Mou Waho Island

 Maybe I'll go at this from another angle.  Instead of trying to catch up on earlier dates, I'll enter some stuff from today, April 20th.  Today was an off-the-bike day.  We were hoping to take a flight to Milford Sound (fly to Milford Sound, cruise a little bit on a boat, and then fly back).  The 0800 flight was canceled due to cloud cover.  We held out hope we could go at 1:00 pm, but that was canceled, too, due to strong tail winds at the Milford Sound air strip.  We are going to try one more time tomorrow morning.  

Oh, and I had to mention that a number of photos that I use are not photos that I myself took.  I took the dull, boring ones.  The good ones have been pilfered from various others on the trip:  Wende Hargrove, Larry Matz, Cecille Taylor, John Engstrom, Roberta Kitowski, Jack Kitowski, Sarah-Lin Aamodt, Nadia Burleson, Bob Burleson, Patti Baumert, Terrie Hansen and, of course, Linda Lasswell.  I have also swiped screenshots from the laptop while Googling stuff.  So while I may not have taken all the pictures, rest assured I at least was THERE.  

After we received word that Milford Sound was off for Monday, Linda and I made reservations on the Wanaka Water Taxi to Mou Waho Island.  It was a 30 minute boat ride over to the island, 2 hours on the island and a 30 minute ride back.  It was a bit nippy in the wind, but the cabin was covered and protected from the wind and the spray.  We'd been nervous about what to wear and how cold or warm it would be on the island.  Turns out we were attired perfectly for the situation. 

Mou Waho Island:  Mou Waho Island Wikipedia

I ripped off this photo from the internet.  

It's pretty cool.  There is a lake on the island, and that lake has two little islands in it.  So we have two islands in a lake (Arethusa Pool), on an island (Mou Waho) in a lake (Lake Wanaka), on an island (new Zealand) in the ocean.  

A beautifully posed fantail--by Linda Lasswell

Day 6 Cape Foulwind to Greymouth 04/12/2026

 Photos from Day 6 in no particular order. 

That little figure in the middle?  That's Linda.

These next few are from Pancake Rocks and Blowholes at Punakaiki,

Punakaiki Pancake Rocks & Blowholest.co.nz/visit/discover/highlights/pancake-rocks-and-blowholes/

This is the actual blowhole.  It was low tide.  Needs to be at high tide and best with rough seas. 

If you have high tide and rough seas, it looks like this: 

Day 6 was a lot like riding along Highway 1 in California.  We rode along the coastline all day long.  Beautiful views out to our right the whole day.  Except in this case it was NZ State Highway 6.  Not a ton of shoulder, but not a ton of traffic, either.  

Lush, dense forests of ferns and palms and all kinds of trees.  

State Hwy 6 NZ--Street View

Wet at Lake Moeraki

 Let's get a little caught up on the rides, I'm falling way too far behind.  I had good intentions yesterday.  I had two hours free and wifi was working.  Plugged in the laptop, turned it on.  Turned it on.  TURNED IT ON.  The laptop wasn't firing up.  Messed around with it for almost an hour before finally realizing that the outlet I'd plugged into wasn't hot.  

For those smarty-pants' that have been to New Zealand and know about the switches that are used to turn outlets on and off--yes, I double-checked that the switch was hot.  After that I had to go away and take a break from the machine.  

With the battery re-charged (it also needs a new battery as this one's fading) I sat down at the couch to finally complete one measly entry.  The laptop fired up fine.  Everything looked ok.  Then the mouse wouldn't work.  I messed around with that for another 30 mins.  After Googling bluetooth solutions for this particular mouse and getting nowhere, I did the obvious thing and the thing that most people would have done first:  I rebooted.  Yes, that worked.  But by then I was wiped out mentally and gave up.  Blogging sucks.  

I'm going to download all rides and routes to date and then post photos to this entry as I can.  There are 5 ride days left, tomorrow may be a bust if it's raining again.  

Day 5 route on Strava:  NZ Day 5 Reefton to Cape Foulwind

RidewithGPS route:  NZ Day 5 Reefton to Westport (I know the route says to "Westport" but we blew right past it all the way to Cape Foulwind (another 6 miles)

Day 6 route on Strava: NZ Day 6 Cape Foulwind to Greymouth 

RidewithGPS route:  NZ Day 6 Cape Foulwind to Greymouth 

Day 7 route on Strava: NZ Day 7 Greymouth to Jacksons

RidewithGPS route:  NZ Day 7 Greymouth to Jacksons 

Day 8 was a rest day in Hokitika.

Day 9 route on Strava:  NZ Day 9 Hokitka to Franz Josef Glacier 

RidewithGPS route:  NZ Day 9 Hokitika to Franz Josef Glacier 

Day 10 route on Strava (it was a shorty):  NZ Day 10 Franz Josef Glacier to Fox Glacier 

RoutewithGPS route:  NZ Day 10 Franz Josef Glacier to Fox Glacier 

Day 11 (TODAY!) route on Strava:  NZ Day 11 Fox Glacier to Lake Moeraki 

RidewithGPS route: NZ Day 11 Fox Glacier to Lake Moeraki 

Let's see how long it takes for me to get behind again. Exciting stuff that is, above.  I never thought of showing the complete routes on one map.  So here goes that:

After the last ride on Thursday the 22nd we are van-pooled back to Christchurch and then fly home on Thursday.  

