Day 6 - Omakau to Clyde - end of the trail.....

 (I have uploaded my gps tracks - http://www.a-trip.com/users/home/10338 - you should be able track along my trail.  It doesn’t hurt to click on the fast forward especially when I have stopped for a snack or taking photos.  But there aren’t any photos on that yet – they are fiddly to load up, so will do that later – maybe!)

Day 6 18 Feb – Omakau to Clyde

Elaine & Ian saying Goodbye

Another very brisk start to the morning – 8.6C before I went for brekky.  I think by the time I was on my way it was up to 17 so not that bad!! Predicted to be 32 today – what a range!

Ophir Bridge

I did a little loop out to Ophir – only about 2km.  This is apparently the coldest spot in NZ in the winter, getting down to -15 regularly.  It was down in a little valley after crossing over an interesting one-way bridge.

The Old Post Office, Ophir

The PO there is the longest continually operating PO in NZ – a really interesting old one-room building, such that you might find at Ardrossan.  So of course I went in there and bought a couple of postcards to send to a couple of very special kids I know J  I even got to frank one with the old stamp….

Inside one of the cells

Checked out the old Lock-up out the back.  Apparently it had been used as a sleep out for many years and the National Trust has just bought it and relocated it back to near the PO.

The pub there is very art deco and up for sale - but maybe not this time.  Then back onto the trail.  Only slightly going downhill, but heaps of riders heading out – in tour groups and all rude and snobbish.  Most looked like they had thought it was a good idea, but already weren’t so sure!

Looked like an Asian Cock-fight happening up in the clouds

So I continued on through more farmlands, dry rocky outcrops, over viaducts or bridges and eventually arrived back into civilisation at Alexandra – the main centre for this area.  As I am not a city person, I continued along the rather hot and sunny track, past vineyards a plenty and I eventually cruised down into Clyde. 

Civilised bridge over the river at Alexandra

End of the Central Otago Rail Trail

I was spending the evening with a friend’s parents and they took me in and made sure I had more than I needed.  

We went on a tiki tour up to the dam, which is a hyrdo-electric generator - then over the river and up to a rather serious lookout, way up a rough and rocky road, where we saw a rather serious mountain biker struggling up the hill in a lather of sweat, but he wasn’t giving in.

The Dam wall, Clyde - Lake Dunstan behind the wall

Looking down the valley made me think of photos of the Derwent valley in Tassie.  River lined with poplars – all very English. 

Me - blocking the view!

Once back down the mountain, we took a short walk along the River trail, an alternative track between Clyde and Alexandra. 

  

Here the river really rips past after being let out of the dam.  It would be a really nice bike ride to loop along the River trail and back along the Rail trail – about 25km.

So a very pleasant evening was spent chatting and catching up on each others’ news.

Stats for the day:  46.6km and I forgot to write down the rest.  total on the trail: 174.84km - which includes the few zigs and zags I did along the way.

Day 5 - Ranfurly to Omakau

I had a really comfy sleep after having an evening meal at the pub and trying out Speight’s beer.  Well, one beer is much like another really.  It was fine!

After breakfast I loaded up Maggie and away we went at a bit before 8:30.  It was bluddy nippy, so I checked temp before heading off – 13.4…. yeah, cold.  Another overcast day it seems and there was a wind, but strangely coming from behind – again!!  I know!  I didn’t believe it either and it eventually whiffled away.  I think I am lucky because the majority of riders are coming the other way and the wind knows it can annoy more blowing as it doesJ

I had my knee-length rainbow soxes on as well as ¾ knicks and cargo pants over the top.  On top I wore a t-shirt, long-sleeve hoodie and my fleecy cardi, but still had to stop and put my head band on to keep my ears from freezing – woose!!!!

Curling lake in the winter - it totally freezes over and
 there's about 26 teams play at the same time 

The trail as before, continues to be loose, rough gravel.  I read in some blurb where the trail ‘is ideal for cyclists’ and I wonder if it’s because we are too bluddy polite to say that this surface abso sux and it messes up what could be an idyllic ride.  Most of the scenery passes by while my eyes are glued on the small 20cm path that’s been made in the very loose gravel.  

example of road surface

Good training for riding on roads with narrow shoulders I guess….  I think it is time for some honesty to prevail and for someone to stand up and say ‘engineers, please try and put your minds onto the task of making an easy care smooth surface for cyclists’ otherwise the numbers are just not going to grow.  It is manageable, tho mostly frustrating, going downhill at a bit speed and a slip in gravel can only end up being painful, something I don’t want to experience.  So there’s my whinge…  I wonder if I will let it get louder!

