My rendition of Lake Wanaka.
I'm having such fun playing with this watercolor and ink. And when I finish and it really looks like something, I feel amazed. I've never felt I had artistic talent (could be what the art teacher said:/), but I've always felt artistic inside. It's nice when I can see it sprouting out!
Doing a zero day in a campground: playing cards with kids, cleaning up Blaze, painting, organizing, doing a bit of handwashing that dried on the line (saved me $7:)), a bit of yoga and lots of chatting. Even the kids have mentioned how social I am.
It's nice to take a day off in good weather and be outdoors too...as long as there are no sand flies biting. Tomorrow I'm going over the highest paved road on the South Island...Crown Range. I'm excited! Then I still have to figure out how to explore Fiordland. The answer will come to me, I'm sure.
Jan 16th. Wednesday.
Almost to Queenstown
I've met some wonderful people here at the campground. First there's Stephen, a guy from Cape Town South Africa (and Canada) that works for the UN on projects involving setting up elections. (Stephen, how's that for a quick summary?). He's on his first big tour in quite a while. It's been fun sharing war stories about bike travel and other stuff.
Then there's the Smiths: Mark, Maree, AJ, MacKenzie, and twins, Danya and...oh oh...I'm in trouble now. The other girl has a sweet name beginning with S and unusual and I don't think it was ever spelled for me. And now I can't remember it. Pls, S, forgive me. You can give me 40 lashes with a wet noodle when I get to your house in ChristChurch...after you write it out for me. I learned to play a form of Monopoly Deal with them. Lost though:(. And they all rode Blaze. She was gentle and didn't buck anyone off. They were at the campground because their car blew a head gasket coming down the steep hill I climbed today. Too expensive to repair. Dad had to do some shuttling by bus to meet family halfway and borrow a car to haul their trailer of kayaks and camping toys home. So I got to play with the kids! Always fun for me. Made plans to visit them in ChristChurch when I get there.
I also met Bruce and Emma, father and young daughter. He has a sheep station on the south coast. If I can get down there I can play with sheep! Haven't figured out how to make that happen. Hmm?
And last was Gary, a British guy whose daughter works in Wellington. He's bopping around the South Island by car and we may hook up in Queenstown tomorrow and travel out to Milford Sound together. All depends on if I can get Blaze into his car. So funny how these things come together. I was sitting in the campground kitchen googling about buses to Milford Sound when Gary walked in and we got to chatting. And this plan come to fruition. If Blaze doesn't fit I don't have a plan B right now.
So today was a major climb. Crown Range. Looking back, it made Haast Pass look like a bump. My legs are whupped. It took me 7.5 hours to cycle 30 miles. The climb was 10 miles. And it was steep especially the last couple of miles. Pedal, pedal, rest, rest. I only go a couple of meters sometimes before resting. Sometimes I pick a spot ahead, and tell myself you can't stop until you get there. Sometimes I don't make it. It's interesting listening to my body find its rhythm. It's so resistant in the beginning and then if the grade is good, I can find a pace that I can maintain and my body feels strong and happy. At the top I put on Shania Twain and I'm dancing in my seat with my arms flailing and I'm singing away and pumping hard!!! What a sight! I get a lot of thumbs up. And they sure do help the mood. So everybody out there, when you see cyclist, toot, wave, thumbs up...cheer them on. You may be just what they need:)
Food today:
Coffee
Fruit yogurt
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Apricot
Plum
Nectarine
Brie and bread
Another pb&j sandwich
Banana and Nutella
Pasta, pesto, and cauliflower for dinner.
And there'll be something more.
BagLady
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