Bat out of hell

Franz Josef to Fox Glacier township

FG town to Fox Glacier viewpoint to FG town

23.5km & 9.3km

Another relaxed start as we're only doing 24km today. But there are three steep climbs totalling more than 700m one after another... Breakfast surprisingly good, including cereals, yoghurt, pancakes/waffles and toast; so good a kea wanted a part of it until I shooed it away. More reason to linger, chatting to a German cyclist who has hitched a ride to Wanaka to avoid the expected rain. Which so far has failed to materialise. Yesterday evening we had a long conversation with a Singapore based Indian couple who are touring the SI on public transport... Bus to Greymouth today, then the Tranzalpine to ChCh. It can be done!

A quick descent to the historic Waiho bailey bridge, complete with clip-on (seriously!) footway, then a gradual run down two long straights to the first climb. Near the first false summit we pass an h-bike* rider cranking his way slowly up the hill; poor bugger thought he was near the top, with two more to go... Mind you, to be historically consistent these are not hills, they are saddles; the hills are either side (just in case young Simon reads this).

Marg used the highest setting (Boost) while I managed on Trail; a good test of battery life for the Haast pass and Crown Range sections. The three ascents were not as daunting as anticipated; all the drivers were really considerate which made it easier. The descents were fantastic, sweeping through a series of flowing curves, until the final switchbacks down to Fox Glacier. 'What a blast!' exclaimed Marg as we screeched into town! Map My Ride says 28.1kph moving average... The single-lane bridges were a bit nerve wracking though: they are looonnng... We arrived at our accommodation at 10:45.At reception we are given our second prompt to visit Lake Matheson, with the logical advice to head there first while it was still and dry (I mentioned the missing rain, didn't I?). We dropped our bags, and headed off for the 6km ride to the famous 'mirror lake'. We're so glad we decided to split the trip from Harihari to Fox: we now realise we could have done it in one hit, but there's no way we'd have done this side trip. 

Disappointingly, as we get our first glimpse of the lake there's a bit of a ripple at the far end, and by the time we get to the first viewpoint it's raining lightly so no reflections at all. We persevere with the walk, meeting a couple of guys who show us the photo we were 10 minutes too late to take! On reaching the 'View of views' platform, the rain has stopped and the water is stilling at this end. We're not pressed for time, so we sit and wait, regretting that we both thought about bringing chippies and apples, but neither of us did. Meantime, the British couple we've joined thank us for wating for them to pass at the second one-lane bridge: our matching hi-vis evidently makes us memorable. We're rewarded for our patience with a couple of OKish photos of Mts Cook & Tasman peeking through the clouds and reflected in the lake. When the cloud finally conceals the last of Mt Tasman, disappearing like the Cheshire Cat's grin, we move on, completing our circuit of the lake.

Back to town, lunch, and start on tomorrow's place to sleep. On calling the most logical (or should that be logistical?) option we're told that, as we only want to stay one night there is no availability; the 'host' explains that he's short staffed and has bookings for the next night and cannot service the room! Google suggests there are two other options nearby: both numbers are disconnected. Ever enterprising, we call the first place back and offer to service the room ourselves; he graciously thanks us, but no... Marg heads to reception to see if local knowledge can turn up an option. She returns with only the suggestion that there might be something on AirBnB..., and the scuttlebutt that the owner of the 'unavailable' place is a bit odd, apparently having recently turned a booked customer away on arrival (and doesn't like cyclists, though I don't think I told him that). I check AirBnB: two choices along our route, starting north of $200!! Finally we decide on another short day to Pine Grove motel (thanks, TA guide) and a long haul on Friday to Haast. We just need to take something for dinner as there's no other option.

By the time we're ready to ride out to the glacier viewpoint for the TA photo checkpoint, it is drizzling. We debate doing it en route tomorrow, and boy am I glad we decided against that... Of course, we have the topo profile for each section, but I've not looked at this one recently. We climb more than 200 steep metres to the first lookout. The TA guide says there's a better view a 1km ride and short walk futher on; the DOC sign says it's 1.6km round trip, and bikes prohibited. We lock up the bikes and stride off up the former road, chatting to a couple more German tourists, who've just had their plans changed by DOC's closure of the Copland Track because of the forecast rain. Oddly, at the top of the road DOC has provided a rack for the prohibited bikes... It's maybe 150m further walk to the viewpoint.

By the time we head back to town the rain's a little harder. Our laundry from yesterday is still not dry, so we close the ranch-slider, turn on the heater, and Marg rigs a laundry line across the room. Now every time I come back in I'm reminded of a high-school rugger team's locker room!

Dinner chez nous again this evening: Wattie's frozen fish pie, with pea (yes, singular) and corn. Live and learn...

* human-powered bike