Day 122: Lake Tekapo to Twizel (2389-2443)

Friday, March 31

I woke up around 6:15 to meet Cycle Journeys. They were delivering bikes from Twizel for a few people in Lake Tekapo. They said they would take my backpack, so I packed everything I wanted for the day in a grocery bag. Around 7:15 I walked about a block from the hostel to meet Cycle Journeys.

They pulled into the parking lot just as I arrived. There was another couple biking to Ohau. The nice guy delivering the bike showed me how to work the saddle bag (using one was new to me). Once everything was good to go, I went back to the YHA to watch the sunrise. I didn't want to bike in the dark.

It was a nice sunrise and I left around 8 am when I felt like it was bright enough out. Biking was so fast compared to walking! I was on the Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail and it was wonderful. It was really flat and easy to follow. The make it even better, there were beautiful views of Mount Cook most of the morning.

Since I woke up so early, I was really hungry by 10:30 and stopped for lunch at Lake Pukaki with a view of Mount Cook. About 45 minutes later I arrived at a rest stop, so I took a look around. They were selling farmed salmon from the salmon farms I had biked by earlier in the day.

After the short break I kept biking. A few kilometers from Twizel I ran into Simon, Sara, Sonya and Nadine. I walked my bike next to them for a bit to talk and then rode into town. Once I returned the bike and got my backpack I went to the backpackers. They didn't open for an hour so I sat around for a bit and they opened early and let me check in.

I dropped off my backpack and went to town to get coffee and find a fuel canister. When I was about ready to go to the grocery store, I saw Simon, Sara, Sonya and Nadine outside a coffee shop. I got a long black and sat down with them. They had all booked a tent site at the holiday park and were heading back to make dinner. A French Canadian biker stopped to talk to us. It was fun hearing about his trip.

Another TA hiker showed up and we all stopped at the Four Square to resupply. I went back to the backpackers instead of joined them at the Holiday Park. I needed to get my sleeping pad fixed.

I couldn't find a leak with my soapy water method, so I asked the front desk if there was a communal bathroom with a bathtub. One of their buildings had one, so I tried submerging it and looking for air bubbles. Maybe I just hadn't closed it tight enough the other night. Who knows. As far as I could tell there wasn't a hole.

As I was putting my sleeping pad out to dry I realized I had left my water bottle on the bike. I walked back to Cycle Journeys to check, and they had it. What a relief!

I came back to the hostel and packed my food for the next few days while talking with some other people staying in Twizel. There was a person from Ireland, one from Germany and one from the U.K.

Once my food was packed it was finally time to make dinner and pack up my backpack as much as I could. I read over notes for tomorrow, took a shower, watched a few episodes of the West Wing, and went to bed.