1 March - Wilderness Trail Day Two

 Rob came up with a great suggestion over dinner last night and that was "Let's ask the pub if they will do a takeaway lunch for us". He did ask and they said yes so that meant that our ride for today was going to start at the pub at 7:30 just in time for us to pick up our lunches for the day as there were to be no coffee shops or Cafe's along the route.

We headed out of Kumara and along the trails, tracks, roads and dams of the local power scheme - yes there is quite a bit happening out there that is just out of sight on your left hand side as you whizz through to Greymouth or Hokitika. They all make for great riding and you are generally climbing on an easy slope for the best part of it. You reach the Kawheka Saddle (317m) and then other than one other 120m climb it's all downhill. We rode straight through "Cowboys Paradise" which is looking worse 12 months on and stopped at the top of the zig-zags at the same time as a couple of touring riders were coming the other way. We chatted with them and they are Canadian and ended up exchanging emails as they are leaving from Christchurch in a few weeks time so I told them to come and stop at my place.

The downhill zig-zags are great riding and one straight lines it in a few places to shorten the journey and add a bit more fun, At the bottom of the zig-zags there is now a lovely new shelter and in this we had our cut lunch before heading on out for the last stretch of the trail. This is located at the Aratika River I now realise after spelling something completely different for an American tramper who was wanting to know how to spell the name of the river - I spelt what I thought I saw!

At Lake Kanerie the trail heads off in tot he bush again and runs along the side of a water race which again makes for great riding, There was quite a group of E Bikes that had followed us down the zig-zags and had caught us up when we stopped. Just before we had time to "hit the trail" in front of them, they took off. We waited a few more minutes then took off and got passed them just as they were comingout of the water race trail which was quite good.

There is very little Road riding to be done on this leg of the trail and when there was there is generally a goo amount of room for vehicles and bikes to co-exist. Our route once we got off the road is a trail right beside the river.

Another great day and as we arrived in Hokitika at about 2:00 PM we all have a bit of time for R & R - for me that means - sit on the bed, right the blog and shortly I'm off for a walk around town to find somewhere for dinner,

Ian was waiting at Lake Kanerie

28 February - Wilderness Trail Day One

 After a day off the bikes yesterday while we were in Christchurch and a great Tranz Alpine train trip across to Greymouth we were all looking forward to getting on the bikes for the ride through to Kumara. The day was a good one and the train trip is well worth doing even if you are a local as you get to see the countryside from a totally different perspective and of course train travel would have to be one of the most relaxed forms of travel there is.

It's a very easy trail all the way through to Kumara and is virtually all off the road and much of the time it has you riding alongside the beach. I rode out to the end of the breakwater and the Grey River bar was none existent and on a day like today it is hard to reconcile how the ocean can change to become one very hostile environment. There are 12 plaques placed there to remember the folk who have lost there lives at that very spot. The other thing that you become aware of is that many of those who did not get back home that day were quite recent in living memory with many being lost since 2000. 

We have comfortable accommodation here in Kumara in the "Undertaker's Cottage" and will be off shortly for a meal at the Theatre Royal Pub across the road.

I already know that tonight's meal cannot possibly surpass that, that was cooked by Elio last night. I first met Elio on the  ride last year and he shared with me his Italian families traditional Spaghetti Bolognaise receipe, so me being me, couldn't possible let him escape without asking him to not only "tell" me but would you please mind "showing" me how you go about cooking it. It was a magnificent meal that everyone enjoyed and I am looking forward to a couple more meals of it still when I get back home as the leftovers are now sitting in my freezer!

26 February - Alps to Ocean Day Four

Again we were away at 7:30 for the short relocate drive down to Duntroon where once the bikes were unloaded it was noticed that the "Flying Pig Cafe" had put its open sign out - I know enough not to suggest people don't need coffee first thing in the morning and so those who wanted coffee headed off and got their fix while Ian and I sorted out some maps on his phone (Ian was able to get his coffee once us cyclists got underway). Eventually they all came back and we assembled in front of the Jail for a pic before getting on the bikes.

John, our local who knows this area well assumed the lead cyclist role and promptly headed back off with four of our Aussie riding buddies down the trail to Kurow that we had arrived on about 12 hours before! Going in completely the wrong direction! Myself, Peter and Elio (our "Tail End Charlie" today) waited for their return which didn't happen! This I could just not believe was happening.

