Day 32 Kaikoura to Greta Valley 104km. Minus 12km.
Funny old day.
Started with whale watching in a helicopter, which was incredible but curiously disappointing. We saw 3 male sperm whales and hundreds of dolphin in perfect conditions. But it felt weirdly over the top touristy plus, as Mark said, we hunt these animals to near extinction and then create an industry out of watching them.
Anyway, done. Ticked off the list.
So we set off for Christchurch planning to take two days and arrive Christmas Eve. And had an afternoon of technical problems. Initially we had trouble with the gears. Still not solved but hopeful we can sort in Christchurch. Then the bike started making a nasty clunking noise. Incredibly, we were close to a shop where we stopped and tried to work out what was wrong, failed and decided to limp on to the next town. I suddenly noticed the frame was wobbly. A bit of the frame at the back of the bike had snapped right through.
So that's it, we thought. Broken bike, end of story. But no! The woman in the shop gave us a lift in her truck 12km to Cheviot where a very nice mechanic welded it back together for us. So 90minutes later we were back on the road. And we're as good as new, apart from being stuck in second gear...