Central Otago, here we come!

We stayed in the friendly Bumbles backpackers in Queenstown. The next day they let us store our luggage after checkout and I hired a mountain bike to do Skippers Canyon. The girls stayed and shopped and drank coffee in Queenstown. It was a long hike on mountain bike to the start of Skippers - not helped by accidently taking the longer route to get there (scenic, but hilly!) - and mountain bikes are just not as efficient on the road as road bikes! By the time I huffed my way to the Skippers car park I was knackered. I sat and ate (what I usually do when knackered) and white things (suspiciously like snowflakes) were falling on me. I started out on the Skippers single track - a bit like a trip down memory lane as that was my maiden mountain bike track - my first time on a mountain bike ever; back in 2004. Unfortunately the brakes on the bike were awful - sticky and slow so I lost confidence (not helped by knowing you are in the middle of nowhere; out of cellphone coverage - and the schist rocks did look awfully solid). So I turned around and flew down the hills back to Queenstown. Erin took us to Dux Delux for alcoholic ginger beer (very nice) and then we caught up with some of her friends. At 6:30 PM (slightly later start than usual) we left queenstown for Arrowtown. it was a nice 20km ride in the early evening light and we stayed in a lovely small backpackers, Poplar Lodge (highly recommended).

Today we cycled 91km from Arrowtown to Alexandra. The wind was a nor'wester again which for once actually suited us and we flew down the Cromwell-Clyde highway. We passed some friendly tourists who were waving to us - before I realised it was Janet and Torrie!!! Rapid squealing of brakes and U-turn to say hello. Apparently they had been driving along and Janet was just talking about us and then not long later they spotted us on the road!

We bumped into Hannes the german cyclist again today; he had taken the bus to Dunedin and has just finished the Rail Trail. He is buzzing about it. We start tomorrow; probably to Ranfurly then across to Dansey's Pass....