Next thing we know John appears up, on the Road down from where we were waiting for him but without our Aussie mates and appears to be riding in circles at that point! A short while later Peter's phone goes and yes it was from Stephen who was now down on yesterday's trail wondering where to go. "Turn right" we said and head up the Road and you should soon see John and at that time he confirmed he could see John.

Eventually we all re-group 300 metres along the route we should have taken in the first place and begin what turned out to be yet another great day. It was cool to start with but the heater soon began to work well and at the seven km mark we met up with Ian who opened the van for our jackets and layers that were discarded. From here the trail goes mostly through private farmland limestone country alongside creeks, wetlands and gullies with some small climbs. One in particular had many switchbacks to get out of a small gully where some of the Lord of The Rings movie was filmed (must watch it sometime)... There were a lot more phot opportunities than what I had realised when I rode through by myself last December and so my estimate to have us in Oamaru before midday was way off mark but was not a problem as we only 53 k to ride in total for the Day.

Part of today's ride had us zipping along on a lovely downhill railway incline and through tunnel all before Weston none of which  I knew existed before riding the trail last December! There was one set of very old Oamaru stone farm buildings we past that would have you think we were in rural England - obviously at one time they were part of a large station and are build around a central courtyard. Two pieces of local trail history I will have to find more about before I ride it again.

Ian met up with us again at about 12:30 and mentioned that the "Enfield Fort Hotel" that we could see about a km away was open and so it was myself the non drinker who said what say we have lunch there rather than in Oamaru - that was agreed to immediately and so off I went with the others not far behind. A lovely lunch was had and then we hopped on the bikes for the last 12 km through more undulating but mostly downhill country in to Oamaru and through the Old Town to the Wharf where the trail officially ends. 

It was great to ride through the Botanical Gardens and then through the Old Town to the finish and being a lovely warm sunny day everything was buzzing. The obligatory end of trail pctures were taken then straight off to the "Real Fruit Ice Cream" caravan before the Aussies walked back through the Old Town with the ice creams and we headed for home and the Racecourse Hotel for their accommodation and our Sunday Roast (Seniors meal $17).

Last thing to do today is the washing!

We have been on the road now for seven days and the consensus is we have a rest day tomorrow.

25 February - A2O Day Three

 A nice cool start to the day with almost a frost at Omarama when we left at 7:40 AM. It was a great ride, out of town and around Lake Benmore which a point we continued to follow the Lake unitla Sailor's Cutting at which point the road veered away. There were 3 or 4 reasonable climbs alongside the Lake which gives riders many really good views, of the Lake, the Trail, the High Country farms and the magnificent High Country. Because of the views along the way our two hour estimate for the 30 km's to get to the Benmore meet up with Ian was probably a good 30 minutes late. The much longed for "real fruit ice cream" (for me) and the "coffee cart Lady" (for others) was not there this time like she was back in December! While I can get by without the ice cream some of the lads were hanging out for their morning coffee which they had to wait for until they arrived in Kurow.

The actual trail is in very good condition with a smooth crushed grit surface and as it was designed as a MTB trail none of the climbs were too steep and it goes without saying that there were no steps or tree roots which you sometimes get when riding older tramping tacks.

I must not have clipped my front carry box on correctly this morning as a few km's down the trail I hit a bump and the box fell off the handlebars and it's contents went sailing all over the trail - think :Lady's Handbag" when you think what is all that stuff on the ground there in the picture! In it I carry many of the essentials that I may need along the way and fortunately I managed not to lose anything.

The bike needed a wash and service when I got in so hopefully it will be running sweetly tomorrow it certainly now looks like a well ridden bike rather than the brand new one that I took last December on my exploratory ride of the A2O. I bought it to use and use it I have.

A short ride tomorrow morning before we head back up to Christchurch where I have four of the rider's bikes booked in for some minor servicing work.  

24 February - A2O Day Two

A nice brisk Summers morning to ride of Twizel and on up to the Canal Road before heading off around the shores of Lake Ohau. There was virtually no traffic once we were a few km's out of Twizel other than a local towing a horse float that smelt something terrible after it had past us - not of horse but of burning rubber. As there was a ute parked just up the canal  from us at this time and clearly by what he had on board he was a local fencer I pulled up beside him and said "you'd know that truck and float"? "Yes, he said". So I said. "can you let him know his tyres are rubbing or the float brake is still on". He thanked me and put the phone call through. My good deed for the day now done I could be a proper **** for the rest of it!!!

