Monday, 10 November – Hitch hiking!
Pine Grove (aka Middle of Nowhere) to Wanaka
This morning I decided I would start riding and then, when it started raining, I would put my thumb up and hitch a lift and try to make it all the way to Wanaka (around 200kms from where I started). Haven’t caught a ride since Ewoud and I were in a rush to get to our boat on the north island nearly 4 weeks ago (although I have to say, I've been tempted on several occasions...)! ;) It didn’t take more than 15kms for the rain to come, so as I rode I put my thumb up. I was aiming for a campervan – big enough to take me and my bike (and guaranteed to be tourists). Campervans are pretty much the only vehicles no the highway in this part of the country anyway, so chances were good!
This morning I decided I would start riding and then, when it started raining, I would put my thumb up and hitch a lift and try to make it all the way to Wanaka (around 200kms from where I started). Haven’t caught a ride since Ewoud and I were in a rush to get to our boat on the north island nearly 4 weeks ago (although I have to say, I've been tempted on several occasions...)! ;) It didn’t take more than 15kms for the rain to come, so as I rode I put my thumb up. I was aiming for a campervan – big enough to take me and my bike (and guaranteed to be tourists). Campervans are pretty much the only vehicles no the highway in this part of the country anyway, so chances were good!
Traffic was few and far between, but eventually (it took
maybe 20 minutes) a big camper van pulled off the road and picked me up.
SWEET German couple with an 11 month old baby, Tony, who are traveling around
the world for a year (that’s the beauty of maternity/paternity leave in Europe,
I’m learning…Have a baby and get a year off…?!) ;) Florian and Ines were super
chill, put my bike and wet bags in the back of their rented camper van, and off
we went to Wanaka!
The four of us rode to Haast, where we stopped for lunch,
then headed through Haast Pass, over the Haast Bridge, along lake Wanaka
(STUNNING views, see below), and thru the “neck” – where the road goes right in
between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea (a beautiful blue lake surrounded by mountains…).
Florian, Ines and Tony :)
As we passed between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea (a distance of just a few km), the weather underwent an extreme makeover.
When we arrived the weather was sunny and about 25 degrees! It was the warmest weather I’ve had in this country yet. What an incredible, beautiful, amazing place. In terms of location, it’s probably my favorite “spot” in NZ so far. I could spend weeks here exploring trails, swimming (in the summer!! Not now…!), skiing in the winter… just sitting and staring at the lake and mountains! It’s small, quiet, cute and naturally just beautiful. I went to town, bought some groceries, took a million pictures of the mountains, found the nicest campsite yet, and made dinner.
This is the view from just down the road from my campsite:
Stunning!
ReplyDelete25 degrees & you still have a scarf on :-). I reckon you'll be fine when you get back here.
Haha no at that point it was still more like 15 degrees! It wasn't until we got to Wanaka that it was WARM!
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