Day 7 - The Grind

Ikamatua to Hokitika

The plan for the day was to leave Ikamatua early, make our way to Greymouth on the west coast of NZ and then south-easterly down to Hokitika. It was going to be a long day in the saddle, but mostly paved roads and not too much elevation gain.

Obligatory selfie outside our Ikamatua accomodation


Routine

We have settled into a bit a routine now. Alarm goes off at 530am. Both of us are already stirring anyway. Crawl out of bed and begin the process of packing our stuff into the various panniers an d bags; a quick bite to eat and some coffee; then on our way. Today was no different and we were peddling at 7am.  

Low cloud for our morning commute


Cool running

The morning ride was through a lovely country road, passing farms and rolling hills (wait a sec, didn’t I say those exact words on a previous post?) and we made great time on the road. The cloud was low today and it kept the temperature down. One of the benefits of the country roads are the lack of traffic. We probably only saw a handful of vehicles in the first hour. It did pick up as the day wore on.

Long, straight and calm


The Sea!

Hitting Greymouth was a bit of a milestone; it meant that we were officially back at sea level and our starting elevation. It’s an obvious point, but today made me realise that every metre descended is a metre climbed sometime in the past. You basically pay in advance for the sweet sweet descent down the backside of a mountain. Today, we cashed in all our climbs as we reset the elevation gain meter to zero. 

Almost at the ocean, cruising down-hill


Greymouth was a welcome break - over 50k in the saddle to get there - and seeing, hearing and smelling the ocean was a welcoming experience. We would get tantalizing sniffs of the ocean but it wasn’t until we rode out to the breakwater that we really got the full west coast flavours.

Remind me where we are?

Greymouth breakwater


After a brief stop for morning tea (pie number 3!), it was time to move on. 

Trails and winds

We were fortunate in our approach to Greymouth with basically no wind to speak of the entire time. As we started heading south the coastal winds started to make themselves known. The route was along a coastal path which was a pleasant reprieve from traffic, but a bit of a loose gravel trail so between the wind and the trail conditions it felt like we earned every kilometer. 

Not shown: wind


Arrival

The final 20 km was a struggle. We had turned on to a pretty busy highway and the wind and traffic were relentless. The days’ distance was also starting to take a toll on my legs and I had to be careful not to “clock-watch”. I don’t mind the odd glance to see how we are doing for progress but ironically, the harder the work, the less helpful the odometer. Several breaks along the side of the highway and we rolled into downtown Hokitika. 

Welcome to Hokitika!


We sare taying in a nice little motel tonight and it will be a welcome nights rest to recover for the next leg to Harihari tomorrow.


Final tally for the day:

Distance: 97.65 km

Elevation: 519m


And the tally for the Tour so far:

Distance: 508.97 km

Elevation: 5,322m




Comments

Derek Martinig said…
Glad your still trucking and the cable continues to the laid along the trail! Meat pies look delicious! Keep it going! Cheering for you and Tony back home
8:37 PM
Paul said…
Good on you for progress to date, what altitudes are ahead of you or are you just suck in air and carry on. Rock hounding not your thing! Hope weather continues to be in your favour..looking forward to your next post.
2:39 AM

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