Canterbury Plains

Having the whole dorm to ourselves meant Julie and I could have 2 mattresses each - making a super-soft bed that your body sunk into and got stuck in!

The next day had just as much low cloud but wasn't as windy. We decided to explore the Hooker Valley and then treat ourselves to a bus to Tekapo. Despite no views of the Alps (except a peak when the clouds parted at one point); it was a nice walk up to the Hooker Lake and Glacier. We could only get within about 400m of the glacier. It was pretty striking - like usual it wasn't a clean crisp white block of ice; rather it was covered with grey shingle and had varigations of grey running vertically through the ice; making it look a bit like a funky dessert (food on the mind as usual!). The lake at the base of the glacier had icebergs floating in it. If it had been a clear hot day it would have felt really odd standing beside them; but it was a cool day with a cold wind coming off the ice so it all felt rather appropriate.

The 4pm bus ride to Tekapo was heavenly. It felt amazingly good to sink back into the seat and watch the kilometres melt away.

Accomodation in Tekapo was fully booked as there were 2 weddings at the famous little Church of The Good Shepherd. Good thing we had our tents. We stayed at the YHA, which had a tiny chaotic kitchen for the number of people staying there. I ended up on the wrong side of the Free Food scheme - I unwittingly put our cheese and yoghurt in the fridge in the Free Food area (somehow didn't see the later very obvious sign) and within minutes it was gone!! Frustrated by my mistake, I hunted through all the food bags in the fridge and reclaimed our cheese and yoghurt - and left the japanese guy a note in his food bag explaining why 'his' cheese had gone missing.....

From Tekapo we rode to Fairlie, then into Mackenzie Country back roads to stay with Erin's friend, Erin. It was 13km up a country road, with 7km of gravel. It was exhausting and it wasn't until we came back along the same road the next day we realised how much uphill we had done.

The cycling through the Canterbury Plains isn't nearly as interesting as the hilly Fiordland or Catlins - just lots of dry grass with irrigation systems running. We will be taking the inland route via Mt Hutt which should be slightly more interesting.

Today we are biking to Geraldine; then Methven; then Christchurch. We will have 2-3 days to go shopping in Christchurch before we fly back to Rotorua. I'm looking forward to going shoe shopping!

We are currently in Pleasant Point, a village 20-30km from Timaru. I've just eaten a 'world famous' Dunheath custard square - have to admit it wasn't as exciting as I hoped (I'm sure I have made better).... One of the best things about cycling is working up an appetite so easily; and my sweet tooth really comes out!