March 6, 2025
Greymouth to Wild Camping.
It was cold waking up this morning with a really biting wind. I needed groceries after breakfast so I stopped at the New World which is a large conventional grocery store. I’ve grown to appreciate the 4-Square store because they are small and have everything you need without a zillion choices. If I had to shop at them all the time at home I’d be disappointed but on this trip they are ideal! For whatever reason at the store I thought I’d get a treat and I picked a cream filled donut out. It was a sad disappointment and a lesson again to buy things where people specialize in that discipline.
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Since the donut didn’t scratch the itch I went back to the cafe where I ate before the train and met the other bikers. There were no bikers this time but their coffee and treats were just as good.
I got going after 9:30 without any plan on where I’d be staying. The riding today wasn’t overly exciting so this won’t be a long post. I was on the highway for the majority of the day. I stopped in Reefton for fish and chips at 1:15 and observed life a bit. I notice in New Zealand that I see very few police officers. It’s likely a combination of not being in big cities much but I almost never see them. I’ve never seen a speed trap for example. A police officer came into the restaurant where I was eating and he was wearing a uniform on top and jeans on the bottom and he was driving a marked car. They just seemed so casual about things and being a small town everyone seemed to know them. All these observations are likely a good thing. It means crime is likely low. I don’t think it means people drive the speed limits though sadly.
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After Reefton I did a lot of climbing. I wasn’t looking at the map but I ended up climbing for at least an hour to reach the summit of a peak that was nearly 700 m close to Mount Haast. On the backside of that one I enjoyed a nice descent and soon made it to Springs Junction which amounted to a couple of gas stations at the intersection of a couple major highways. I enjoyed a ginger beer to top up my sugar level and got going again.
I started down a gravel road after 5 and started looking ahead on the next road section for camping. Nothing! I kept pedalling and notice a few openings in the woods without fences and also somewhat secluded so I jutted into the woods to wild camp. I’ll practice ‘leave no trace’ and carry on early tomorrow morning for Murchison (take 2).
Highlights:
-another enjoyable Cafe experience in Greymouth
-I’ve biked 465 km in the past 3 days and 4867 m of elevation gain!
Distance: 139 km and 1617 m elevation gain
Today's ride: 139 km (86 miles)
Total: 4,003 km (2,486 miles)
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