Wanaka – dropping the bikes

New Zealand part I - Posted On

Our contact in Wanaka is Florence and Alexis, a French family that moved in NZ ten years ago. I met them with my parents in 2006 during my first travel here. 

It happened that Florence is related to my mother through some friend’s connection. She is also the person that created a wonderful bike workshop association in Grenoble, “le p’tit vélo dans la tête”. www.ptitvelo.net

We pass some time together, trekking around, and paragliding ‘wild’ in an improvised flying site near Alexandra. It’s a very dry place, the wind is quite awkward, and we are flying behind a hill. But the autumn light is stunningly beautiful.

The first snow arrives during the night. It’s now very cold all around. I dream of skiing ! But this is not planned. This winter will not exist for me. Plane will transform it in spring, in summer. 

We get ready for going back to France and leave our bikes for the next five months at a shop who was keen to help us. Our bags are ready; let’s hit the road for a long hitchhiking trip up to Auckland.