Wednesday 18th Nov.
Woke up to the sound of rain this morning so decided to stay put. Later in the day the backpackers filled up with a load of german teenagers. Thankfully I got a free upgrade to a room so they could keep all the kids together in the dorms. 

Thursday 19th Nov
 A bright sunny start as promised by the weather forecast so I was up packed and on the road by 8. Despite there being cloudless sky’s it was freezing cold and I stopped off for a warm up and bumped in to 3 bikers traveling the other way to a bike rally in a town called Winchester. They also told me that it was raining where I was heading and likely to get worse. After chatting with them I decided I would head for the bike rally but as it was not on till Friday I carried on going through to Arthurs pass until it got to cold and wet then turned around and came back. It was a cold but stunning ride and the rain held off until I had got about 20 miles past the viaduct, the viaduct being the best bit of all. It was a bit drizzly, very cold and windy. Once the rain hit I turned around and headed back the way I came with the rain following me up until shortly after the viaduct where it eased off and the sun came out eventually. I took a few side turnings just to see where they went the second one was to a free campsite with only a toilet (hole in the ground) and an open fronted shelter with a big fireplace. I thought that this would be a really good place to stay, get a fire going and put up my camp bed and kip here the night, It was only 3 O’clock but it still seemed like a good place to stay not a sole in sight and a good few miles from the main road. I thought I was far enough away from the river not be infested with sand flies but just in case I covered my self with insect repellent and went for a walk around maybe get some fire wood although there was already some dry wood beside the shelter it would not have lasted through the night. It wasn’t long before I was being attacked by bloody sand flies. So I changed my mind about staying here in this idyllic spot and as it was early I was happy to forget the idea of camping here tonight and ride on. I arrived in a small town called springfield at about 5 o’clock and decided it was time to stop for the day. The hotel was to expensive and the backpackers was full. But I was offered a caravan and after a bit of haggling I managed to get the caravan at a reasonable price, no wifi to be found though. It turned out the backpackers I was staying at was fully booked by a group of bikers well Honda Goldwing owners club. Took a walk to the local pub for dinner where I met another biker going to the Winchester bike rally had a good chat with Bob and a few beers. The bar was closing at 10 as there was only 4 people in it and one of them was the barman and the other other the chef. So back to the backpackers to see what the Goldwing owners club were up to only to find the place empty and had the TV room to myself not that there was anything worth watching. But I did get to see the weather forecast which looked good, Sun, Music, Motorcycles and Alcohol. Happy days.