Ebike Hum

First off, thanks to all who have been following the blog, particular thanks to those who have taken the trouble to respond, and double special thanks to anyone who negotiated Google's roadblocks and posted comments. As I said in my prologue, I'm new to this and I've not been able to find a way to make commenting more straightforward. Apologies. We did it, although as has been pointed out, we're only halfway, and arguably the easier half. It's also been pointed out that we should be grateful to the rellies whose visit forced our change of plan, to tackle the South Island first! On that note, I realise how trivial this all is in the great scheme of things, and our thoughts are with everyone affected by the cyclone. Could I have done it without an ebike? Quite possibly (heck, one of us DID for the last five days!)... Would I have done it without an ebike? Not in this lifetime! It was invaluable to be able to hit that button when the ratio between leg speed and road sp

Winton to Bluff 68km Our first proper cooked breakfast, courtesy of Deborah at the Belvedere B&B set us up for our final day. A lovely old house, beautifully restored and decorated, with typical Kiwi relaxed hospitality. We've arranged to be met by the rellies at 5PM, so after our (relatively) rapid progress yesterday we're in no hurry to set off. It's a beautiful day of clear blue sky and no wind. Yet; all the forecasts predict brisk Soueasters later in the day. Memorable scenery has given way to memorable observation: a horse making clear it's dissatisfaction at an empty feed bucket; trotters being trained by being led around the paddock behind a Ute. It seems to me front pair have a chance, but the back one is being trained to follow other horses so is unlikely to be a winner. Southland rural life...  The back roads are quiet, particularly the gravel shortcut the Kennetts guide you down that has since been closed to traffic by earth bunds at either end of a bridg

Mossburn to Winton 72.4km A chilly departure from the campground. Actually 3.8km from route but it didn't feel like it; maybe there's something in this 'bike fit' malarkey after all. On the way we're caught by an hbiker on his way to Walter Peak, having cycled in from Invercargill yesterday. All part of his prep for the Sounds to Sounds ride. We 'let' him go ahead to get in his order at the Dome cafe, where we're heading for brekkie. Neat bike with a gearbox in the bottom bracket and belt drive. A brekkie roll, bacon roll, two smoothies and some lunch food later, we've just had the most expensive breakfast I can imagine. Our eye has been caught by an artwork displayed for sale in the cafe, and it turns out our server (maybe the proprietor, we didn't ask) is the artist. Bought on the spot, shipping TBA: Penny & Adrian not returning through Mossburn so will be mailed in due course. At 9:40 we're away down the Around the Mountains trail, pla

Mavora Lakes to Mossburn 61km Woken by Marg at 7, cup of tea to hand, the latest I've slept all trip, after nature called 'Taps' at 9:15PM. First time I've slept in that tent, snug but spacious for two and kit. Also first time for new lightweight insulated mattresses; fantastic, thanks for the recco Merv! Though the wind dropped it had done it's damage and the clearing skies made for a cold night, thermals for nightwear inside bag and liner warm enough but no more. And morning... No hurry on either part to get moving after Marg brought tea back to bed, so we snuggled down, Marg with her diary, me with the blog, enjoying the views from the tent. When I finally got up and walked over to the picnic table to brew up, I was amazed to see it was 9:40! Breakfast rolls dispatched, we packed up and hit the trail at 10:40. We shared our little camping area with a Canadian couple doing a one year world cycle tour with kids aged about 5 & 7: amazing people. And amazing bike

Queenstown to Mavora Lakes 55.3km Up bright & early to get to Bikeaholic at its 8:30 opening time. Southern Laughter backpackers is different from the others we've used so far: earnest political conversation with an evident long term guest, and a messy kitchen. Also a group of young women heading out on the town as we returned with fish & chips around 9pm. Followed much later  by the repeated squeak-bang of the lounge door as they returned. I start to dress to cycle to the bike shop, and Marg says she plans to wheel hers & why take both bikes? Because my 'just up the road' was by bike and her interpretation was on foot is why. So by the last 200m of our 1km walk things were getting a bit testy! The guy at Bikeaholic first asks if we have a booking, to which the obvious answer is no, this is an emergency. Marg wheels in her bike, he pushes the button to engage 'walk' mode and when nowt happens he declares it terminal. The bad news is that he'd need at

Cardrona to Queenstown via Arrowtown and Gibbston 85.3k. 'Confirmation bias' makes us fit the evidence to the hypothesis... This goes some way to explain why we were 12km off track before we realized. Two significant things have gone wrong today, threatening to derail our plans. To take the compounding problem first, a combination of a missing roadsign, ambiguous directions and me not knowing the difference between the Old Shotover Bridge and the Kawerau 'bungy' bridge led to the geographical embarrassment. We missed a right turn off the trail between Arrowtown and Queenstown resulting in following the wrong trail down the Gibbston Valley. We passed the Kawerau bungy bridge, and carried on...  Eventually we looked at Google maps, and couldn't make sense of where we'd landed up. Fortunately some cyclists came along with the trail app, and pointed out our error. So off we set down the highway toward Queenstown: 25km... When we got (back) to the bungy bridge, there

Lake Hawea to Cardrona 50km OK, so I couldn't resist the cliche after all. The rain stopped before 7AM, as predicted, and the skies began to clear. Even the threatening clouds down the lake receded whence they came. But before we set off, a postscript... At dinner last night, a serendipitous error ( whether by the server or the kitchen was never disclosed) resulted in us having quite the best dining experience we can remember. Marg ordered "the salmon' meaning a seared salmon main, but was served an entree, 'Salmon Poke'. Ceviche of salmon with makame and ponzu (Google...we did!). This was after nearly not 'dining in', after being told no tables were available as we hadn't reserved, but not having been warned of the need to book when we checked in. We were vacillating between dining in the uncomfortable but expensive bar, or getting take-away from the cafe. An astute young staff member noticed, and miraculously found a cancellation rather than lose a sa

It started raining in Makarora at 8PM yesterday, and continued all night. So we were in for a wet start regardless. Careful reviewing of all three weather apps confirmed that it was raining. Some suggested that it might clear a bit later, but the consensus is that Hawea will see a dump of rain around lunchtime. What to do, what to do...? So we had a relaxed start to the day, leaving Wonderland just after 9:30. Incidentally, we wondered what all the kids were doing whooping and hollering while it was raining, until we worked out they were in the pool... Swimming in the rain. Try it, we've done it, it's weirdly fun!  Marg was off, pedalling like f-f-fury downhill with the wind behind her, apparently determined to minimize her exposure to the rain. We've decided not to stop for photos, partly to protect the phone, partly because there's nothing worth photographing. This plan is soon undone when a break in the cloud illuminates the hills above Lake Wanaka, coupled with the