Aurthur's Theme (Best that you can do)

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We stayed up as long as we could manage.....or rather I did and Neil spent the the evening comatose while I threw peanuts at his open mouth.  By 7:30pm we both gave up and collapsed.  11.5 hours later we woke much refreshed.

Today we climbed over Aurthur's Pass.  This required 75 miles, plenty of climbing and some nasty bottom gear stuff at near stalling speed.  We did 'the best that we could do' and it nearly wasnt enough.

The weather at this time of year can be variable on South Island and I had worried that I might get cold, especially  in the hills.  It was probably 20c when we set out and well into the 30s by mid afternoon so no worries there.  Tomorrow looks set for more of the same.

We are now 5 miles north of the pass, having enjoyed an exciting descent, passing trucks and cars at almost double their speed.  We are staying at the Otira Hotel.....a real 'old school' kiwi hotel in the absolute middle of nowhere.  These places can be quirky and great or........completely crap.  Luckily we are in a quirky one.  The chef/barman/manager is rustling us up a couple of rib-eyes while we drink an especially weak bland, tasteless local beer.

I should probably sign off now as it will take much of the rest of the evening to upload a couple of photos.

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