New Plymouth to Bluff via Cape Egmont, Gisbourne and Cape Reinga

The estimate for this bike ride was 5,000 km.

The actual was 5,013 - close enough in my book.

The Kopiko section (Cape Egmont to Gisborne - West to East across the North Island) was  877 km's in seven days with 11,643 meters of climbing - an average of 97 km's with 1,294 meters per day

The Tour Aotearoa section (Cape Reinga to Bluff - North to South the length of New Zealand) was  2,788 km's in 29 days with 28,077 meters of climbing - an average of 96 km's with 968 meters per day

Overall, including the bit to get me from Gisbourne to Cape Ringa was  5,010 km's in 59 days with 54,898 meters of climbing - an average of 85 km's with 930 meters per day

I had five rest days and not once in the 59 days of riding my bike did I encounter rain that had me get my raincoat out of my kit and wear it.

Thanks to Rob and Ruth, my two great riding buddies for the Tour Aotearoa and once again to all my friends who have accommodated and supported me along the way (note to reader's -  if you ever say to me "you must come and stop sometime" then I probably will. 

A big thank you to Anita and Garry (Fern's other Mum and Dad) who always say yes to when I say "I'm off again, is there any chance Fern can come and take over your home again" - She absolutely loves her time with you and Hazel that's for sure. 

Time for quiet celebration now before our drive home from Invercargill tomorrow - a final Blog will follow - sometime.

Queenstown to Mossburn

2 km of Queenstown sealed roads

50 km of grade 2 (Okay) gravel

36 km of grade 3-4 (worse than average) gravel

6 km of farm grade 1 4X4 track (better than the public road preceeding)

10 km of grade 1 purpose built cycle trail

The above was the order in which we rode today. Once across the Lake to Walter Peak Station on a barge with 9 other cyclists on a brisk morning we set off on a good gravel road that by the Mavora Lakes had become a less than desirable road to ride - there was no one line you could follow or if there was it kept changing and this was in to a headwind that negated any of the average downhill profile of the ride. As can be seen from the above it got worse before it got better however the last purpose build section was great to ride,

One redeeming feature for the entirity of today's ride was that we knew on any other oaccasion it could have been a much greater challenge through 1) heat or 2) wind or 3) rain or 4) sleet and freezing. We had none of these,

Our scenery was yet again quite different - Very much clean tussock high country stations at quite high elevation (5 - 600 meters).

The end of this adventure is almost in sight now with only one more day to go.

Lake Hawea to Queenstown

 Bikepacking is just like tramping but instead of boots it's bikes that get you and your companions from "A" to "B". And just like tramping you get to know your companions really well, after all you are living with them 24/7 almost and sharing collectively all that the adventure has to offer. 

Which has me transition now to women's Lingerie. 

Bras to be exact.

You see in recent days one of our party (who shall remain nameless) had a Bra malfunction and it just happened that today on my ride I happened to notice the largest collection of Bras I'd ever seen and what's more they were there for the taking (or gifting) and what's more - free. So stop I did, had a good look at wht was on display and then carefully selevted what I thought would be the answer to my bikepacking companions Bra problem - a complete replacement.

As I had an issue with a couple of punctures that hadn't self sealed it had meant that I had dropped behind my bikepacking buddies. Twice I had to stop and pump more air in from my useless pump and then the third stop I plugged the hole and finally solved the problem. At the Cadrona Cafe I borrowed Ruth's fantastic pump and managed to get a lot more air in to the tyre which was good as I needed every bit of pressure I could get in there for the upcoming 400 meter climb up to the summit of the Crown Range at 1076 meters ASL,

We all made it over the Range and had a good downhill run right through to Arrowtown before some more ups and downs on the run in  to Queenstown. I wanted to visit a bike shop to check out a "clicking" noise that has developed on my bike and also put some more sealant in the tyre with the holes. It took a bit of navigatiing to get to Evo Cycles in Frankton and we put in the sealant and think the clicking is probably the rear axle bearing - but hey - it should last another couple of days.

When the opportunity arose I took one of my bikepacking companions aside and excitedly shared what I thought was going to be the answer to the earlier mentioned Bra problem. Unfortunately I'd selected a nice lacy number however my bikepacking companion it appears is not a "lacy" person and declined my gift! 