45degrees south

But the scenery today was a bit more speccy – the Gorge was gorgeous – lined probably with some introduced tree like willow, but with water racing along under the impressive viaduct. 

 

Poolburn Gorge

Poolburn Viaduct

There were a couple of rather cool, cool tunnels to walk through – only one really needed my torch but both a bit scary to ride through as the trail wasn’t lit up enough to see the rocks.  But I was in no hurry and they certainly weren’t very long – and the sign said “cyclists walk”. 

inside the big tunnel!

I lunched at the Ida Valley Café – real coffee and very nice and I had a bonus scone – a large half of scone with pesto, tomato and a nice slice of camembert and that kept me going for really ages. 

Lunch at Ida Valley

  I went into the old Gilchrist’s shop and bought a couple of things just because… but I was a little disappointed in it for some reason.  It sorta feels right, but not….  Might have been the slightly sour shop keeper.  I think the shop in Cammoweal is much more authentic...

I saw a hare lolloping along the trail until it saw me, then panicked and took off in the other direction.  There were deer inside a paddock and a couple of sheep out on the trail.  I spied another flock of Californian quail, their topknots nodding as they took off.  And I had a good look at a Paradise Shelduck, heard it calling and confirmed the other sightings I had of ducks with white splodches on their wings. 

After lunch I found a public toilet and stripped off some of my excess clothing as quite suddenly the clouds disappeared and the sun was quite warm.  The blue skies were really nice and later on I checked the temp in the sun was 28 tho when I had a later stop in the shade it was only 26.  But very nice to be warm and getting a good dose of Vit D.

I eventually rolled into Omakau at around 4ish – very happy with my very easy ride of around 60km today.

Peddl’n Away B&B is my accom for the night. Elaine and Ian are a very friendly couple who welcomed me into their home.  I was the only guest for the night, so they made quite a fuss of me.  First I had a cold beer and some crisps, then a nice hot shower and later a very delicious pumpkin and spinach lasagne with fresh garden salad, followed by sticky date pudding covered with caramel sauce served with ice-cream.  Probably more than I needed, but it would have been rude to refuse!

So another successful day along the trail – one more to go.  I finish the trail in Clyde tomorrow and from there it will be back sharing the road with cars.  And I guess there will be some real hills, as so far, I haven’t really had to cope with anything much.  I really think the ride from Middlemarch is much easier as the downhills are much more noticeable than the uphills.  So thumbs up!

Stats:  60.3km – 14.8kph average – 25.3kph max

Day 4 - Hyde to Ranfurly

Day 4: 16 Feb. Hyde to Ranfurly

Leaving the Hyde Hotel

Pretty cool start to the day – tho not raining and not windy – so all good.

I only had 30km to go to Ranfurly, so after a better breakfast including muesli & yoghurt but NO coffee, I loaded up Maggie and we headed off.

Just around the corner I decided to set up the Gro Pro and found that I had forgotten the helmet attachment, so a few minutes spent cussing that….  But I set up the camera mount for the little camera just to take some stills. 

first tunnel only 151m  

There was a tunnel first up but it was only 151m, so that was easy, so headed off along the track.   As yesterday, the trail is pretty rough with loose gravel, so there isn’t much gawping around, but it is manageable.  In some places it’s quite rough but in others the gravel is smaller and more compacted. 

I saw heaps of bunnies hopping around, even a little black rabbit, but he had no basket of carrots, so I pedalled on.  I did spy a flock of wild turkeys down on an irrigated paddock, but they totally ignored me as turkeys often do!

There were a couple of nice creeks flowing along and some examples of the schist cliffs with the erosion caused by freezing pretty evident.  But generally it’s not that riveting scenery, being mainly cleared land for farming.  The distance views of the ranges all around are quite nice tho.

from the top of Prices viaduct

Today’s ride was basically pretty flat with maybe some false flats as they are called, just slowly riding up but not enough to make one puff. 

another bridge

Lunch was at Wapiata Pub – cheese, tomato & lettuce sanga with a ginger beer – all nice and filling.  Then back onto the road for another pedal of about 10km and arriving in Ranfurly. 

Ranfurly is renown for its art deco buildings and yes, I guess they are.  But people seem friendly enough.  In fact, it is a bit like being in rural Aus – very similar feel and out here the accent is pretty strong – like “putting in ya pun is the only way of paying for thungs”.  Someone at the pub tonight was talking about sux – 6 – and it just didn’t sound aOK – but then an old gentleman in charge of the art deco museum didn’t think I had an aussie accent at all….  Wot can that mean??

