Our first overnighter

Have you guys been doing much training for your cycling trip?!?

Sarah and I have been asked this quite a few times over the last 6 months, and the answer has generally been "No, not really, we'll figure it out as we go, how hard can it be?". We did, however, manage to fit in a single overnight trip to put our new panniers, racks and camping gear through the paces.

The West Coast Wilderness Trail in New Zealand's South Island

We had been hoping to cycle the whole West Coast Wilderness Trail before we left but seeing as we were running out of time all we could fit in were days 3 & 4 of the Trail in a weekend trip. We started at Cowboy's Paradise on Saturday morning after driving from Arthur's Pass and headed off down the hill on nice new off-road cycle trail towards the Arahura River.

Sarah heading towards the Arahura River from Cowboy's Paradise

Pleased with how easy we found riding fully loaded we made good time, even stopping for a stroll around Lake Kaniere and a coffee at Hurunui Jacks.

Campsites were hard to find in Hokitika due to the recent closure of the Top 10 Holiday Park. We were pointed towards the Seaview Lodge - an old mental institution on the hill that has been turned into a very quirky campground/backpackers. The views from the lawn where we camped were fantastic & we had a great night in Hoki watching the sunset over the Sand & Driftwood Competition on the beach.

Seaview Lodge in Hokitika

Day 2 was a pretty straightforward 32km south to Ross, with the highlight being the loop around Lake Mahinapua. The rest of the route was a little boring - straight 4WD track with few points of interest. It would be good if they can manage to bring the track closer to the beach in the future although I don't believe that it's currently on the cards.

WCWT near Ross

We were back in Christchurch in time for dinner, happy with our efforts and with how all of our fancy new gear performed.

 - David