Louise donned her Kiwi shirt for the occasion, and bravely faced the hills.
The final days of our cycling tour took us up the lovely West Coast, sometimes by the beach, sometimes by lakes, often up into the hills and the forests.
The flat sections could only last so long...
The pubs we passed were not very imaginative in their advertising. I could have offered them my copywriting services, but perhaps they prefer to keep it simple.
There was some interesting art in the Kotuku Maori Art Gallery...
...and outside the Bushman's Centre.
We suffered some pain in the more challenging 'undulations', but there was always scenery to take our minds off our legs...
...and the weather was fine for roadside picnics - rare in this country.
Hokitika was a pretty stopping place for the night - one of the better NZ towns, even though we called it 'Hokeypokey' because no-one could remember its real name. '
Next morning we took the road less travelled, the gravel one...
...took our turns at the front of the peloton...
...and refuelled with the Jackson Hotel's famed signature dish: 'Peas, Pie and Pud'. It's better than it looks, with venison inside.
After six great days riding the road, with 394km on the clock, we still had a full team.
The writer was the guest of Adventure South.
For inzoomable map, profile and links to part of the route we took, click here.
Richard Tulloch's LIFE ON THE ROAD 
I reckon if the pub just added one more word, their advertising could be gold! Like ‘Beds. Beer. Meals’…Laughs? …Enlightenment?
Some fantastic looking shots there!
Thanks, SD.
I thought perhaps ‘Beds. Beer. Meals. Jelly Wrestling’ would pull in some curious customers, but they’d need to expand to a wider hotel to fit it all in.
‘Enlightenment’ would give them the same problem.
Hey Richard! Great to see you got to do a ride with Adventure South after our earlier miss-hit. Looks like you had fun and great weather!