Heading north - slowly

After the pleasures of Fiordland we headed in to Eyre Mountains and Mavora Lakes which provided several days of good walking, some excellent bike rides to old musterers huts and peaceful camping in empty DoC sites. A puncture some 40 miles down a dirt track caused a few anxious moments as we returned then to Te Anau some 60 miles away where two new tyres were fitted by the team at Mobil - my ability to mislay the security bolt for the wheels merely added to the excitement.

A drift towards friends near Ashburton took us over Lindis Pass with a night spent near Lake Ohau where we intend to return in a few weeks time after a brief visit to Auckland in early March.

We are now apart as Sarah is mid way through her ride at Alpine Horse Safaris near Hurunui and I am in Christchurch arranging our onward trip to Australia later in the year plus our return to the UK in the interim, probably in September.

The excellent weather has continued so we hope to enjoy more of the Alps and then the West coast where apparently things get even quieter - the main kiwi holiday season is drawing to a close and the visitors from abroad tail off as well but other than at Queenstown we have yet to experience any great numbers of tourists anywhere.

A few pics at the link - again it may need highlighting to access them.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/sjarratt5/EyreMountains?authkey=Gv1sRgCKX2p_W4iqHPfA&feat=directlink