after blenheim the scenery changes again with rolling bare hills while the road leads over the dashwood pass. i took the turnoff to marfells beach, another d.o.c campsite and the first one which i left again after i had a look around. the place was completely taken over by locals who seemed to want to… Continue reading east coast
Author: mat
port underwood road
all the way back towards picton along the queen charlotte drive, one has still the view of the sounds. picton is a very small town and which gets its importance because of the ferry to wellington that departs here. the small place gets quiet crowded before the departure or after the arrival of a ferry… Continue reading port underwood road
marlborough sounds
once again i stayed at a d.o.c. campsite, this time at pelorus bridge. a wonderful campsite at a river surrounded by forest with several walking tracks in the area. on top of that it has a kitchen and hot showers. i met another cyclist, guillaume from france. we both cooked two meals each and had… Continue reading marlborough sounds
new year
it started raining again and didn’t stop for 2 days, but on the last the of the year the weather got better. i cycled towards nelson and wasn’t sure if i would find a place to stay as the town would be rather busy. half-heartedly i asked at two hostels, earned just some sympathetic looks,… Continue reading new year
golden bay
as i was getting weary of the main road, i took a left turn into a gravel road and exchanged the rather smooth surface of the road with gravel but had only 2 cars within an hours drive. the scenery was untypically sparse for new zealand but not without character. the next morning i bought… Continue reading golden bay
bob’s place
the next day it was only a couple of kilometers until we reached bob’s place. our host arrived 5 minutes later with material for a structure he was planning in his vegetable garden. he had made already quiet an effort to create a level area for the tents and outdoor toilet with view of the… Continue reading bob’s place
west coast
i arrived in greymouth and checked in at the yha as the weather was getting worse. without asking i got a bicycle discount as a low carbon traveller. the common room looked like the drawing room in an old english country house with comfy couches, tons of books and even a piano which was fun… Continue reading west coast
arthur’s pass
i wanted to get into the mountains again and cycling over the arthur’s pass to the west coast seemed like the quickest way to get that. the first day i just cycled outside the city in more or less the same weather as on the day i arrived, but the next day was perfect. sunny… Continue reading arthur’s pass
christchurch
arriving in christchurch after midnight, there was little else to do after assembling the bicycle then to get some hours of sleep in the designated rest area. bicycle touring seems to be so popular in new zealand that they even have a bicycle assembly area with a bike stand to assist while piecing the bike… Continue reading christchurch
melbourne
since i arrived in australia i was looking forward to this city and at times it looked like i won’t have the time to see it. so i was glad to spend at least my last days in oz here. a couple of people from the farm in hillston were also in town and i… Continue reading melbourne