Franz Josef

I’ve been spending a lazy couple of days in Franz Josef. This town has everything it takes to make me happy – mountains, sunny weather, gorgeous views (I mean you see a mountain with a glacier running down it for heaven’s sake!), good restaurants and coffee, fast internet, a pretty comfortable and affordable hostel, and some great local hikes and rides. I’ve been enjoying just lounging around, catching up on blogging, reading, dreaming about the ride ahead etc. :)

Yesterday I went for a short ride about 25 km down the road to a place called Okarito. It was about 19 km down the main road after which I turned left onto a twisty, narrow 8 km stretch. This road was fun to ride except that I was heading west and the sun kept blinding me in certain sections, forcing me to slow down. It ended in a little blue lagoon where some people were fishing. I loved how the vegetation on the sides of the road was full of rainforest-y trees and ferns. The ride back was a lot faster and I gasped as I saw the snow-capped mountains in the distance on my return journey!

Parked by a lagoon near Okarito on the West Coast