Getting There is Half the Fun by Dora VanderWoude and the other two reports here are out of sequence. Sorry

I was really looking forward to starting my holiday in New Zealand. Little did I know that there was an adventure waiting for me before I even got there! My flight itinerary for the trip was to fly from Ottawa to Toronto at 11 a.m. and then leave Toronto at 2:00 so I would be in L.A at 4:35 to meet up with the rest of the group. Our flight from L.A to Auckland NZ left at 10 p.m. Seems pretty straight forward but for circumstances beyond my control – it wasn’t! My flight in Ottawa was delayed because of engine trouble. So I was put on the next available flight; which was at 12:10 and arriving in Toronto at 1:10. I was assured this was plenty of time to make my connection. But the plane didn’t leave Ottawa until 12:35; which brought me into Toronto at 1:35. I had to get my luggage and bike and go through U.S. customs first before I could get on my flight to L.A. While I was standing in line at customs I told someone I had a connecting flight at 2:00 and she radioed someone about the flight. Then she told me I had missed the flight! (These words were going to become quite familiar over the next little while.) I was put on another flight to L.A. that would leave Toronto at 6:10 and arrive in L.A. at 8:35. Again the plane left later but the winds were favorable so we arrived on time. Again I had to get my luggage and bike and then find the Air New Zealand counter to check in. It was 9:40 by the time I was at the counter and I heard for the second time, you have missed your flight! By this time I was ready to quit and just fly back home. But I knew that wouldn’t be very sensible so I let them put me on another flight. The next available flight had a stop in Tahiti and another one in the Cook Islands and then on to Auckland. That sounds pretty good but when you are tired and frustrated it’s not all that great! However when I was actually there and it was nice and warm it was pretty good. By the time I finally reached Auckland I thought that now things are finally going right. I got my luggage and my bike, went through customs and found an Air New Zealand counter to check in for my flight to Christchurch so I could meet up with the rest of the group.
I already had my boarding pass for the flight so I thought all is well. The man at the counter looked at my card and said those dreaded words; you have missed your flight. Apparently an hour is needed to process the check-in and I was there only about a half hour before. So I had to take a 12-minute walk to the domestic flight terminal so they could put me on another flight. I was supposed to arrive in Christchurch at 4 p.m. and now it would be around 4:50. I was in tears by this time and the man at the counter was very nice and phoned the place where we were staying to let Bill and Rita ( I didn’t think to mention another name from the group) know when I would be arriving. He was told they had checked out. I forgot they were driving the van to our cycling starting place and the rest of us would fly there the next morning. So I thought I was going to arrive in Christchurch and not know where to go from there. (Can it get any worse?) I was prepared to sleep in the Christchurch airport overnight because I knew the rest of the group would be taking a morning flight from there to Invercargill to start cycling. But finally something went right and Peter was at the airport to meet me. I was overjoyed! I had been in 5 countries over 2 days. I told the rest of the group that I decided to take the scenic route. I was able to get a good nights rest and start cycling the next day to start my next adventure. Before we flew to Invercargill I warned everyone there might be a slight chance that we could miss the flight!!!!!


The First Day on the Bike

The wind can be your friend or foe on a bike. In the parking lot it is your foe if you are putting bikes together. The photo shows the assembly area but not the wind. All went well on the trip from Christchurch to Invercargill, the van arrived before the plane and the plane was on time. We set off around 1 PM after the group photo was taken in front of the airport. The wind was at worst from the left side and at best in our back; which was a welcome relief for our first day. The land was fairly flat with only one steep longish hill. The end of the 80km ride was a welcome sight for all the riders. The dinner of noodles and meat sauce when down real well.

At the end of the day most riders could feel that they had been off the bike for a while. There was incident where Kirk and Adrian showed too much affection and knocked shoulders but no one went down. A few needed A535 to get going in the morning.


Day Two to Kingston

What was a nice morning changed to showers and serious rain during breakfast so we stretch it a little. By the time the pre-agreed pullout time of 10AM came, the rain had stopped and although it was windy at least it was dry. I put the sunscreen on as instructed and sure enough the sun came out. From the pictures you can see that it was still cloudy, but also the lovely scenery as we rode up the valley between two ridges. The views reminded John of Alberta only with rain, Trish thought she was in Ireland but without the rocks, others just enjoyed New Zealand. The wind was mostly in our back so the gradual upward slope was hardly noticeable. Kingston is located on Lake Wakatipu; which is well over 100km long. Tomorrow we bike along it all the way to Queenstown. Dinner tonight consisted of; sausages and chicken done on the barby, potatoes, coleslaw and green beans. We had our own mini worship service after dinner and broke up early for a good rest. A light drizzle persisted through out the evening.