Day 33 - February 12, 2023

Day 33:  Fox Glacier Township - Haast

We continue riding south on sealed roads to enjoy this rugged wild west coast coastal section of the beautiful West Coast.

Nice hotel in Fox Glacier last night.  Heartland Hotel, I believe.  And, for a change, a nice hot and cold breakfast buffet in a sit-down restaurant.  Ah - the small joys in life.  I'm already beginning to fantasize about soft toilet paper and not doing my laundry in the sink each night.

It was a straight-shot all day today on Highway 6.  The road was very quiet until about 10/10:30.  I guess the regular tourists are not on the road as early as we are.  Also - we were riding in the shade for much of the morning, so nice and cool.  Beautiful blue skies.  Oh - and some pretty nice views with mountains on either side much of the way.  What's not to like?

Crossing the Cook River.

Some major work being done on this riverbed - perhaps previously washed out during flooding?

Some early morning scenery..............

I was surprised by the fact that most of the bridges along this stretch of highway are still one-lane.  Here's one over the Karangarua River.  Each bridge has signs indicating which direction of travel has the right-of-way.  

The scenery did not disappoint today............

At about 45 km we had a scheduled coffee stop in Bruce Bay at a roadside vendor.  Good opportunity for a few ocean pics.

Another 25-ish km to lunch.  Pretty easy-going terrain.

Crossing the Mahitahi River

Lake Paringa for lunch.  While some of the other folks have been attracting sandflies for days now, I have not been bothered until now.  As soon as I stopped for lunch, though, they attacked my legs in full force.  Thanks, Wendy, for some of your sandfly repellent lotion.  It seemed to do the trick.

Back on the road..............

We passed quite a few of these dry river beds.  No doubt they are a powerful force during flooding events.  

Lake Moeraki; home to giant eels, apparently.

And then the afternoon climbing began.  A brief respite at Knights Point Lookout before continuing onward and upward.

A couple of fun downhills.  Hoping we don't end up in the ocean!

A stop at Ship Creek.

I thought this looked like someone riding a seahorse emerging from the water on the left.

Can I just say that I could have done without the last 20 km of flat, into a headwind?  I did spend considerable time thinking about a position on a bike that could possibly catch more of that wind than my position on a mountain bike.  Couldn't come up with anything.  We seem to have lost our mountain companions.  Sometime during the last ice age, perhaps.......

Nice of them to plant this sign by the side of the road, but it was another 7 km into the wind before we reached our lodging for the night.

The last feature of note today was crossing the Haast River.  I remember this from my 2006 trip.  It was the first time I had seen the West Coast beaches.  A sight to remember!

Another big day coming up tomorrow.  Up and over Haast Pass.

Stats for the day:

Distance:  120.0 km

Elevation (Garmin):  2594' up, 3076' down

Elevation (RWGPS):  5164' up, 5672' down.  It felt like it was somewhere between the two sets of numbers.  

Weather:  10C - 30C.  Beautiful day.  Early morning in the cool shade, but hot to climb the hills.  I could have done without the headwind at the end.