Ross to Franz Josef

Friday, November 7, 2014

Woke up early (COLD night, but I was nice and warm inside my amazing sleeping back and trusty tent) and got packed up and on the road pretty quick. I left the sleepy little town of Ross at 9am and set out for Whataroa, a tiny little village 75km ride for the day, 31km before the Franz Josef Glacier. As I got going, I felt energized by both the sunny weather and the tasty roast buffet last night. I didn’t really want to spend a night in Whataroa as there’s basically nothing there… so I decided early on that I would go the 106km all the way to Franz Josef so I could have a full rest day there Saturday.

It was a really beautiful day. Some days (specifically those days when I know the weather forecast doesn’t look good…) I don’t totally enjoy the ride – I’m preoccupied with thinking about getting to my destination before the rain comes! Today, however, even though I had a long ride ahead of me and the air was nippy, the sun was shining and the ride was fun!

Along the way, I crossed over the Wanganui River – crystal blue river with glacial mountain run-off.

It is a small world we live in… when I stopped at this river I met an American guy who is a professor of Church history at Notre Dame in Indiana – he specializes in the Reformation. Haha. He was at Aquinas in G.R. a couple weeks ago and, of course, is very familiar with Calvin.

Back to the road.

I arrived in Whataroa minutes before the afternoon showers came. That couldn’t have been timed any better, as there was a small café there where I sat with a cup of hot tea and watch it rain outside. After an hour the sun was back out and I got back on my way. 31km left. The first 20km was sunny; the last 10km was not. I arrived to Franz Josef – a small little village that reminds me of a ski resort town in Colorado – nice and wet, but feeling very pleased with my accomplishment for the day!

Checked into a backpackers place for two nights, enjoyed a $5 bbq and went to bed at 9!