Category: New Zealand

Nearly every day of riding in New Zealand has taken us through beautiful landscapes, but our arrival to the South Island turned the already-high level up several more notches, to the point where we’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to not ride through an epic fantasy film. That streak may now be coming to a…

Day 3 When we spent a few days in Franz Josef waiting out rain, there was a big group of chaperoned high school students staying in the backpackers accommodation with us. Each morning, they would all appear in the kitchen for breakfast, and when finished and cleaned up, they’d be nudged by their chaperones to…

We were up at first light, thinking of heading further north up the dead-end road to have breakfast where The Fellowship of the Ring once camped. But it was so cold that such complexities would have been more painful than pleasureable, so we just cooked and ate at our own camp (with Rett inside the…

While Glenorchy is definitely an end-of-the-road town, Queenstown is a bit of a dead-end too. Due to long Lake Wakatipu (and all the mountain ranges everywhere), the only road access is from the east (where we came in from) or the south. But there is another way out! The Tour Aotearoa country-long bike route (and…

Day 4 Yesterday morning we looked out of our motel room window and saw new snow on the mountains. This morning, we saw a rainbow. When we first got to Glenorchy, Rett found the area so beautiful that she determined we should stay for a week. I thought that was too long, and would cut…