Zoom zoom to Westport

It was one of those beautiful days where it's just a joy to be on the bike, a complete about-face from my experience riding yesterday. I started the day on the shores of Lake Rotoiti, where I noticed a sign saying it was the start of the Buller River. What I didn't realize was that my route would take me all along the Buller River until it emptied into the ocean. As it grew, it dropped into deep gorges until it eventually mellowed out into a mature, meandering river. I didn't feel like ending the day in Murchison (it was only 11 a.m. when I arrived), so I made the decision to keep riding at least as far as Iahuanga Junction (60 miles from where I started). When I asked the girl at the "One Stop Shop" there how far it was to Westport and she said it was 45 km, I told her that with some ice cream, I could probably make it that far.

And indeed, the 100 miles weren't a problem (although my bum was a bit sore by the end after 7-8 hours on the bike). New Zealand ice cream is pretty good stuff!

Along the way, I did stop to take a fair number of pictures (I carried the SLR over my shoulder) and I also stopped at the longest Swinging Bridge in New Zealand (160 m long), on the advice of the friendly woman at the information center in Murchison.

It turns out that the weather here is pretty fickle. As I was setting up my tent at this "Holiday Park", the weather turned from overcast to downpour in about ten minutes. I dashed to the showers, and by the time I was done, the weather had cleared.

And now, while I've been catching up on e-mail tonight, we've had another 15-minute downpour. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I'll stay dry tonight. If all else fails, I'll take shelter on the couch here!