Shattered!

well....  I knew today was going to be hard and horrible and it was...  the only redeeming factor was the fantastic scenery - when I could wipe the sweat out of my eyes to see.  started off good..  a quick walk up to the waterfall at Jackson's retreat, then Maggie and me were on the road - riding in the valley, dwarfed by huge mountains on each side...  felt like something from a Heidi movie...  black n white cows munching on green grass etc...
Pulled into the Otira Pub - what a blast from the past!  and scalded my mouth with a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich for lunch...  and a coffee as well....  but having already spoken with a Tasmanian that was cruising down the hill, I knew that the next 15km was going to be a struggle...  that is an understatement!  the road didn't help...  no shoulder and trucks and vans as well as cars were out today in the beautiful sunshine.  I just stop when a truck comes from behind...  then if on a slope, its so hard to get going again.... riding slowly is hard to do in a straight line and as I hit the 16% gradient bit, I just had to get off and walk, pushing a reluctant Maggie up the hill.  next time I do something silly like that, I will pay a courier to drop my bags off at the top!!!  there were times when I thought it might be easier to unload Maggie and carry the bags up a bit - but that would mean 3 trips up, so we struggled on...  Arthur's Pass is just on from the top of Otira Gorge and is no way as steep, but still no shoulder to ride on, so more walking!!!  Man was I so glad to get to the top.  stats for the day were max 51.2kph and average 10kph...  most of the time I was struggling at less than 3kph, so that downhill swoop into the township certainly improved that reading....  enough of the huffing and puffing - here are some pics...  am still hoping to see kea here, but Maggie is locked away in a cage away from the hooked beaks!

Had fun with the waterfalls today

am I in Switzerland?

Inside the Otira Pub - time has stood still

can't believe that they were riding pennyfarthings around these ridges

for show only - thank goodness

another bridge, but still one lane - on such a busy a road

rock fall shelter over the highway

another one

another water fall - sorta!
bonus for cyclists - cars aren't allowed to stop, but I did, so I could get these photos :)

Hard to get perspective - but thats a big truck and that valley is a long way down!

ran out of low gears before I hardly got started!

Its all so grand around here

and the viaduct - looked like it was flat, but nooooooo way!!
and too narrow to safely wobble along

zoomed in

Looking towards Arthur's pass

Maggie on the verge of quitting!

One more ridge to cross

Yay!!!

Maggie safe in her Kea-proof cage

fortified!

Chapel at Arthur's Pass

Home for tonight

and no b keas around to gawk at!!!  gunna hafta get up early in the morning :)