Days 2&3: Invercargill - Winton, Winton - Lumsden

The Plunkett Family

In the morning we had to say good-bye to our new friends, Dawn and Elijah, their two adorable children, and their dog and cat.  We were just becoming one big happy family, but I guess we couldn't stay there forever.  We packed up our bags and headed to the farmer's market in Invercargill, where we were to do the work part of our help exchange.  That night we were to be biking to Winton, and our host was coming to Invercargill to sell his meat, so we helped him out with that and in exchange he gave us a lovely room, warm shower, and a wonderful home cooked meal!  Thank you Barry for being such a great host!  The work we did for him was very minimal for what he gave us, but we really appreciated it! 

The Farmer's market was at a festival called Surf to City, where people from the community could bike, run or walk 12kms from the beach to the city center, also for charity.  We found out about it a bit late so we couldn't participate, but it was still fun to be there and see, as well as work a bit in the farmer's market.  It was a huge community event, and the energy there was incredible!

The band at the Surf to City Festival

Finish Line of the Race!

Us with Barry and Henning on the farm

The ride from Invercargill to Winton was perfect.  We were on flat side roads with no wind and lots of sun but not too hot.  It was only about 40kms so it was a quick ride.  And since there was no one on the road, it gave Sheree and I a chance to ride side by side, share stories, and just get to know each other better :)  And then we were greeted by Barry and his other helpx helper, Henning from Germany. 

Sheree's getting pretty comfortable on the bike!

The next day we got a chance to sleep in, and took our time getting ready, and around noon we headed off to Lumsden.  We rode about 68kms on mostly flat and easy roads, with a few hills towards the end, just to give us a little taste of what we've got ourselves into!  Our next host was another help exchange...

The cows seem to love watching us!

Paula offered to let us stay in exchange for some gardening work.  We love gardening, so this was a great deal for us.  Paula's cooking was amazing, and she even gave us Pavlovas for dessert...which was a first for me!  Everything was amazing and we went to bed early and happy with our stomachs full.  Thank you Paula! 

 We were meant to rest in Lumsden for a couple of days, but we got an opportunity to go to the Field Days in Waimumu, so we decided to do that.  I'll give you an update on how that goes, and we'll continue on biking on Friday or Saturday...