West Coast Wilderness Trail - Days 26 to 28

On Day 26 (March 22nd), after having a coffee at Ali's eating&drinking and a short visit to the nearby art gallery at the official starting point of the West Coast Wilderness Trail in Greymouth, we set off around noon. We had picked up the bicycles beforehand at Mann Cycles. Our first destination was Kumara, a small town located about 30km to the south. Let it be mentioned here: We did this bike tour without camping equipment, and every evening we could look forward to a cozy, warm bed!! We first passed by historic buildings and old cranes to reach the viewpoint of the harbor where the Grey River flows into the sea. There were some pretty high waves there :) We then continued along the coast, enjoying an ice cream for a boost of energy. The trail was very well-developed, quite flat, and fairly wide. A highlight was crossing an old single-lane wooden bridge with railway tracks (still in use). After crossing this historic bridge (a new one is already being built), the surroundings became more wooded and idyllic. We tried to position two goats in a front yard for a perfect photoshoot using a piece of zucchini (but they were quite stubborn, while it hadn't worked with sheep before...). After 28 kilometers (in about 3 hours), we arrived in Kumara (NZ English for sweet potato). Established in 1876, it was a bustling town during the gold rush, with 50 pubs at that time. Our Bed&Breakfast accommodation was called The Punga Place (punga is the name for the tree fern); highly recommended. In the evening, we had dinner at the historic Royal Theatre Hotel (delicious, and the last reopened pub), and on the recommendation of our accommodation owner, we took a short trip to a glowworm cave. That was cool!!

Day 27. Today, we had 50 kilometers from Kumara to Lake Kaniere on the agenda. We started early (10am) because according to the plan, it takes about 6 hours to cover the distance to 'Cowboy Paradise'. We cycled past various lakes such as Kapitea Reservoir, from whose shores you could have a wonderful view of the Southern Alps in good weather. Instead, we were delighted to see a pair of rare blue ducks in the flowing stream. The trail was great after reaching the highest point at 330 meters, with beautiful views: We could see mountains enveloped in clouds and many cows grazing on the roadside. All of this made us (almost) forget the rainy and sometimes stormy weather :))) After about 4 hours, we took a break at 'Cowboy Paradise'. Apparently, you can cycle faster in bad weather! We warmed ourselves up, drank several hot beverages, changed clothes (at least Jörg), and after 1 1/2 hours, we continued in dry (!) weather. We arrived at our accommodation around 5pm, a luxurious camper van by Lake Kaniere. Another very cool place to relax. Turns out we can't do without camping completely ;-) By the way, the lake and the surrounding mountains would have made a great photo motif in good weather as well.

On the last day (Day 28) of our tour, we headed to Hokitika, the place where jade stones were first commercially/industrially processed. After turning onto the trail at Lake Kaniere, we followed a stream with high water levels (historic Kaniere Water Race, dug by hand in 1875). This section of the trail, which was mostly downhill, was really great! When we arrived in Hokitika, we had covered a total of 100 km. We were happy, only moderately exhausted this time :-)) and we were able to enjoy some fantastic views. Since we arrived around 12pm and our pickup was not until 5pm, we had plenty of time to explore the town with all its souvenir shops in detail :-) We also took the opportunity to search for jade/greenstone/pounamu on the beach itself. After the transfer back to Greymouth, we replenished our depleted kilo-Joules with food and drink at the famous Monteiths Brewery! Compared to the Queen Charlotte Track, it was a varied bike tour that could be completed without a huge amount of effort and we had a lot of fun!!