Malcolm showed me a fire he fought last night - two tractors destroyed, one truck, one barn, lots of hay, and a tool shed. All gone. And one swimming pool drained to extinguish it.

What a ride up Arthur's Pass - it started out misty and threatened rain but as I was climbing up Porter's Pass it started clearing up right on top. What a hard climb (I was in my 24x30 on the last steep pitch - "Steep Grade"). Then it was down and flat for a while past BEAUTIFUL rest stops! Up till now I was psyched! My cyclometer was fixed and kilometers go by much faster than miles. I thought I could go the whole way. [to Arthur's Pass] Then it was rollers, some were pretty big and this lasted for a long time. There was no 'final ascent' up to the pass and for the last 50 km I had this major headwind. Sometimes I would drop below 10 km/hour on the flats. I was up when I could go 15 kph. All of it was pretty but I was so tired. You just go and go and all of a sudden, there you are. A little sign, a little police station and a little village.

There is a bird up here, [the] "Kea", which looks just like a parrot. It's supposed to eat anything! It shreds bike seats, eats the stuffing, rubber boots, trim on cars, anything.

Training Diary Comments: Wet, then hot, then windy. 7 hrs - I went a little far today, the last 2 hrs were hard. Head wind! 10-15 kph.

outside Rangiora	Waimakarki River
bridge over Waimakarki	other side of bridge
way up to Porter's Pass	near the top of Porter's Pass
looking east from Porter's Pass	looking west from Porter's Pass
Hwy 73	further along Hwy 73
even further along Hwy 73	a "Kea" Arthur's Pass
another Kea	Arthur's Pass
Arthur's Pass	Arthur's Pass
Arthur's Pass	halfway down the west side of Arthur's Pass