Time for a slightly longer update as we may be stuck here for a while, and having the Leeebretto allows me to type while offline and then copy-paste into LJ.

So gummihuhn has a flat tire. In fact it was more than just flat: there is a series of short cuts or tears in the side of his rear tire, looking by their angle as if they occurred while riding, but how... we don't know. Frankly I've never seen anything like it. The AA has picked up the bike but the hard part may be finding a replacement tire, especially as this is Easter. Looks like our route plans may have just gone down the drain.
We're in a nice spot (Haast, on the west coast) and right now the weather is lovely so I'm not complaining too much (it's not like it's going to help anyway) but it would be a shame having to wait here while our scarce days here glide past and there are so many gorgeous roads out there left to be discovered.
( A lot more words, behind the cut... )