Wednesday November 14, 2012, 48 miles (77 km) – Total so far: 969 miles (1,559 km)
We spent twice as long as we wanted in Queenstown due to the weather but were rewarded with a wonderful sightseeing flight and cruise to Milford Sound. The following day as we were standing at the bus stop waiting for our ride to Dunedin two friends from the ice, Tyler and Rachel, walked by. Again what a small island this is. They left the ice after me, spent a month on the beaches of Samoa, and are back in New Zealand hiking some of the wonderful trails here.
We arrived in Dunedin and stayed downtown at Central Backpackers. This morning we boarded the Taieri Gorge Railway for a cool train ride to Pukerangi where we cycled to the start of the Otago Rail Trail in the town of Middlemarch. Here we obtained a room at the town’s pub. Tomorrow we will start the trail that runs 150 km through the central Otago Valley of the South Island.