1. roadside cascade 2. Oceanside 3. Hairy trees in the rain forest

2-1

Glorious blue sky. We are doing our usual long morning climbs through the tick forest glade. It feels like a well maintained ski run! We are chattering along and look up and here comes a guy down the mountain on a unicycle. Back pack, helmet and a wave and he is gone. Man, this hill we are climbing is steep and he is on a single speed. Wow! What a spinner he must be. We go on very humbled. A few minutes later we start to pull off the road into our lunch site and run into a whole pack of unicyclists’ just finishing lunch and eager to get back on the road. We are interested in their equipment and they in ours. Some unicycles have brakes, some don’t: matter of choice. They do long miles: one day, 160 km.

1. Cyclists beware 2. Unicyclists 3. Sandfly - No Lie!

The lunch spot is unique Kiwi kitsch: possum pies, possum furs, possum fur covered chairs mixed with cowboy and gold mine touches and a few elk and deer mixed in. Deer is a big business here in NZ.

2/4 Judee pooped out! We got on the bike and everything hurt her – so Art got a room in a cozy backpacker’s hostel and Judee west to bed and slept for two days! Maybe now we can get on with the trip!

While she slept, I took Bici up to visit the Franz Joseph Glacier. People can not get too close without a guide, particularly going up on the ice. The sounds of helicopters ferrying people up to view and to walk on the glacier is a constant thumping sound in the background.

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