Yes, you may be shocked to see we are in Haast. How we did it? A good tail wind! In all seriousness, we aimed for Fox Glacier today. We woke early and as soon as I got out of the tent, three cheeky Keas surrounded me. It took a bit of chasing in order to be able to go to the loo. Rowan kept an eye on them. They got onto the campervans and did what they love the most. They would distract us and try to sneak up behind us. Very clever parrots. I didn’t get great photos as it was still quite dark, my phone had trouble capturing them. We ate our meseli and packed up as fast as we could. Making sure we wouldn’t be the only target. My sandals did get a chomp and our underwear did go missing. I found in two different spots in the carpark.

We arrived in Franz Joseph around 9.30am. My legs are definitely struggling today, but we don’t have many kilometres to do. There are just 3 big saddles between here and Fox. We will be walking them, haha.

Let’s fuel up! At The Landing Cafe, cooked breakfast and coffee. Yummy, we let it settle a bit before jumping on our bikes. A fairly easy ride up to the saddles. I think today is as much riding as walking.

Pushing our bikes, sweating profusely. Cold in the shade hot in the sun, no wind whatsoever. Near the top, I was going around a steep corner and had to get off my bike to push the rest of the corner. A ute came past and stopped above me closer to Rowan. I thought she was just checking on us. Next thing I can see, she pulls out a bike rack. Lisa said to Rowan, “it looks like your partner is going to leave you. Put your bike in the tray and hers on the rack.” Rowan thanked her and started loading in his bike. I was surprised, she told me to get into the car and that she would take us to Fox.

Lisa is on her way from Ross to pick up her husband, who is cycling stranded and tired in Haast. “He is having a mid-life crisis and trying to prove his body can still work.” They have done quite a few bike packing tours pre children in many countries. Even gone from Alaska to Argentina. We get chatting and she offers to drop us in Haast. “It will make this journey less wasteful if I get to rescue 3 people instead of just my silly husband.” We had planned to take two days to Haast. Also planned an off day at Fox Glacier because of weather. It is an offer we couldn’t refuse. “It’s not exactly a pretty part to cycle anyway.” Lisa keeps telling me.

Not a tailwind, I am afraid. A vehicle got us a two day advantage. We arrived in Haast after an amazing tour. Lisa makes quite the tour guide and knows a lot of people around here. We get dropped off and meet her husband, he can do 250-300km a day