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| Rainy Coast North of Greymouth |
It thundered and rained heavily overnight, and the weather forecast is terrible for today - strong winds and heavy rain warnings, and the direction is predicted to be a headwind. I thought of staying put, but when I went outside the winds seemed to be from the opposite direction, so I decided to set off and see how far I get, even though it was indeed raining.
The tailwinds blew me along nicely for the first 20 miles. Some heavy squalls got my shorts wet blowing under the cape (normally, without the side winds, cape and shorts is a good combination for rain protection without getting too hot), but there were dry spells so that I dried off in the wind. The highlights of the ride were two single track bridges shared by cars and trains (and bikes), and a roundabout in the middle of nowhere, the only major junction for a hundred miles, with a railway going through the middle of it! It was too wet to take pictures though.
I'm now in Greymouth having breakfast (I had some Granola before setting out from the hostel). I'm quite dry, so I think I'll press on some more. Greymouth is quite a large town with some industrial smokestacks.
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| Punakaiki Pancake Rocks |
The clouds remained low and threatening, but it was more dry than wet for the rest of the ride, although some of the showers were heavy. The wind was still strong, and now was blowing mainly against me, but was blustery rather than steady. The next part of the ride reminded me of Big Sur in California, with the road hugging the rocky cliffside, and going up over the headlands and down onto the coves. The hillsides are covered with dense rain forest however. There were lots of hills to climb, but the cliffs provided shelter from the wind and it wasn't too hard. I'll have to see how much total climb there was when I get home. Cycling along the stormy coast, with the clouds low over the headlands was very enjoyable, so I was glad I had not abandoned the day.
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| Sunset, Cape Foulwind |
The next stopping point at about 50 miles was the "Pancake Rocks" at Punakaiki. These are a limestone formation where the whole cliff and rock pillars are made of distinct flat layers a couple of inches thick. This is on the "must see" list for NZ, and was neat, except for the buzz of bus tourists.
After that came more spectacular coast scenery, and the biggest climbs of the ride - up to 650ft and then a few more ups and downs. The last 10 miles was across the farmlands back to the coast, now heading straight into the wind, and I was getting tired, so this seemed to go slowly. I'm staying at the Steeples Cottage B&B in Cape Foulwind. It's about 10 miles from Westport, right on the cliffs, with nice views and near a seal colony that I'll visit tomorrow. I had dinner (lamb shanks) in the local Star Tavern, which had more the feel of a friendly English pub than others I've been to. Nice.