The ride around the shore of the Lake to the Road in to Ohau Lodge is a really good track and while it is not possible, it feels like you do more freewheeling than the equal amount of required pedalling. We arrived at the Lodge just as a fire drill was happening and the kitchen not quite open, but coffees were ready so the boys placed their coffee orders while we waited in the comfortable settee in front of the open fire that Elio re-ignited. In December the Toasted Sandwhich I had here was so tasty that back then after I'd had the first one I ordered my second! Today was no exception and upon my glowing review several of the others also ordered to times two option.

After the very leisurely stop at the Lodge it was off on the trail again for one of the easiest 400 metre climbs you will ever come by on a bike trail - I'm picking it was purpose built for cyclists and so it held a steady 4% gradient for about 10 km's and once at the highest point of the trail and the whole A2O, the view is worth taking your time to enjoy before there is again one of the best downhills you can get to enjoy on a bike. Today we had 13 E-Biker's tootling along the trail and we had a bit of fun with them at the top.

Our group became on of two (kind of) after this point and so we had three int he advance party and four following up the rear on the gentle downhill gradient in to Omarama where we are back in the same roomes even at the Heritage Hotel where we stopped two nights ago.

While it was cool this morning and we did not get to see too much sunshine through the ride in the late afternoon the sun came out and one begins to think we have returned to Summer - the fact that we can see the fresh snow on the Alps and hear that Mt Hutt is open on Sunday for the "Summer Season" tells us we have turned the corner as far as Summer is concerned. It is still great to be sharing all the weather we have on offer with my Aussie buddies, Hopefully tomorrow the cloud will have cleared from the tops and we will get to see the snow clad Alps.

Another great day.

23 February - Alps to Ocean (A2O) Day One

 Again we got off to a good start with a departure from Omarama at 7:30 AM for our drive to Mt Cook. Unfortunately it was kind of wet and the mountains were shrouded in cloud so we didn't get to see Mt Cook (a good reason for the Aussies to come back). It was quite cool at about 7 degrees when we headed off to the Mt Cook Airport 7 km away where there happened to be a helicopter ferrying people across the river and we didn't have too much of a wait. We had thought we needed to rent the chopper by the flight (five people) which didn't work out too good for our party of eight, however it turned out it they were happy on a per person basis ($180). Flying in helicopters is always such fun even in this case where it was literally only in the air for maybe five minutes. We had two flights with riders and then needed to wait for another flight that carried our bikes across.

Once the bikes were reunited  with us we soon got underway and had an enjoyable ride down to Twizel following the edge of Lake Pukakai. The thing that sets today apart from the others is that the weather changed many times while we were on the ride from cold rain, to no rain to a tiny period of weak sun to a brief hail storm - all this had me either taking layers off or putting them on. 

Not too many photos again as I am doing more GoPro footage so at some time in the future I will have a little film of the trail I'm riding (something more to learn).

22 February - Otago Rail Trail

 All riders were so pleased that we pushed on yesterday and added maybe another 20 km;s to that days riding - Because today it was cold and there was steady rain. This meant our dry, hard packed, fast trail of yesterday along with a great backwind had become a wet soggy, sludgy track of today. This felt like it may have taken 5 kph off our cruising speed. Fortunately it was predominantely downhill with only 80 metres of elevation to ascend. After about an hour we arrived at Hyde to the sight of the van and Ian. Here I was able to put another merino layer on and change my gloves - yes, even a seasoned Kiwi rider does not always get the clothing side of things right. Another plus of having Ian accompany us on the ride - it really is quite a luxury.

This ride would be described as "Supported" in that we have a van, a good friend driving it for us and we have accommodation booked ahead which is quite different to an "Un-supported Bike Packing" ride that I'm more used to. Along with this I have six other riding buddies which also introduces another aspect and means that there is never a dull moment as someone is taking the mickey out of another member of the group.

Today it was Elio who was on the receiving end of the ANZAC humour especially when we were travelling over Dansey's Pass. Although a skier and used to ski mountain roads the Dansey's Pass Road was one Road Too Far for Elio. IN fact he was later searching the most dangerous roads in the world as he was sure it would have to listed. For the first time in the Aussies living memory they actually found Elio short of words other than something he mentioned about having a very tight sphincter for most of that section. 