Silly me. I now realise I should have slected a couple of the Bras as the other nice little plain  black number I had my eye on might just have solved the problem.

Haast to Lake Hawea

 A strong head wind greeted us as we headed off up beside the Haast River on our way to Lake Hawea. Fortunately after about 10 km's the wind abated and as per the previous days the weather was great for riding. It is a steady uphill for about 50 km and then you hit the steep 300 meter climb up the Haast Pass before a reprieve before another 100 meter climb.

Having been told the Makarora Cafe was open buoyed us along as we at least knew there would be food and drink (milkshake). Sadly the closed sign was hanging on the door so it was our own water and the food we had on board that we ate while sitting on their chairs.

The stand out for today has to be the following:

At the confluence of the Haast and Landsborough Rivers I noticed a 4x4 pull off the road with a jet boat behind so I thought it was time to have a quick chat thinking that are they would have been a couple of hunters. They said no hunting today as they out with a group of other jet boaters' for a looksie. He was from North Canterbury and we chatted some more and I told them about why it was they were seeing all the cyclists they have (Cape Reinga to Bluff)... It was then the other chap who was a mate of the bloke with boat spoke up and said he knows all about it. He is a farmer from the Waimai Valley (West Coast North Island up from Raglan and down from Port Waikato). He then says he had one of those guys stop on the side of the road at his farm a few weeks back and he was  riding up to the Cape to do it - he gave him some plums from his orchard.

I said "Mate, that was me"!!!

What a chance meeting that was - we had a good old laugh about it.

The rest of the day in the 20 - 24 degree heat was a case of hills and more hills all in all a reasonably tough day. But it could have been so much more of a challenge had the headwind continued all through the day and even more of a challenge for those who have had to contend with West Coast rain at the same time. But we had none of those challenges.

Fox Glacier to Haast

 Being the tourist town that it is and there being no "tourists" the Cafe did not open until 8:00 AM so it was a later start for us this morning. The day was absolutely stunning weatherwise and only got better with the temperature rising to 26 degrees. 

Again the scenery has changed from the day before and today we had bush clad hills rising through to the Alps with stunning coastal views from Bruce Bay and  Knights Point.  Out in the open air as you are when riding your bike and only a metre or so away from her you begin to see just how very fragile the landscape and country is and how very exposed to nature this region in particular is. With perhaps a rainfall of 10 meters or more in places (Christchurch gets about 60 cm) it truly id "Rainforest" country and after the recent floods the scars are very noticable caused by the slips or the wild flooding out across the river plains. It will always be a never ending job clearing up after severe weather events whether it be on the road or the land.

"Ice Cream and Coffee - Bruce Bay Beach" is what the sign said. Unfortunaely the local at Bruce Bay said "Nah, they really should take that sign down - there is no Ice Cream or Coffee at Bruce Bay. Just as well I had a muffin on board that I ate while sitting on the steps of the hall.

There were no major hills untill the latter stages of our ride and we zipped along very nicely with my Garmin telling  me I was averaging about 21 - 22 kph which was all very nice. Today the road was busy with other cyclists and there was a commercial tour group being escorted on a South Island journey - there were probably about 30 of them and all clad in matching lycra and on road bikes. As the second bunch passed I upped the speed and tucked in behind for a few km's. 33 - 35 kph which is what I we were doing I can manage in a bunch on my roadbike but it is a big ask on a fully loaded mountain bike and so after about 3 or 4 km's at that pace and before I got to take my turn at the front I peeled off and left them to it (I also didn't like  the look of the rise in the road ahead as well).

Maybe I should have stuck with them for just that bit longer as a couple of K's down the Road was the Salmon farm Cafe and I had to line up and wait behind them all while they placed their lunch orders! Not only that, but as the cafe was grossly understaffed it was then probably a 30 minute wait before the pot of tea appeared!

The problem with long stops like this is that when you go to get back on the bike those legs that were working reasonably well prior ro stopping somehow are now not so keen to get back in to the swing of things. Fortunately there were no hills just yet and they did come round.

The hills did eventually arrive but were no major problem and the stop at Knights Point halfway  up made for a short breather.

Going up the hills had brought my average speed on the Garmin back down to under 19 kph and knowing there no more hills in front I moved up through the gears and pushed on at speed and watched as the average speed began to rise eventutally topping the 20 kph mark - I was pleased but had to keep the pressure on to avoid it now slipping. Then I arrived at the Haast River bridge to find the bridge repair gang had just stopped the traffic a moment before I arrived and I had a 15 minute wait for  the green light. 

