So we had to cobble together another plan and ended up doing a pretty reasonable job. We started by having a lazy breakfast at the bakery in Twizel. Not recommended. From there we followed a track for 30km down the Pukaki river. Quite fun but very rough, riding over a million baby head boulders. We followed this down to the confluence with the Tekapo river where we then rode a riverside track for 50km back up to Tekapo. Another billion baby head boulders. We stopped for a coffee en route next to the river. Nice spot. Then onwards. Halfway back we had to cross the Grays River which we thought would be straight forward but it was full of incredible slippery boulders and a soft bottom. Deep enough to drown the bike as well. We got through with wet feet but it wasn’t pretty.
We came out at the Mt Johns observatory so we popped up for the view and lunch at the cafe. We quickly narrowed it down to just the view. Astronomical prices ( ooh the pun hurts even to type it). A slice of cheesecake cut with a microtome was 15 dollars. So into Tekapo for a bite.
Dave Lear delighted us after lunch by doing the most spectacular dropping of the bike. It’s hard to know how he did it to be honest. He was climbing on one side and fell off the other with the bike on top of him. There were at least a thousand people watching. He immediately leapt on the bike and rode to the far end of the car park to hide. We hung about a little longer so people could take photos. It’s on several forms of social media if you want to see it. Just google “Dave Lear spectacle Tekapo”.
The afternoon was filled with some very pleasant scenic gravel road riding around Fairlie. Sold a kidney to pay for dinner and here we are. Tomorrow is a big transport day to Hanmer, the homeward leg has started. 
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