On the Pass we encountered a mob of about 2,000 Ewes and Lambs and when asking the farmer did he want us to hang back his answer was "how much time do you have"?! So for the next five km's John did a magnificent job of navigating our way through the mob until we met another random inexperienced farmer on the road in front of us in a 4x4 who tooted his horn then spun his wheels and a short while later stoppped! Why we don't know, Of course this meant John had to stop but then once stopped we couldn't get going again and began slipping to the left. All passengers followed Elio out of the van and we gently pushed which was enough to get John moving and as he couldn't stop it left us walking to the summit. What fun we are having.  

Perhaps as much fun as the German cycle tourist who we had earlier met all kitted up in his wet weather gear riding over the Pass by himself. We had a brief chat with him, shared our apricots and greengages which he appreciated,

We are now settled in to the Heritage Hotel at Omarama for the night.

21 February - Otago Rail Trail Day One

 It was a delayed start for me today as unfortunately I had to stay back for a 9:30 AM Disputes Tribunal conference call - the shuttle operator that should have taken four of us to Cape Reinga last year for the Tour Aotearoa failed to repay the $1,200 to us as we didn't use her service - she said she would, however failed to follow through with her promise! That's not playing by the rules in my book and I'm not one to let things like that float away. I had the case all laid out for the Tribunal and she agreed with every point that I made and said it was correct! Case closed! She was instructed to refund the $1,200 within 28 days. Time will tell.

This meant that I was two hours behind the others who had got off to an early start. I didn't muck around, no morning tea stop for me and I caught up with them before lunch. Lunch today was a pre ordered Subway that Ian had collected in Alexandra as we were unsure if there would be a place open for us at about lunch time.

Although a "Rail Trail" and trains are mot supposed to be able to go uphill very well the ride for the best part of 60 km was a steady 1 - 2% uphill gradient. My Aussie riding buddies who are totally unused to "proper" hills were quite concerned that one of the "inclines" on the trail was a hill in their book and there was almost a mutiny from them en masse as at last night's briefing I had said there were no "hills"!

Even though this is my country I am always amazed at how our scenery changes from one day's riding to the next and again this was definitely the case today as we rode further East.

It was decided to not ride our bikes off the trail and then on up the road to Naseby but to continue on the trail and meet up with Ian in the van for a relocate. This was two fold - a) the Aussies don't like hills and it involved riding "up" to Naseby Lodge and b) our group's meterologist (John) has been forecasting rain on Wednesday for some time and so the more KM's we knocked off today would be less to ride in the rain tomorrow and c) after we finish at Middlemarch tomorrow we have a rather long re-locate to get to Omarama. This meant that our distance today was over 100 km and we probably only have 40 km to get out of the way in the morning.

Because I was on a mission to catch the others today I didn't take any photos myself other the GoPro videos I'm now trying to get my head around.

20 February - The Dunstan Trail

 We were on the trail for a 10:00 AM start as John felt it important to let our Aussie mates get over their big day of travelling - so in this case I relented.

An easy ride past some lovely waterside (almost) homes into Old Cromwell for our coffee stop and then it was back on to the trail which runs alongside the Lake and through some beautiful country, vineyards and un-grazed High Country. We stopped at the "Coffee Afloat", the floating Coffee Cafe on the Lake for our lunch - bacon butties which were lovely but not really required or recommended as it was then straight in to the first of two small hills (130m) and from there it was undulating along the Lake to the Clyde Rowing Club and road end where Ian was waiting with the van and plenty of orchard fresh fruit - Cherries, apricots and greengaes. From here it was a great easy ride for about 14 km down the side of the Clutha River to our lodgings at the Alexandra Holiday Park.

The day started out a pleasant 20 degrees and then got hotter through till will arrived,

here in 30 degrees heat so there will be no trouble in getting our washing dry today.

All the bikes are running well and everyone is enjoying themselves although I have heard one or two rumours about me coining this an "easy first day shake down ride"!  Wait till tomorrow and by the end of that day I am sure they will be crying out for some hills,

19 Feb - Arrowtown

 A 5:00 AM start from Christchurch to Arrowtown to collect John and Ian and then on to meet my Aussie Mates, Peter, Elieo. Stephen, Phil and Rob as they get off the plane in Queenstown.They clearly knew they were in the right place when the first thing anyone arriving in Queenstown from overseas saw was the "NZ BIKE TOUR 2023 WELCOME" sign that Ian had created.  After the "great to see yous" it was back to Ian's Crib at Arrowtown to assemble bikes and sort stuff before we begin the Dunstan Trail tomorrow.