On Tuesday 25th of November I continued my cycling from Greymouth which is the starting point for the West Coast. The distance from Greymouth to Queenstown was around 600km, including a couple of MTB-detours.
All the books and people were saying that West Coast is known for being very rainy region - in some places it rains over 6 meters per year! The past few days before Greymouth had been very beautiful and sunny, and as I started to cycle from Greymouth, it started pouring rain. Of course.
West Coast Wilderness Trail was my first detour, which went through couple of small towns and beautiful landscapes. It is difficult to describe how the views were, but at least I tried to capture them on several pictures. Just before a town called Ross I had major problems with my route. After riding 12km on a difficult road, it ended to a bridge without floor. I saw the town on the other side of the wide river, but I couldn't cross the river even though I tried it hard from several places. In the end I ended up crossing the dangerous bridge, and hoped that I wouldn't fall. On the other side of the shore I noticed that my bicycle computer had lost, so I went back searchin for it. After an intensive search in the bushes and in the mud I found the computer. What an adventure!
Just before arriving to Franz Josef glacier town, I suffered my first flat tyre. The next morning I noticed that also the front tyre had gone flat. What is this s***t? The problems continued, it turned out, that in the rear tube was a manufacturing problem, so the tube kept on cracking from inside. After repairing and inflating the tyre for several times, I ran out of trying, so I hithchiked from Haast Pass to Wanaka, to get new inner tubes. Did you know that on NZ West Coast you can travel from Hokitika to Wanaka (420km) without finding spare tubes? -Well I know now.
All in all, West Coast was an awesome experience, even though it was raining almos every day. I cycled typically 60-90km per day, which wasn't bad at all.
During the trip I made several new friends, which I have seen later on in different towns.
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| Cycling from Greymouth to Haast Pass, and then a car ride from Haast Pass to Wanaka |
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| One of the several easy rive crossings in West Coast Wilderness Trail |
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| A view from Cowboy Paradise |
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| It is pouring rain outside! |
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| Where is the track disappearing? |
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| Only a fool would cross this bridge... |
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| 2 hours later, after trying to find a detour without success |
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| Franz Josef Glacier |
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| Flat tyre - again |
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| Thanks for these guys for giving me a ride from Haast Pass to Wanaka |
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