From the bridge it is only 4 km's in to Haast and a Milkshake. I arrived, found the dairy and made my way to the Milkshake counter only to find they had run out of MILK! A cup of tea and some potatoe chips would have to do.

We were looking forward to meeting up with Alistair and Carol at their holiday home in Queenstown on Thursday night and then again for the ride in to Bluff and back with them to Queenstown for Saturday night. Unfortunately they got some positive news today that they didn't want to receive (as in a positive Covid test) and now they are isolating at home in Christchurch! This means our plans which would have been the icing on the cake in the final stages of our ride are requiring some re-thinking. And not only that but Carol had already done her shopping for the Queenstown stay and I know we are missing out on simply the best "Lamb Shnks" Thursday night and "Pork Belly" Saturday night! It does mean though that through their period of self isolating they are going to enjoy some lovely meals.

The annoying thing from today was that after a lot of effort to crack the 20 kph mark on my Garmin bike computer, my Strava log for the day has only recorded me as achieving 17.5 kph!

I'm happy to know that in this case Garmin got it right and Strava must have recorded some of the time I was stopped. 

Ross to Fox Glacier

54 days I've been riding and today I thought might be the day I get to put my rain coat on. There was a light drizzle when we started but it soon petered out then after our lunch stop at Whataroa the same again but the rain coat has still not seen the light of day. Long may that continue - or at least until Sunday!

We knew today  was to be another longer ride that included a reasonable amount of climbing with three hills to get over in the last 15 km or so.

Harihari was our morning tea stop and they had the largest lamingtons you had ever seen (like twice the normal size) so I just had to have one with a cuppa. From there it was back on the bike and keep pedaling South - even though I know these roads reasonably well for anyone not familiar with the area it would be difficult to get off the trail as there is no alternative but to stay on the same road. Something you never notice in a car travelling over here is the straighness of the roads and in several instances today you could have been mistaken thinking you were on a road on the Canterbury Plains as it was a straight line for quite some distance (the green grass and bush either side of you aside that is).

Our lunch stop was at Whataroa and then it was back on the road to Franz Joseph which we chose not to stop at as that would have involved the inevitable getting back in the saddle and once again getting back in to the routine of pedalling. There's some really good riding to begin with South of Franz and then we hit the first of three hills that when we had finished had doubled the total we had climbed thus far. I got in to the grove and simply quietly pedalled away and made it through to the summit of the final and last hill before there was a fantastic downhill right in to the centre of Fox Glacier. Here I checked where the Top 10 Holiday Park was and off we went arriving just after 6:00 being probably our latest finish for the day.

I got my food intake better orgaised today than yesterday and so felt good at the end of the ride. (note to self - make sure I have an emergency ration on board). Actually up until I offloaded a bunch of stuff a couple of days back at the bach I always have had that ration with me... 

It was 8:00 PM after I had attended an online Zoom meeting before I walked the km in to town for a meal at the pub.

And so another 130 km are under the belt and I'm only five days away from being finished.

Paroa to Ross

Toady we rode the West Coast "Wilderness Trail" from Paroa to Ross. A very sheltered trail South along the coast until we swung inland and on in to Kumara. Unfortunately we were too early for any Cafe and so we pushed on the trail which gently rises through the area largely managed by TrustPower. We know that coz the water coursesm resevoirs  and dams we rode past had many "No swiming, drowning danger". The signs were a plenty however in all bit a couple of pbvious places it would be hard to imagine anyone wishing to swim where the signs were.

There was plenty of deer sign on the trail in to Kumar and not a lot beyond.

The trail rises gently to 317 meters before a steady and gradual descent which takes you past the infamous "Cowbooys' Paradise". Today was the first day when I didn't have surplus tucker on board and as much as I was not keen to support the venture I thought needs would mean I had to. However when we rolled in and saw the closed sign things were not looking good. The the proprietor appeared from his cleaning duties that because of that ****** Jacinda, running the country, he has no staff, people booked in and he can't be doing everything!

