Fantastic weekend away

This past weekend Mike and I joined four of our friends(Tom, Jonelle, Mark, and Sara) on a bike trip away. It was a fantastic weekend. We intended to go to Lake Gyon (so Fisherman Tom could catch us dinner) but ended up elsewhere. I have once again realized how amazing NZ's scenery is and how much fun it is to be in it with a group of cool people. The funniest moment came when Mike pleaded with a man to open a locked gate because we only get one weekend a year away from our kids and he was ruining it for us. Granted the others all had kids so Mike felt justified in saying this ( I guess) but the rest of the trip everyone was offering to help us with our "kids" so we could get some time away. Ha. 

There were six of us and neither of the back doors opened so they either had to climb over or jump in as Tom so swiftley shows us above. Mark and Jonelle hated him doing this because his body inevitably dug into somebody. 

So we got up the road to this gate and it was locked....we had ignored the signage that said "Road Closed" because, well, we figured we could just drive around. So Tom and Mark went ahead on Bikes to see what was going on and Mike spotted a place to cross the river in the truck and get around the gate and that's what we did in this spot shown. The Patrol just forged on the through. 

The Nissan Patrol forges ahead towards Lake Gyon. 

This was funny. It's a bit difficult to see so I will narrate. So we arrived at the locked gate and decided to cross the river and go around but Jonelle, Sara, and Mark took three bikes off the back and started down the road while Tom, Mike, and I were in the truck. Suddenly, this black car sped on up and met them at the gate. Did he have the key? Was he going to help? Well Mike soon realized he wasn't going to helo so in picture #1 we see Mike with his hands raised, "What's going on?" and then we see Mike in #2 crossing the river to figure this thing out. In #3 if you can see the others, things do not look good, and Mike is in intense conversation with this man about the ins and outs of this dealio. But we then see #4 that the others give up and Bike away while Mike continues to converse with the man who will not budge. Later Mike said he could have talked to the guy forever, but we are glad he didn't and we drove the truck back across the river and began the quest for a new tramp. In the end, the guy suggested we not go on the road because it was under construction but we could do what we wanted although he waited to move on until he saw us back across the river. We are planning a trip to Lake Gyon in a couple weeks time when the road is open. 

Arrival to our new destination. Lake Taylor. 

Hot. 

Look at the color of that lake. We ate some lunch here before we headed out. We were hungry people once we finally got here after getting rejected from our first trail and driving around for a couple hours getting to our new trail. 

Bike puzzle. 

Heading out on the trail...after spending most of the day in the truck trying to get to a place to bike. 

I like this because you can see Jonelle in the left lens and Mike in the right. 

This is the sort of road we were biking on and then through lots of fields of sheep. It was pretty fun to ride amidst hundreds of scurrying sheep. 

It was about 10 kilometers so about 6 miles...not too bad and it was great. The clouds were brewing in the distance and the thunder and lightning began but the rain kept away until we just about made it to the end of the biking trail and walked to the hut in the rain. 

Once we made it to the hut, we started a fire so we could dry out from the rain that soaked us in the last 45 minutes. But after about an hour in the hut, it was like a sauna and we had to relocate outside. 

After we lazed out of bed, Mike broke out his favorite tramping food: salami, brie cheese, and crackers. Some foods that I would never eat otherwise, taste so good when tramping. We ate really well. The night before, Mike cooked up some steak which was also really good. Good food. Good fun but we were very sleepy people. 

The incredible breakfast Sara and Mark made. They brought back tortillas from the states and froze them so they would always have lil bits of heaven in their freezer. They also made green salsa with an egg on top. It was divine. Gracias mis amigos. 

Everyone outside the Hurunui Hut. Luckily it has stopped raining and the weather was great for the trip out. Mike, Chris, Tom, Jonelle, Sara, and Mark 

Quick story: When I first wore that T-shirt in Taiwan...one of my 4 year olds said "Hamburger" but it actually says 'Arizona' over a tree. Now that I see it from his perspective, it does look like a hamburger. Oh, and the biking was very fun and it was beautiful. 

I can't believe this place. 

Fishermen's heaven. Tom, the resident fisherman, says this place is great. So here you go dad and Nate you should get a school started here. These guys offfered to take our bags back down the road with them so we had a great ride back without bags. 

Tom has a really cool photo of this but mine doesn't quite do his ride justice. He zipped down this hill. He loves it. 

He didn't quite make the corner but it was a very graceful fall. He nearly went back to do it again so he could make the corner. 

It was beautiful weather when we biked out. That's the Hurunui River behind us. 

Back to Lake Taylor. Tom and Jonelle cooked some yum noodles, some of us took a dip in the cold cold lake, we jump started the truck, and packed it all up. 

Tarzan Tom pushing the truck into operation. No, he didn't take a dip in the lake, he just likes this look after a bike ride. Yeah, Tom you like that?