Cycle: 72km

We slept through our rediculously early alarm of 8am and arose at a leisurely 9am! Hmmm, beds rock! We liked our funky hostel and felt thoroughly refreshed when we departed.

At the supermarket (while we stocked up on all our supplies for our Arthur's Pass adventure) I noticed the Humphrey's back tyre had completely split in two places! We delayed leaving town (it's 4 days to Christchurch) and made an emergency trip to the local bike store (LBS!) to pick up a new tyre. They didn't have any of my favourite bullet-proof Specialized Armadillo tyres so I had to make do with their next best one. Boo! No kevlar!

After a mid-town bike servicing session we finally got going. We went back up SH7 under much better circumstances than two days previously. The sun was shining and we had a tail wind! It was funny seeing the Grey River now look beautiful when it had looked terrible in the pouring rain.

We blasted up the road to our turn off to Lake Brunner and Moana. The roads were nice and quiet and we chatted whilst cycling through lovely countryside towards the lake. We were travelling alongside the Tranz-Alpine Railway line which Mum went along during her trip through the South Island.

Yet again we did well by going to the station cafe along the railway line. Unlike in England, the prices were reasonable and the foot excellent. Two Monteith Radlers helped too, and led to some entertaining cycling when we got back on the road!

We finished our scenic route by getting back on the highway to Arthur's Pass and stopping at our campsite: Jackson's Retreat - only been open for a year or so and definitely a contender for best campsite so far. It's simply immaculate but also very homely!