Jake didn’t want to go further. 2 broken spokes and the ride was over. I had to catch a bus and take the two of us to Fox Glacier. Unfortunately there are nil bicycle repair shops between Fox and Wanaka so I had to take another bus. But first 2 days in Fox…. Another day off riding and went to Lake Mattheson with some cool folks from the hostel. European crew:

French Blanche, Dutch Harmke, Belgium Aurelie, Italian Ivan & Lucky German Thore.

Due to the earthquake, the access to the Glacier is only possible by helicopters so I skipped that way of travel… that night we strolled to the glow worms path – impressive to see and nice finish of the day with Sauvignon Blanc from the bottle.

Next day into Wanaka, climbing up the Haast Pass – all by bus. Was hard & I a bit sad that I couldn’t do the tour with Jake as it’s very scenic, especially after you made it over the pass. But I think for some reason I shouldn’t have ridden these narrow steep roads…

In Wanaka been not so active, little afternoon hike to Mt. Iron and next day went rock climbing which I haven’t done for many years.

Loved it – sore arms for couple of days though…at the evening met up with Ivan, Jan and Ingo, another German cyclist. Had a great hostel dinner, leak tart and mushroom risotto. Killed some bottles of wine…

…then I was ready for bed as I wanted to hit the road to Mt. Cook early in the morning. Not so clever with a hangover. Lindis Pass waiting for me….1.050m elevation and 100km waiting for me…