New Zealand, Mar 7, 2010 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ... go to next day.

Three more days to go. We start early, since we know we have a long day with a long and hard climb ahead of us. However, we don't know quite yet how hard ...

After 27 kilometers, riding mostly in headwind, we reach Kumara at 10am.

We have coffee and sandwiches at Cafe Kumara Tearooms. An older chap prepares and serves the sandwiches --- he probably does not have to do that very often, but we are in no hurry.

We have a gorgeous sunny day, and about 70 kilometers uphill to go.

At 1:30pm. We are at Jackson Tavern for lunch: Greek Salad and Chicken Pie.

The train from Greymouth to Christchurch is the attraction of the day --- there are some people waiting for it with their cameras ready. We make a short stop, too.

The buildings by the railroad are equally colorful.

We make one final break at Otira before the climb to Arthur's Pass.

Time has stopped in Otira Cafe and Bar, and Motel. The place has a lot of potential, but an elderly couple running it may not have enough interest or capability to take proper care of it.

Meals, breakfasts, sandwiches, snacks, and drinks.

We have about 20-kilometer climb ahead, which takes us from 420 meters to 920 meters.

The steepest grades we face are about 16%.

Sometimes we have to walk our bikes, and even that is hard.

We take frequent breaks.

We also meet Keas, New Zealand's (in)famous mountain parrots that are “known” to eat sheep.

And car tires.

Arthur's Pass, finally!

We reach Arthur Pass Village around 6pm. --- we have an accommodation reserved at Hosteling International. We have dinner at Arthurs Chalet: Waldorf salad (not quite!) and seafood chowder to start with and then vegetarian dish (mushrooms and Brie) and apricot chicken for mains. Portions are huge and heavy, downed (partially) with Roaring Meg Pinot Noir from Mt Difficulty, Central Otago 2008.

Today we ride 95.75K in 7:00'16 (avg 13.6 kph, max 46.1 kph)