In December 2005 and January 2006 I spent 27 days cycling around the South Island of New Zealand, a distance of 2330 km (1460 mile) with 23 days riding. By using a touring bike with low gearing, this trip emphasized cycling the South Island mountain passes (nine in all), unlike the tour in 2004 in which I cycled the perimeter of the island. I also carried a solo tent and cooking gear, thus having more choice of accommodations.

My trip began and ended at Picton, the terminal for the Cook Strait ferry from Wellington. Look at the map to see my approximate route (orange line, clockwise) and the passes I cycled (green stars). The nine passes were Taylor (gravel), Ward (gravel), Jacks (gravel), Lewis (seal), Arthurs (seal), Burke (seal), Hakataramea (gravel), Danseys (gravel), and Haast (seal).

The places I stayed overnight (blue dots) were: Jordan's hay barn in the Awatere River valley (1), Molesworth Station homestead DoC campsite (2), Hanmer Springs cabins (3,4), Reefton hotel (5), Lake Moana hotel (6), Craigieburn DoC campsite (7), Methven YHA (8), Fairlie campground cabins (9), Kurow hotel (10), Dansey's Pass holiday cabins (11), Naseby campground (12), Alexandra campground cabins (13), Gore BBH (14),  Mossburn hotel (15), a campsite north of the Mavora lakes (16), Wanaka campground (17), campsite at Camp Creek on Lake Wanaka (18), Haast YHA (19), Pine Grove cabins at Jacobs River (20,21), White Heron cabins at Whataroa (22), Hokitika YHA (23), Greymouth holiday park cabins (24), Inwood Farms BBH at Inangahua (25), and St. Arnaud YHA (26). Details about the hostels can be found at the websites of the Youth Hostel Association and the Budget Backpacker Hostels.

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