Status update: 3rd day of being stuck in Te Anau but at least it stopped raining. Local authorities announced a state of emergency after road to Milford was flushed down and stopped existing on few sections. Couple of hundreds of people are stuck in there and they are heli lifting people out. 😅 Road back to Queenstown is completely flooded and they are evacuating couple of houses in few villages because of the flooding. Not gonna be open until tomorrow (at best). Gravel trail for bikes towards Queenstown also impassable - two creeks became raging rivers. My options: wait it out or go around which takes 12h by car. I think I’ll wait. Maybe tomorrow the main road is gonna be cleared.

On a good note - during today’s ride towards Milford I had the entire road for myself. Not a single soul. Wish I could go further than I did but I decided to turn around and chase the wind back to Te Anau before the rain started. Did manage! :)