Three girls, six wheels, 1 island, 28 days

Three Good Keen Girls are spending 28 days cycling from Dunedin to Christchurch - via Invercargill, Milford Sound and Central Otago. The crazy three are Byrdie (seasoned cycle tourist) and Julie and Erin (newbies).

We flew into Dunedin on Boxing Day. The hills of Dunedin were our baptism by fire - Julie and Erin hadn't even practiced riding with fully loaded pannier bags! Good thing we had a huge cafe breakfast with Janet, temporary Dunedin Resident and ex-Invercargill flatmate. Surviving the hills out of Dunedin means that we now know we can cycle anything. Until we hit the winds of Southland.

We had a lovely 3 days cycling south along the Southern Scenic Route, through the Catlins. Lots of hills, fuelled by peanut butter sandwiches. We did a side trip to Nugget Point which was well worth it.

The last 10km into Curio bay on Day 3 was when the wind hit. It was probably the hardest 10km of the trip so far. We were so relieved to finally arrive at Julie's flatmate's family bach. Her aunt and uncle were staying there and showered us with southern hospitality. The wind and rain continued and Margaret suggested we stay a second night, and she would drive us the 80km into Invercargill on Thursday. It didn't take much convincing to agree! Margaret gave us a tour of the Catlins by car, hopping out into gale-force winds to view the crashing waves against impressive rocks and cliffs. We saw a few yellow-eyed penquins and specks that were seals.

Today we are holed up in Invercargill's i-site information centre, waiting for the weather to settle before we hop back on the bikes and head to Riverton. Julie and Erin's bike stands have both bent beyond repair (Erin's snapped), but apart from that we haven't had any mechanical issues.

I'm looking forward to heading north from Tuatapere, where we will be pretty much guaranteed a tail wind!