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JETNZ: Lyell. Chopper flight #5
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JETNZ: Me all kitted up and being eaten alive!
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JETNZ: 1st bridge over Lyell Creek
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JETNZ: All leg power from here. Signage was great
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JETNZ: 2nd bridge over Lyell Creek
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JETNZ: Easy riding… can it be like this for the next 18km?
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JETNZ: Still hearing the sounds of choppers coming and going
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JETNZ: Humidity and heat meant the ride was a bit of a sweat-fest
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JETNZ: Gaining elevation the cruisy way...
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JETNZ: That rock was sharp, good tread and pressure essential
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JETNZ: No shortage of water…one of the many creeks to cross
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JETNZ: Sometimes visibility was limited. All those heli-MTBers were coming down at some stage...
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JETNZ: Trusty One Twenty
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JETNZ: Top up anyone?
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JETNZ: Streams sometimes ran down the track...
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JETNZ: Narrowing of the track
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JETNZ: The higher I climbed, the longer the beech lichen grew
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JETNZ: Views! Lyell Saddle to the right, my destination for the night
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JETNZ: "The Big Slips" - a feat to re-establish a track over this massive slip, caused by the Inangahua and Murchison quakes
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JETNZ: Safely past the gate, I took this photo of the track in the 'rockfall zone'...
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JETNZ: Another slip and more walking the bike...
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JETNZ: View of the "The Sphinx" (726m), behind this hill is Murchison
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JETNZ: At the 14km mark. A slip we are allowed to ride over… nearly there!
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JETNZ: Home for the night. Lyell Saddle Hut and the impressive non-pongy composting toilet. A first!
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JETNZ: This is the view from the hut deck - very nice...
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JETNZ: Company. "Blog", our hut companion from Westport, was dreaming of goat curry...
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JETNZ: One of the two private huts you can book for groups
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JETNZ: Kelvin and Sue, great company. They intended to tramp the entire track
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JETNZ: Waking up to this is got to be one of life's special moments...
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JETNZ: Riding down a green tunnel of freshness and spider silk was wonderful…