It seems to be clearing up into a nice day. Two 600ft climbs, and a smaller one, before breakfast today. I left Fox Glacier at about 8:30 and cycled over the hills to the other glacier town, Franz Joseph, for breakfast (eggs Benedict with salmon instead of ham). It should be easy from here, unless the forecast headwind gets too strong, so I'm planning a 16 mile side trip to a lagoon and a nice walk at Okarito.
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| Okarito Lagoon | Southern Alps from Okarito Trig |
Okarito was very pretty after a gentle ride 8 miles down a pleasant side road. It's on a quiet lagoon which has lots of sea birds on season (not now). There's almost nothing there: a few houses, a Backpackers hostel, and a restored but non-functioning general store. There's a walk up 500ft to a survey point called the Trig, which has a spectacular view of the Alps, and of the coast. Finally I get to see Mt. Cook from the west side!
The afternoon cycling was just gorgeous. It did indeed turn onto a beautiful sunny day, with light winds. Gliding along past the lakes and rivers with the Alps as a backdrop was perfect.
I stopped for a break in Whataroa - tea and cake at the cafe/post- office/general store. A few miles before here the rain forest gave way to farming, and Whataroa seems like a prosperous little village not just dependent on tourism. I chatted to an nice elderly man from the North Island on an (elderly) van trip around the South with his friend - his son lives in Detroit and he's going to visit him soon.
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| Whataroa | Mount Adam Lodge Farm |
After this it was an easy 8 miles to my stopping point, Mt. Adam Lodge. This is gorgeous too! It's on a milk farm on the middle of nowhere with views of the pastures leading up to the mountains. (Actually a son now runs the farm and the Lodge is in one corner.) So peaceful! I went for a short walk around the farm in the evening sun.
What a fun end to the day! I was the only guest, and Mac and Elsa just fitted me in a big happy family get together farmhouse dinner - the brother (who has just finished working on the agricultural section of an on-line encyclopedia of NZ called Te Ara) was visiting from the North Island, and a daughter and family from Wataroa and the farming son and family were there too. Everyone was so friendly and inclusive it was impossible not to feel part of the group. It was an enormous spread too: mussels, sausages, steak, venison, lamb shanks, and roast lamb. Even with all the cycling it was a good thing I hadn't had lunch! It was fun to get a glimpse of such a different way of life. Mac and Elsa are closing the Lodge at the end of March, and Mac is going to start a cranberry farm, which seems to be an up and coming thing on the West Coast.
