TnT in NZ!

Long day of flying to get here. Uneventful, caught all of our flights, and we weren't on Malaysian Air so that was good.

We just got back from our first NZ "hut" hike. The hut system here is incredible, like Forest Service cabins in Alaska but most are bigger and better. There are hundreds of them spread out all over the country in some really beautiful places.

This was in the Nelson Lakes area. Somehow we always find the places most like home.

It was incredibly windy up on the ridge, had snowed the day before.

My mini-pack.

Rotoiti Lake. Rain showers came and went. We had to keep breaking Tyrell's rule of not riding in the rain to get here.

 Golden Bay. We pedalled over a giant hill to get here but it was worth it.

Another detour we took uphill. Up to a cave with phytokarsts- a type of stalactite that forms where sunlight is present and "grows" toward the light. Algae grows on the side in the sun which then causes more growth in the mineral deposits on that side.

A lovely river.

A lovely beach.

Had to cross a short section on the beach when they were working on the path. Our first several days riding were on the bike trails of the Great Taste Trail from Nelson to Kaiteriteri. A great way to start our trip.

If you don't know why we took this picture, you haven't known Tyrell long enough...

An awesome beach up at Wharariki. Chilly but worth the trip- one of the best sights so far. Exciting too, we had to time the waves to make it through the tunnel. 

Full of stone arches, tunnels, caves, and seals that popped out when you least expected them.

Survived the climb...now it's time to fly down the other side! What I've learned so far: wear sunglasses and keep your mouth closed.

Feeding ground meat to "tame" eels. Longfin eels are something else. They grow to be the largest eels in the world, live only in lakes and streams of New Zealand, at the end of their lives they migrate 5,000 km to Tonga where they lay their eggs before dying, and then the larval stage (a wispy, transparent leaf looking thing) of the eel migrates back to NZ. Weird.

So our adventure continues. We are planning to follow the West coast South, meandering along until we reach Invercargill. Depending on how long that takes we may fly up to the North Island from there. 

Hope you all enjoy some turkey for us on Thanksgiving!