I did this part in the end of my journey and not in the beginning, since I was returning back to Nelson from Bluff / Invercargill / Queenstown by shuttle and rental car. From Picton to Nelson you have only two bad choices.. either you cycle on the SH6 which is very busy with Log-Trucks…

This was the last leg on my journey from Nelson to Bluff, roughly 1200 Km, therefore I was relatively exhausted but happy to have reached the final Destination, which was Bluff. From there I continued onwards straight to Stewart Island since I didn’t want to stay in Bluff since I couldn’t find a suitable accommodation…

Having a lot of headwind I didn’t go very far on this 2nd to last leg towards Bluff, the ultimate destination of my journey.. Accommodation: Winton Railway Hotel

This was a particular long day since I had to catch the “staff-boat” from RealNZ from Queenstown to Walter Peak early 7 am in the morning. When I arrived on the other side of the lake the nice big café was still closed unfortunately. So I had to cycle 117 km further in a desperate…

On this section I crossed the crown range, which is the highest sealed road in New Zealand with an altitude of 1000m. A impressive ride with beautiful views down to Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown.

This section was along the beautiful shoreline of Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka. Recommendation: Pembroke Pâtisserie | Artisan Bakery, Albert Town | Wanaka

After a nice stay in the township of Haast I contiued over the strenious Haast Pass torwards Lake Hawea. Along the way there were some nice stops… waterfalls and cafes… Accomodations: Haast Wilderness Backpackers & Makarora Country Café

On that Day I decided to have a rather short day on the bike and ended up staying in the remote but beautiful settlement of Haast. With a supermarket, restaurant and some accommodation it has all that the cyclist heart needs..

After staying in the busy town of Franz-Josef I went on towards Haast but decided to stay at the warm but wet Lake Peringa. Also there was a considerable amount of sand-flies. But once you get used to it, it is not such a big problem any more..

From Harihari I followed the SH6 until I arrived in the remote but busy tourist destination of Franz-Josef, which is the Gateway to the Franz-Josef Glacier which melts directly into the nearby westcoast ocean. An impressive spectacle!