Tism

Day 15 - Mossburn to Invercargill I awoke today before the alarm, compliments of a howling wind and a shaking sleep shack. After all the excitement from yesterday I was hoping for a bit more relaxed riding. The wind was definitely going to be a factor - all that remained was to determine if it would be pushing with or against us. The road is pointing straight south from the small town of Mossburn to our destination at Invercargill. Todays post is a bit shorter - the riding was scenic, but by and large constant throughout the 110km journey. Morning light. Before sunrise. Flying We left Mossburn and the roaring wind immediately started roaring us at a steady clip. The old bones need a bit of time to warm up so the tail wind was a perfect bit of assistance. With such a strong wind we made great time and the first 50 km was over in less than 2 hours. It’s funny how different riding conditions impact the body in different ways. In the mountains I’m constantly out of the saddle and mixing up...

Recap - Rest day Yesterday was a rest day - a few things lined up to keep us off the bikes. First was the opportunity to catch up with our cousin, Leigh, whom we had not seen in some time. Second, we had family arriving from Brisbane (Mel, sister-in-law and mum/dad). Another day's rest after conquering the Crown Pass was also a nice bonus.  We spent a lazy morning exploring downtown Queenstown and getting the lay of the land. It’s my first time here and it certainly lives up to its reputation as a beautiful city. The mountains ringing the town are big, bumpy, smooth, ragged…all the descriptions you can think of. Thanks to the cold front we rode through yesterday the high points were also dusted with snow which added yet another layer of beauty to the surrounds. At noon I said farewell to Tony and Leigh as I had a jet boat tour booked. I went down Skippers Canyon and it was a lot of fun. In addition to the jet boat thing, I also got a bit of local information as the bus ride into th...

Day 13 - Wanaka to Queenstown The Crown Range Summit is the highest paved mountain pass in NZ. At 1,076 metres it is also the highest point on the Tour Aotearoa route. Would this be the emotional highpoint too? Read on to find out. Leaving Wanaka. Still smiling. Like every morning! “Spring” Leaving Wanaka at 6:40am - like most days so far - we hoped to avoid some traffic and keep the wind down. Sadly, our early morning luck ran out and we faced pretty steady traffic right from the get-go. The wind had a bight that said more l' hiver than printemps and I feared we would face some serious weather. The road out of Wanaka meandered through a beautiful valley filled with farms and surrounded by mountains; a familiar sight by this time in our trip. The only difference was the dusting of snow on the high country. Beautiful start to the ride We're riding Penny Farthings Cozy AF Our first target for the day was the historic Cardrona Hotel at the 25km mark. This hotel is right at the ...

Makarora to Wanaka Our day started bright and early at the Makarora Wonderland Lodge and Camp Ground where we broke camp, had a quick feed (Oatmeal, Coffee, Chocolate Milk) and hit the road. Our destination: Wanaka via Lake Hawea township.  6:45am and getting ready to leave Bottom Lodge Sneaky After looking at our official Tour Aotearoa map in great detail over the last 14 days (and longer for Tony), we have a pretty good read on how a day will pan out. When I first looked at this segment of the TA, it didn’t jump out as anything special. The distance was nothing special (75km or so) and the overall elevation looked benign. Looking closer the elevation line bumped up and down like an earthquake measurement strip. Constant ups and downs.  Cool mornings and no traffic. Just how I like it. A tale of two lakes We started off following the Makarora river through yet another stunning valley. Large mountains on either side with a valley bottom of sheep, deer and cattle farms. Within ...

Day 11 - Haast to Makarora I finished yesterday's blog declaring I was in for a good night's sleep. Turns our riding 120km is a fantastic way to sleep through the night. Our plan for the day was to make it to Makarora on the other side of the Haast pass. Not a long ride but we knew we had the elevation to make the day interesting. The backpackers had a bit of a "shed" vibe. But it was nice. Start your engines I awoke bright and early at 530am and started packing up the tent and getting the bike loaded up for the day. Since we camped overnight we had a slower start as the tent and other gear takes a bit longer to get back into the panniers. The other issue is the condensation on the tents. Yes, it will dry quickly once we put it up again, but if we have the time we try and get it dried out.  Haast is right on the Haast River which is a popular spot with jet-boaters. A crew of guys were milling around the kitchen and it turns out they were on the tail end of a lads trip...

Day 10 - Fox Glacier to Haast From Fox Glacier to Haast is 122km of highway riding. Along the way you can see mountains, trees, lakes and ocean. What you won’t see is a lot of accommodation and services (like grocery stores, cafes and shops). That means we chose to give’r and push the whole distance in one day. 6:45am and time to leave Fox Glacier Rain We set out from Fox Glacier at about 6:45am which is becoming pretty typical when we don’t camp. The air was cool and the clouds low. So low in fact that it started raining about 5 minutes in to the journey. Believe it or not this was the first rain I’d seen on my Tour. As it was, the rain was light and cleared up in about 30 minutes so as far as rain goes, I’ll take it. The morning was still with basically no wind and it felt like perfect riding conditions. The air was cool without being cold, the road was empty and with a rest day in our rearview mirror, the body was feeling great. It was essentially riding on cruise control. Wet road,...