So Whats the South Island like..... im sure you are all dying to hear!!

Well we are really enjoying it. Let me tell you what has happened since i last updated the journal in Wellington.

14/02 - We had a great night sleep in the motel that we ended up staying in as everywhere was fully booked! But we got up and got the bike ready and cycled to the departures terminal for our ferry at 10.30am. On the way down we bumped into a dutch man who was also cycling and a French couple who were also on bicycles. So we cycled the bike on to the ferry..... a bit different to the ferrys we went on in Thailand. Went up to the top deck and enjoyed the wonderful views over to Picton. It was roughly a three hour ferry ride which went very slow and sometimes a bit bumpy. However it was a beautiful day. Once we arrived in to picton we found a campsite and there was a fellow cyclist on his way home but stopped off at the campsite before he took his ferry home the next day. So we stayed up talking to him most of the night.

15/02 - Back on the bike today. We seen a big sign for Nelson so we just followed that..... not looking at the map we had and realising that it was the highway 6 (short cut for cars who want to get to Nelson quickly) So after 4miles cycling up a big hill and down the other side we then noticed that we had gone the wrong way and had to head back the way we had just came. Doh!!! Finally we got on the Charlotte drive road which was absolutley stunning!!! Mostly up hill but the views were great. 42.11 miles and arrived at Pelorus bridge. We seen 8 touring cyclist on the road (at different times) And would you believe an old scottish couple too!!

16/02 - All day was spend up hill. Lots of traffic on the road, big trucks trying to run us over, Jonny going crazy!! We were on the road for 8.30am Arrived in to Nelson and found a hostel with campsite. We bumped in to the German Couple again in a bike shop which was cool and they told us that the Dutch Couple with the baby had left today on the route that we were planning to do......(hopefully we see them on the road)35.48 miles today.

17/02 - Woke up feeling great.Had to go shopping this morning and do two days worth of shopping as we knew that there was no shops to where we were heading. Also bought a wing mirror for Jonny so we can see whats behind us now and not get such a shock when things creep up behind us! Cycled to Motupiko there was a big long uphill.... i could realy feel my body working really hard..... but hay what a great down hill straight and highest milage yet - 48.9mph could have gone faster but at that point i was buzzing and told jonny to slow down. Good fun though. 37 miles total today. went to a campsite and set up the tent. Cooked some good food and jonny came himself a nasty burn on his hand whilst testing the hob to see if they work. (he is ok now)

18/02 - 45.24miles to Murchison. Still no sign of the Dutch couple. Had a beast of a climb today to the top of Hope saddle. Cycled to the top nonstop 635meters high. Got to camp site totally knackered.

19/02 - Woke up this morning and both our legs were killing us. Rest day was decided which was a great idea. So we went swimming in the lake (which was freezing) and left a beer chilling in the water at the side which we had when we got out and letting the sun dry us off. Me and jonny went to the top of a rock held hands and jumped off in to the water. that was really goodfun. Went into town to get some shopping and bumped in to the Dutch couple who were sitting in a cafe so we caught up with them and they planned to come back to the camp site with us. Good night. There wasalso a cycle touing group that rocked up at the camp site so they were right by us...... also dutch.

20/02 - Cycled 62.76 miles to westport. It was a really nice cycle ride to Inangahua where we stopped for ice creamm and as soon as we got back on the bike we were so sleepy and found it hard to get back in to it. We managed it and arrived at a hostel that had tent site so and lest we had somewhere nice to chill out in the evening.

21/02 - On the bike but both agreed to take it really easy as we knew we had a few climbs ahead of us. Legs sore from the day before so we put hardly any effort in to it. Highest hill was 200m high not that bad but agreed that we would have a rest day after today. 34.19miles to punakaiki. Found a beautiful hostel that has a massive secret garden. We have found a tent site there as it was fully booked.

22/02 - Woke up late and lazed around. Got some homemade bread and drank lots of water and tea. It rained all day (not heavy just spitting but enough to get you soaked) So caught up with all our washing and walked in to town. Had a drink in the pub and then had some food and walked around the pancake rocks. That was pretty cool It was likeflat layers of rocks placed neatly one on top of the other. We also went into a cave but didn't go down too far as it was really dark!!

Well this is everything that we have been up to the past couple of days. I hope you all still enjoy reading the updates. It would be great to hear what you are all up to. Email or leave a message as it would be great to hear from you all.

Take care lots of love sent all the way from New Zealand xx