekura, which I decided to head back to after dropping my bags to get a comedy photo of the aforementioned sand fly... The hostel was an old church, that this guy had literally moved down the road (he showed me photos, they just stuck the whole thing on a flat-bed truck!)! I cycled back to Pukekura (about 8kms back down the road, even though the women in the Old Church offered me the use of her car!) and the Sand Fly had gone in :( I condoled myself with a beer... and a natter with one of the two residents (who owned, the bar, the tourist centre and the giant sandfly... The Old Church - $20
	Day 11 - Rained again.. Kakapotahi - Greymouth Distance - 84.9 km Ave Speed - 13.9 km/h Time - 6 hrs, 5 mins Total Distance - 652 km
	Got up nice and early in an attempt to beat the rain.... and wished I hadn't bothered! It rained for the first 30km's, and then the wind kicked in! The road was bordered with large open farms (not a tree in site) though it did follow the coast, which made up for the wind! The penultamate 10 km started with some shelter (finally) from the wind and a shoulder appeared so I could avoid the giant logging trucks! These luxuries didn't offset the dangerous, one-lane bridges (one lane for traffic, poor cycle-tourists and trains!) with a rail track to negociate. The book warned of this, and there were even signs of cyclists falling (see pic!) Stayed at Noah's Ark (where every room is named and themed after an animal!) - $21 (bears room!)


	Day 14 - NOT Via Cape Foulwind.. Punakaiki - Westport Distance - 57.0 km Ave Speed - 14.5 km/h Time - 3 hrs, 54 mins Total Distance - 757 km
	Was intending to go via Cape Foulwind, but then I got pissed upon all the way, so gave up on that idea. Got some bar-ends fitted to my cycle to allievate the numbness setting into my hands and met this guy called Alex with a car who took me out to the seal colony at Cape Foulwind! I liked the hostel (Basil's - $20) but all my food got stolen!


	The bike at Puneikaiki's Pancake Rocks		Cape Foulwind		Seals at Cape Foulwind