Lake Moeraki, our Day 11 destination, is amazing.  Beautiful all around.  It's also located in a rain forest. So guess what it did today?  

They tell me it rained 4 inches Friday.  It is easy to believe that.  It POURED.  At Lake Moeraki we were supposed to do some hiking and kayaking.  I even bought some special "water shoes" (just shoes with a bunch of holes in them so the water drains out) for the kayaking.  I wonder if I kept the box they came in? Even having missed those activities, the lodge really was amazingly comfortable and pretty.  The lodge usually requires a minimum two night stay at $1200 (NZ) per night.  Brian negotiated some deal where the lodge allows Brian's guests to stay just one.  It's so expensive that Brian, Carole and Eleanor stay at another hotel 20 miles away (and that same one we're staying at on Saturday night 4/18.  

So some photos?  

From the road on our way to Cape Foulwind (Westport) from Reefton and in Cape Foulwind:  

I can imagine an old mariner naming Cape Foulwind for the dangerous winds that drove ships onto the rocks, etc.  I hear Cape Foulwind and all I can think of is it's a title for a Monty Python skit or something from Spinal Tap.  

Someone made this sandfly statue out of steel & stuff--really good job.  

Near Berlins on Lower Buller Gorge Road right along the Buller River. Can't quite tell, but that's me trying to look terrified of the giant sandfly.

I was all wound up about sandflies.  They haven't been as bothersome as I';d feared before coming over.  I've been bitten a few times, but if you leave the bites alone they don't go crazy.  So far, so good.  Part of it has been I've covered up almost all my skin and then the weather has played favorably for the most part.  

The first 10 miles (maybe more) of this ride were in a thick fog.  Made it a little dicey at first, but once it cleared it was a beautiful day out. 

Kilkenny Overlook on the Buller River.  The highest the water has ever measured in this gorge was at the bottom edge of that overhang just to the left of center

Linda, Cecille Taylor and John Engstrom (across the street from the sandfly sculpture). 

After arriving in Cape Foulwind we took an hour-long hike along the Cape Foulwind Walkway.

Cape Foulwind Walkway

Dealing with photos in this blogger app is a PITA.  Cna't move 'em around once in and the drag-n-drop's a hassle.  That's why these photos are out of order chronologically. I tried once to move them around, and I tried to get them uploaded to a specific spot in the entry but nothin' doin'. 

Lunch along the Buller River earlier in the day prior to arriving in Cape Foulwind. 

Linda and Kiki Flowers

Carole Gibbs in the green top, Eleanor Hughes in the blue, getting our lunches ready. 

Back to the Cape Foulwind Walkway.

The seal colony was a bit quiet the day we were there.  Just 4 or 5 seals.  Good thing was there weren't any sanflies, either. 

One of the lonely seals. 

Finally no wind. . . an Introduction to Sandflies. . . and Over Lewis Pass

 Day 4 ride data from Strava, which I had to split into two entries, which I'll explain later:

NZ Day 4a Hanmer Springs to Reefton 

NZ Day 4b Hanmer Springs to Reefton 

Route map from RidewithGPS:  NZ Day 4 Hanmer Springs to Reefton 

After the 106 miles the day before I was ready for a little bit of a break.  The original full route from Hanmer Springs to Reefton was 85 miles.  Brian Farrant proposed riding out 20 miles, loading the bikes on the van, moving ahead 25 miles and riding the last 40.  

Sounded good to me for a few reasons.  First, was beat and wasn't relishing the thought of riding 85 miles (and another 6,000 feet of climbing) on top of 106 miles the day before.  Second, the road to Lewis Pass, NZ Hwy 7, was super busy.  By the time we got to mile 20 I was ready to jump on board and cut out the 25 miles of traffic.  After getting in the van and driving the 25 miles, I was convinced I'd done the right thing.  It was a lot like riding Green Valley Road between Folsom and Cameron Park but without the shoulders (a slight exaggeration, but you get the point).  

After getting back on the bike for the last 40 miles, the traffic was much, much lighter and tolerable.  And as the day wore on my legs felt better and better.

Reefton's a super cool little town.  It reminds me of Guerneville, CA, with the Inangahua River filling in for the Russian River.  

I met the first sandflies of the trip.  I am not sure if I got bitten, but they were sure trying.  I was wearing some UV leggings and arm covers so I had very little skin exposed except for my fingers, my wrists, my face, ears and neck.  It didn't stop the lil buggers from trying.

 

Linda and me at the 20 mile point where we got jumped ahead 25 miles--and our first sandfly sightings. And probably bites, though they don't appear to bother me too badly.

A typical rest stop set-up by NZ Bicycle Tours.  L-R John Engstrom, Cecille Taylor, and Carole Gibb.  Carole is Brian Farrant's partner.  She's a lovely lady, brings homemade snacks for us every day.  Including carrot cake on Day 3!! Forgot to mention that.

View of the Waiau Uhwa River from NZ 7 Hwy (in the first 20 miles of the ride)

We don't see a lot of summit signs, ran across just this one so far. 

A couple of shots from the 2nd half of the day's ride.

Getting close to Reefton at this point. 

Stepped off the road just a little bit, road to Reefton. 

This little guy hopped right up to one of our group--just stood there, likley waiting for some sort of treat. 

We were in the Hurunui District from Hamner Springs to the summit of Lewis Pass. 

Lantern Court Motels, Reefton.  Our accomodations for the night.

Downtown Reefton. 

Our room was lower floor, middle.