January 6
A hot and sunny start to the day (and improved speed getting
going!) led to some concerns about our water supplies. Fortunately, there was a
lovely little café at Mt. Michaels. We had a few snacks there and topped off
our bottles/bladder before the descent into Fairlie.
From Fairlie, we started with a gradual uphill towards
Burke’s Pass. The terrain was a bit deceptive – it often looked like we were
going downhill, even though our legs told us the opposite. The climb took us
out of the farmland and into mid-mountain country. The whole day gave us
changing scenery, which was very pleasant.
The day’s toughest climb was from Burke’s Pass Village to
the pass itself. We refueled right before, and – amazingly enough – it seems
that one eventually reaches the top of any hill if one just continues pedaling.
The worlds toughest downhill (aka a slight uphill) continued
after the main climb, and we got our first views of snow mountain peaks. Just
when we both got a bit frustrated with the climb, we rounded a bend and cruised
down to Lake Tekapo. The lake is absolutely magnificent, shimmering turquoise
blue. We have decided to give ourselves a break and sleep in a cabin tonight,
so I am writing this from the porch.
(famer’s field to Lake Tekapo: roughly 69 km)
Burke's pass:
Lake Tekapo
January 7
It was quite nice to wake up in a bed. Partly cloudy skies
turned clear blue before with left Lake Tekapo, giving us a few more beautiful
views. The plan was to head to Glentanner, so we stocked up on groceries, and
Dražen picked up some baked goods.
The canal road looked slightly questionable, so we stayed on
the main highway. Menacing clouds followed us, but we had gradients on our side
and were able to make good progress. We also encountered another cycle tourist
heading the same directions, and we crossed paths several times during the day.
The skies darkened about 45 minutes into the ride, but with
an extra layer to break the wind and some chocolate cake in our bellies, we
carried on. After some 45 km in the brown hills, we reach Lake Pukaki and –
roughly simultaneously – the rain started coming down. It wasn’t too hard at
first, but we were already pretty cold an wet by the time we got to the lookout.
We – and the other cyclist – ate and tried to wait out the rain at the lookout,
but it didn’t lighten up. The wind died down, but we chose to continue to
Omarama instead of heading toward Mt. Cook (Glentanner) based on the weather
forecast.
The rest of the ride was mostly wet. I don’t have any other
words to describe it. We pedaled efficiently through it and, once one has
accepted the situation, it’s not so bad. The rain can’t really make a soaked
person any more wet.
We’re taking another indoor night – this time at a
backpacker’s lodge. It is (frustratingly enough, in a way) gloriously sunny
now.
(Lake Tekapo to Omarama: 88 km)
Lake Pukaki, just before the rain.
The rest of the day, in the rain.
January 8
The weather forecast suggested that it would be a tough day
to cycle to Cromwell (the next possible stop). We considered the bus, but
decided in the end to stay put for one more day and try to cycle tomorrow. My
cough hasn’t quite disappeared, so a rest day was also a strategy for healing.
The day disappeared somehow with reading, a little walk,
some Croatian lessons, and cooking. Dinner was delicious: the best corn on the
cob we’ve had, fish, and baked apples for dessert.
(0 km)
January 9
The trip’s first early start occurred today! We were able to
get up around 6:15/6:30 and be on the road by 8:15. The morning was sunny but
brisk and our hands and feet didn’t warm up until we were well on the way up
Lindis Pass.
Still, it was a very enjoyable ride – interesting hills,
lupines growing by the side of the road, and many vintage cars passing by.
We reached the top of the pass (970m) before noon. It seemed
like an extremely satisfying achievement, but we couldn’t rest on our laurels
too long since there were still many kilometers ahead of us.
The downhill started out steep, then gradually eased. After
one final short, steep hill, we mostly cruised to Tarras, were we stopped for
baked goods and juice.
From Tarras, it’s another 30 km to Cromwell, bringing the
day’s total to 110 km. Despite the fact that Lake Dunstan is beautiful (we
enjoyed a really nice break by the water), those last kilometers felt pretty
heavy on my legs. We did it, though, and I’m very happy to be curled up in the
tent with a full belly now.
(Omarama to Cromwell: 110 km)
Top of Lindis Pass
Lindis Pass
Taking a little break after Cluden Hill.
January 10
This must be a short entry because 11 pm crept up on us. We
got off to a reasonably quick start, which was followed by slow progress due to
Erin stopping every 5 minutes to buy cherries, admire the gorge, fix her chain,
admire the gorge some more…
The path from Cromwell to Queenstown is really beautiful,
although the traffic can be quite heavy. Highlights of the day include lunch at
the gorge under the first Kawarau bridge, watching some bungee jumpers, the
cycling path along the lake from Frankton to Queenstown and huge ice cream
cones. We are finally settled in the tent and Dražen’s big hop is tomorrow morning.
(Cromwell
to Queenstown: 60 km)
Roaring Meg
Kawarau Gorge
No comments:
Post a Comment