The hostel was previously the old post office and it had quite a nice charm about it all.  Clean and fairly friendly, but they didn’t offer free wifi as backpackers ‘took advantage of it’….. I had a room to myself, so I slept pretty well.

Stats:  38.4km travelled – only 14.3kph average and 25.3kph max.  the gravel road doesn’t allow for any fast ascents or descents J

Day 3 - Dunedin to Hyde - Friday

Day 3:  15 Feb. 13

Got all my gear into the panniers and onto my bike and cruised down the hill to the Railway Station.  

No worries getting bike into luggage van – with the help of the guard – one of those high steps up again.

Train very interesting – all wood panelling and pressed iron ceiling.  Very gracious… But rough as, swaying and bumpy all the way so very hard to get good photos as well as the usual dirty window syndrome.

The old track winds up through Taieri Gorge alongside the river with spectacular cliffs and canyons.  In some places the track rattles along ledges with deep drops to the river below – other times it spans the gorge on very old wrought iron viaducts – a tad spooky, but it’s just chugging along. 

There are a lot of introduced weeds in the form of pine, willow, birch plus general weeds and it was a fair way in before we started to see their ‘tea-tree’ – kanuka maybe??  It is also very dry and brown in between, so I think most of the publicity shots are taken winter or early spring…  but generally a very interesting trip.

old railway station turned into private holiday home
no electricity or phone  

It took 2 ½ hours to get to Middlemarch, which is situated in a wide valley.  Very small town now, but the café food of vegie stack was more than enough to get me fuelled up for the trip. 

So at 1pm, I set off along the Otago Rail Trail.  First amazing thing was that the wind was gentle and coming from behind!!!  The track is loose gravel and not far in, it was really loose gravel and for about 5km it was careful riding and not much looking around.  I stopped a few times to take photos of the wide valley and farmlands. 

 

The hill range reminds me of a somewhat inflated version of the range north of Ardrossan on the way to Pt Pirie.  Is it the Hummocks, or Dunes or something like that?  Will Google it when I am in range again…  maybe

Generally, I was just tootling along minding my own business, but I did pass about 17 riders going the other way.  Only a couple were loaded with panniers, the rest were on rented bikes and some were looking like they hadn’t ridden for awhile and were wondering what they were doing.  But all said a cheery Hello and we continued onwards.

I rolled into Hyde, settled my booking but was informed the Oubliette wasn’t available as there was an issue with the lock, but they had put me up in another room for the same price.  So alls well. 

A nice hot shower followed and a load of washing on (Finland take note!!)

Clouds are looming blackly, but the locals reckon it’s not going to rain, so hopefully my clothes will be dry before bedtime.  It is dry and warmish here, but with a nip in the air.  Apparently it can be very hot if there are no clouds and no wind here….  Or so they say 

  

Evening meal is a small stroll down the road to the Old School House – cheese & dip platter entrée,  Spinach & Feta tartlet, followed by lemon meringiue & ice-cream .  Sweet!  Washed down with a cold beer – good stuff!

Stats:  29.54km - 15.4kph average - 21.8kph max

Day 2 - Dunedin

After a somewhat restless night, I climbed down from the top bunk and headed off for a shower. 

Thought I would take advantage of the breakfast provided, remembering breakfast supplied in hostels in Sweden and Finland.  I was somewhat disappointed when the choice was cornflakes, milk, bread for toast with margarine and bottle of well dug out marmalade.  Ah well, it will get me on the road I guess.

My first job for the day was reconstructing Maggie, so with a bit help from the Boss, I hauled the box down into the foyer and proceeded to put it back together again – a process which only took an hour.  And everything fitted, tho I had a slight panic when I couldn’t find the pedals.  But they were located and are easier to put on, than to take off :)

Maggie ready to roll!

Dunedin Railway Station

So off down the hill I went, looking for the train station.  Its pretty impressive and not easy to miss, so I collected my ticket for the trip up to Middlemarch via the Taieri Gorge.  Took some photos inside the station as it is rather posh!

Then I spotted a fairly considerable sized church, so thought I would check that out.  It was the Presbyterian church – beautiful stained glass windows inside, with spires everywhere.  On old geezer (one of those volunteers) came along and began to drone on about the history for a tour group, so thought it was time to move on. 

