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.