Day 16 Arthur's Pass

Today we started our cycle trip from Christchurch to Queenstown on the west coast through the Southern Alps. After a flat cycle on the Canterbury flats we started our ascent to the mountains through Porter's Pass. We climbed to an elevation of over 900 meters some of it on grades of 16%. Mabel and I had not biked since September so we found this first climb very hard. Thinking that cross-country skiing , hockey and hiking gets you ready for cycling is just not true. The scenery however was awesome so the 70 kms we cycled up hills and with headwinds were buffered somewhat. We finally made it to Arthur's Pass and the Wilderness Lodge where we would spend the night. After a delicious meal and kind hospitality of the hosts at very nice accommodations we were invited to star gazing walk with commentary. The host was extremely knowledgeable about the stars in the northern and southern hemisphere. It turned out that the international space station was passing during our viewing. A first for Mabel and I.