I found a wonderful vegetarian café for lunch - Potpurris – so far have dodged meat easily – then pedalled off to look at Queens Gardens, which were a small square of lawn with a phallic plinth in the middle and a couple of trees, so not impressive.  But across the road were the Chinese Gardens, so I thought I would check these out.  And glad I did.  At first it looked tiny, but once in and walking along the paths, there were all sorts of little paths to follow.  It circles a small pond, with little bridges over it.  Apparently it was built in Shanghai, dismantled and reassembled here – during celebrations of 150 years of “built history”…  apart from the rather scudgy looking water, it was a really peaceful and restful place and I easily spent an hour there. 

I found a bike shop and bought a spare tube, so all my shopping was done, so spent the remainder of the day, pedalling around the streets, checking out the art gallery.  Don’t think I clocked up much more than a couple of kilometres, but as I am spending another 2 days here at the end of the trip, I didn’t venture very far. 

there was a young lad playing the bag pipes outside the City Halls - this is really a Scottish town, with a statue of Robbie Burns, plus I saw a Scottish shop but it was closed.  I will check it out when i return at the end of my trip.

 After I brought my bike back to the hostel, I took a stroll down town to find somewhere for tea.  Oh its Valentine day and everything is loud and a lot of bookings made.  I managed to share a table with a couple and dined on Kumara & Pea croquettes with haloumi & salad and a nice glass of Astrolab...  so not a bad way to end the day.  

Its still pretty light at 8pm, but I think a quick shower and a bit more of a read about Allan Karlsson and I will be away in slumber land.

Tomorrow - the train ride then a 20km pedal to Hyde - at last getting out on the trail.

Day 1 In transit lounge Wellington

Day 1: to New Zealand

Once again, lift off to another biking adventure is underway.  I have made it to Wellington – and am waiting for another 45 mins before lift-off to Dunedin.

I have packed Maggie into her box with the panniers and my cargo bag is bulging with plenty of clothing that’s going to keep me nice of warm in the cool summer weather of the southern regions of the South Island of New Zealand. 

My plan is to fly into Dunedin, catch the train to Middlemarch, ride the Otago Rail Trail to Clyde.  Then head off on the open ride to Wanaka, then over the hill and far, far away to Queenstown before catching a bus back to Dunedin and flying home.  Sounds like it should work!

So stay tuned…..   hopefully I won’t be whingeing about the wind or about the mountains – but that I am bowled over (not literally) by the scenery, friendly motorists and wonderful food – plus apparently the NZ mob make good white wine…  we shall seeJ

My first hurdle has been to get a sim card activated – a bit of a struggle, but hopefully its up and running.

Maggie was cleared thru customs as being a nice clean machine – the box was intact then, so hoping it arrives in Dunedin in good shape.

It looks cool outside, but am not going to check….

Arriving in Dunedin around 8:30 tonight, time to find some food and crash.  Maggie will be restored to her rolling self tomorrow and we are off to the Trail on Friday.

Back on the Road AGAIN!!

Wot a boring 12 weeks its been!
The optimism in previous post soon dimmed.  Crutches weren't laid down until about 5 weeks and then another 4 weeks before the moon-boot came off.  But then physios put me back on the crutches, so that I could re-learn the skill of walking and waking up muscles that haven't been used for all that time.
Frozen ankle needed to be stretched, calf muscles woken up and generally exercises, exercises and more exercises!!
But eventually it all starts to work again and although I am supposed to be using one crutch when walking long distances no, I felt it was time to take the bike off the trainer and get out on the open road.
The weather thought it might do some light rain, but I ignored that and it went away.  First I thought I would just ride down to Norman Creek at Stones Corner.  But felt pretty good, so thought I would ride into work to see if I was up to that.  All good as I rode over the Goodwill Bridge, so thought I would continue along Corro drive bike way - stopping to photo the ferris wheel.

Am looking worried - its just the phone tech that's bothering me!

 Once I got to the end of Corro Drive thought I might as well continue to UQ and cross back over the green bridge and head back to Stones Corner.

A carpet of jacaranda blossoms in West End Cemetery

Been missing out on proper haloumi - so dropped into Rock n Roll, got the cheese and a coupla other things, then headed over to Ridge St to check out a new little cute looking coffee shop.  The coffee was good as was the raisin toast.

I pondered about the strong wind that had sprung up while I'd been pedalling around, so headed back to Norman Cr and made sure I could ride all the way home along my usual commute.
So All Good!!  25km clocked up - no major aches and pains along the way - we shall see if I can get out of bed in the morning.
Life is looking good again - 3 months is far too long to be cranky and tied down to moon-boots and crutches!