John and I headed out to see the city and find food. We had just made it to the city square when we found Peggy and Lee, our friends from Little Rock who I had met a year earlier on a ride in Southern Italy. It really is a small world - 350,000 people in Christchurch, and our paths cross as they are headed to their hotel from the airport.

The next day we met the group at 10:30. Dan and Allison were a brother and sister from the Denver area, Alan and Kim from Santa Fe, John and Pam from Cambridge, Peggy (that's "Piggy" in heavy NZ accent)and Lee from Arkansas, and our two guides Roger and Biks (from Rebecca). We climbed into the minibus and headed for Hanmer springs (a hot springs area).

Day two was reminiscent of Seattle - cloudy, windy, and rain drops on the windshiled as we headed for the start of the day's ride from a pass above town. But it was not to be. The weather continued to deteriorate and Roger had to "pull the pin" on the day of riding as a few of the rivers we would have to ford would be flooding and thus unsafe. As the wind was so strong we actually had to pedal downhill, we didn't put up much of a fight. Was this an omen of things to come? A sample of the infamous NZ wind and rains? On the nightly news we heard that there had been 135 k/hr gusts at the southern tip of south island.

But day 3 was the turning point. The sun came out early in the morning - and the prior day was the last real rain we would see the entire two weeks. We rode down the Buller Canyon - the Buller is the second biggest river in the world as far as flow after a rain storm, flowing at over 300,000 cu ft a min.(the Amazon being #1)- to the Tasman Sea. We were now on the west coast where we would ride for the next several days. One day we biked down from Arthur pass (with lunch of pie, peas, and pud at a local pub) and then hiked to the Franz Joseph glacier the next. The ferns and moss reminded me a lot of the western side of Vancouver Island. The west side of NZ is the wetter side, and temperature wise the island is about as far south of the equator as Seattle is north of it.

We stopped in Hokitika to buy some greenstone (jade). Jade was valued by the Maori and used in trading. that evening we had our first lamb Bar-B-Q serenaded by 2 emus . For desert it was "Pavlova", a Kiwi special. A meringue cake with chocloate shavings on top. As we left town the next day, we could see Mt. Cook 200 K in the distance. Roger said we were lucky in that he had been there half a dozen times and this was the first time he had seen Mt. Cook from town.

That day we experienced the notorious sand flies of the west coast. A real nuisance - worse than mosquitoes - and that night I learned to play dominos from Peggy, Lee, and John.

Then it was biking over Hasst Pass and on to Queenstown - the prettiest setting for a town anywhere I've been. On the way, several of us took a break for a scenic flight up a mountain valley. It was windy (and bumpy) so a little more exciting than expected. Queenstown is the adventure capital of the world. Name an adrenaline rush sport and and you can find it in spades - jet boating, bungee jumping, skydiving, and on. Shop after shop set up to make arrangements, and the street crowded with 20 somethings on holiday. A few of us took the day off opportunity to climb Mount Ben Lomond which gave an unrestricted 360 degree view of the area. Mountains in all directions.

Next day we took the bikes on board a real steam ship, the TSS Earnslaw, and were ferried across the lake. We then biked a gravel road which few tourists ever see, to Lake Manapouri which has the nicest views from the room of any $40 motel I have ever stayed at. The following day it was off to Milford Sound via the Eglenton Valley. This valley is right up there with Yosemite, Bannf-Jasper, and Zion. We bussed the first part of the trip, but then got to ride (coast) our bikes down to Milford sound where we took a tour boat ride through the fiord like inlet andout to the Tasman Sea. After lunch we bussed back up to the divide (the crest of the western alps) and stopped for a hike to Key Peak. Reminiscent of some of the Enchantments in the Cascades near Leavenworth, but only an hour from the bus! Easy to see why NZ is famous for its "tracks" (trails) and "tramping" (backpacking).

The last two days were on the Otago Central RR "rails to trails" in the arid eastern part of the south island. Very much like Eastern Washington and Oregon. Hot (95 one day) and dry . We finally encopuntered our first major sheep obstacle as they were being herded from one pasture to another. It was fascinating to watch a team of sheep dogs moving them along. Our last night was in a hotel that could have been in Provence. After dinner it was a toast of champagne around, and then off to pack for the trip home. It was a great trip. Clear days, great scenery, new friends, no injuries, and 600 K on the bike.