Day 45

Te Anau to Mossburn 64km

Today I had intended to head south towards the southern coast and cycle through the 'southern scenic route'. I've been looking forward to seeing the Catlins. However I checked the weather, prepared to pedal through some rain but discovered a forecast of gale force winds along the coast for the next several days. Gale force winds! So, I headed directly east thinking the rail trail through central Otaga with its forcast of sun might be just the ticket. This route has me traveling back to Queenstown but hordes of tourists sounded much better than being blown off the bicycle.

The route to Mossburn was pleasant enough. Not too many buses so I decided not to take the backroad a second time but continued on the route that would have me cycling up the southern end of lake Makatipu tomorrow. Mossburn was yet another not much to it kind of south island NZ town. The camp site was marvelously quite. I talk, or tried to talk with a native who was camping/living there but his accent was so dense I couldn't really understand a word he said. I got the impression he did not much care for the government and felt like living at the camp site would help keep the Man at bay. He also seemed most displeased with all the chemicals they spray around here. I also have been rather suprised by the willingness of the New Zealanders to use toxic chemicals. There is one in particular called 1080, made in the US but banned for use there that the spray all over in an attempt to eradicate Possums. This is a tough call and a very contentious one here in NZ. 1080 is incredibly toxic. Yet if left alone Possums will not only kill of the birds by eating their eggs, but the rodents eat the shoots of new trees and have been steadily wiping out the forest itself. Invasive species are a big problem. I read about a group from Argentina here studying how NZ is coping with invasive species. Apparently in the 1960's 25 breeding pairs of Beavers were introduced into Patagonia and are wreaking havoc there.