Day 36 - Bus transfer to Tekapo

The bus left on time at 09:00 in Middel March. There was an older couple from Catalonia sitting with me on the shuttle. He proudly told me that he had cycled from Barcelona to Tokyo. His wife seemed somehow intimidated next to her husband, as if she could recite the praises from his more active days herself. Somehow an unpleasant bus ride. Fortunately, the two got off in Alexandra, not without the gentleman emphasizing that he used to ride the track in one day, but now he would take two days for the 152 kilometers for the sake of his wife.

I enjoyed the peace and quiet on the bus. We drove approximately the same route that I had cycled with Paula and Bryan in the past few days. In Cromwell, I had to wait for some time. I bought some stuff there and positioned myself with my gas cooker in front of the Bank of New Zealand. They have free internet access. Two more German cyclists joined me. The couple from Leipzig has been on the road by bike for a year. They were recently in Southeast Asia and now they are in New Zealand for a total of 3 months before continuing their journey in South America. Unfortunately, the bank staff noticed the increased internet usage by us and promptly turned off the 'free' access. Not a big deal, my lunch was ready and I have to take the bus soon.

The route led over Lindys Pass to the MacKenzie Basin, where the access to Mount Cook, the highest mountain in Oceania, is located. We reached Lake Tekapo in the early evening, from where I will go to Lake Pukaki tomorrow on the Alps2Ocean Trail, my last bike trail in New Zealand.