Jan 18, Greymouth, New Zealand

Yesterday (1/17), I biked from Reefton to Greymouth. The weather was cloudy and was supposed to rain all day, but I saw almost none. At the half-way point, I had an option of taking a longer, more scenic route,–with more hills. I did that, and welcomed about 20 miles of stress-free cycling.

I met a cyclist from Scotland–Kevin–also heading to Greymouth. I had hoped that I would be able to meet up with him a group of 3 other cyclists but could not locate a single one. Greymouth is a rather large place, with many backpacker hotels and several campgrounds. I settled on a “Top Ten” holiday park and pitched my tent with threatening rain clouds moving in.

It rained almost the entire night, and is still raining now (1/18). As before I got a bit of water in my tent, but I figured out the cause and can prevent it in the future. There is a central tent pole running the length of the tent that has a tendency to slide to one side or the other under the weight of the fly. When that happens, the fly touches the tent and the water wicks through. I will add an additional pair of guy ropes to hold the pole in place, and to lift the fly away from the tent. This should be the end of water in the tent!

I have several really fun pictures from yesterday’s ride, but I cannot seem to upload them. Since starting the ride last April, I have been plagued by this mysterious “http error” whenever the internet connection is less than ideal, and it often prevents uploading the images. If there are any Wordpress experts out there I will gladly take advice (note: I do have a way of uploading the images directly from my phone, but they are too large in their native resolution to upload).

In a couple of hours, I will be on the train to Arthurs Pass. I am told that this is one of the most scenic train rides anywhere.

Cheers