Rain, snow and gale force winds

No matter how cold iSummer still seems to be missing round here. Today 12 inches of snow fell on the mountain range we are cycling across on Wednesday, a summer storm hit Auckland knocking out power to thousands and we had heavy rain overnight and this morning, with a high temperature at the coast of 12 degrees and 10 degrees where we are up near Mount Cook. Surely it has to get better sometime!  Luckily we didn't have much planned for today and had a bit of a lie-in and leisurely start - not leaving the motel until 10.00am. It was only around 100 miles or less up to Twizel and although we stopped at a couple of viewpoints there wasn't much to see until later this afternoon. We stopped in Twizel to have lunch and found an amazing shop - selling everything from bike spares, garden fertiliser and fishing rods to bedroom slippers and children's toys. Anyone from Bristol - it was like Mogfords to the power of 10.

Anyway we arrived an hour before the shop shut (it being Sunday) and Chris managed to get a replacement bike saddle for the one that collapsed yesterday. It is now fitted and will be given a stern test with a 4 day outing starting Tuesday.  We checked in to our fairly basic accommodation in a holiday park at 2.00pm, then walked back into the village for coffee and cakes in the Twizel Bakery Cafe. With a window seat we had a good view of the world going by and made the drinks last longer than was strictly necessary.  Then off for an hour's walk round the town (a village in UK terms but a veritable town here). It is actually quite a depressing place - once you are away from the centre you just pass row after row of virtually identical pre-fabricated bungalows with no distinguishing features. I assume many of them are holiday homes.

Anyway, by our standards, a quiet day so some observations after 2 weeks here:

There are a lot of different biting insects in NZ - I have been bitten by most of them already!

Food portions are enormous but there is relatively little obesity.

Rugby is the national obsession - every primary school, park or piece of scrubland has at least one goalpost for kicking practice. Most young lads carry a rugby ball around whereas in the UK it would be a football.

Drivers are almost universally law-abiding with regard to the speed limits (max 100kph on open roads) and the roads are littered with safety messages.

Very few dogs around - probably because they are not allowed in so many outdoor areas, National Parks etc

No matter how cold / wet it is the Kiwis know that this is summer, so wear shorts and T shirts at all times

And finally, from the Twizel update: we sadly missed the Frisbee Golf tournament this afternoon, but might try the 'Supine Pigeon' (allegedly a yoga position but anything is possible). There is also a fascinating advert for 'Spider Proofing' and one for the sale of 'Salmon Balls' - assuming you can afford these delights after paying for some continuous kerb laying........

No pictures tonight as we have limited WiFi access - will remedy tomorrow