I had my sights set on a Subway roll and had an enjoyable 6  inch at Hokitika before leaving there at 4:00 PM for the run through to Ross, I stuck to the Highway for this section and cleaned up the 24 km's in about an hour,

Our lodgings for the night is the Empire Hotel Backpacking place and we got Dinner, bed and breakfast all for $50! A good Smorgasboard with Roasts and Pavlova desert, No complaints at all.

Springs Junction to Paroa (Greymouth)

 After a rest day at the bach we were keen to head off up Palmer Road and over the Rahu Saddle. We were keen,  particularly as we knew there was the fantastic descent in to Reefton. Being early on a Saturday morning the road was quiet and we were in Reefton in good time and stopped for a cuppa and a change of clothes. Now we are further South and it's autumn it is noticably cooler in the mornings and so it was a merino top and long riding trousers to begin with along with good gloves and beanie.

One positive of a full beard is there is a natural barrier to the cold on your face - and after today's 20.1 kph average speed I'm happy to live with the increased drag of the beard. 

Most planning I do I base on a 15 - 16 kph average speed so the 20.1 kph shows just how favourable the conditions and road surface were for us today.

It certainly does feel very familiar being back in "Home Country" and an area I know so well.

We stopped at the Pike River Bridge and had our pre-prepared lunch of Cheese Toasties, a boiled egg, freshly baked Shortbread and orchard fresh plums!

We then pushed on straight in to Greymouth and on the 6 km to Paroa and the motel at the pub where we are stopping.

I know I am tempting fate especially here on the Coast however I am still so amazed that I have now ridden my bike for 52 days and not once had to put my rain coat on! Like I say I hope I am not tempting fate,

Time will tell.

Rotoroa to Springs

 A cool start to the ride and a while before the sun hit the valley we were riding out of. I did though wear my merino top under my shirt and it worked well. There was a reasonable climb from the Lake and then a good downhill all the way in to Murchison that made the K’s click by relatively fast.

A coffee stop at Murch and I decided to push on ahead as the advance party to get the bach up and running for when the  others arrived. There were not many stops except one at the top of the Maruia Saddle to take the control point photo and this year some good thinking and kind soul had gone to a lot of trouble to carve a sign letting all TA’rs know they had crested the major hill for the day.

rn

Along the way I heard and saw that there was a leak in Byron’s water supply down by the road and made a mental note to call him later and let him know. A few K’s down the road a Ute pulled off the road behind me to access a farm paddock and when I around I saw it was Byron so I did a “U” turn to have a chat with him and also let him know about his water issue.

Next stop was at Kathleen’s as she had been kind enough to take an online order for some food for us to take on to the bach, then it was in to the Café for a Milkshake before the last 7 km to the bach.

All looked in order when I got to the bach and so it was a quick grab of the water intake clearing grubber and on with the gumboots to shoot off up to the water supply inlet to clear that after the last flood. Now that I had water it was safe to light the coal range to begin to make some hot water for our showers.

Rob an Ruth rolled in a wee while later and we de-bagged the bikes and got ourselves settled for the night. Dinner was organised and showers were had.

I took a walk down to my plum tree to see if there was any evidence of what happened to the plums I had seen developing before I took off. Not at all thinking I would see any plums. I was more than pleasantly surprised to see for the first time ever my plum tree absolutely loaded with fruit and they were ready to eat! We had stewed plums with our museli and some of the neighbours  invited to come and help themselves.

Friday has been a “Lay” day and the first time we haven’t been on our bikes since leaving Cape Reinga. It’s been quite good just chilling here at the bach and gave us time to service the bikes and also organise our accommodation right the way through to Bluff. So, now we are committed to our schedule unless we want the hassle of reworking it all once again. Here in New Zealand organising accommodation at suitable intervals along the while on the road is never as easy as it is in Europe I have found. Our booking systems do not work as well and there is not the range nor volume of choices available. So far our digs for  the night have ranged from $22 per night (Hotel Waterloo Backpakers Wellington) through to $95 at a self contained homestay unit in Martinborough. It be interesting to see what it averages out at.

Again poor internet reception (this time at my own bach) means this post may well be late and not have any photos to start with.

Wakefield to Lake Rotoroa

Wakefield to Lake Rotoroa

The Wakefield Hotel was another Century old lady and a fun place to stop over at. We helped ourselves to the continental breakfast before loading the bikes and heading back out on to the “Great Taste Trail” which kept us off the road right through to Tapawera. It’s a very easy trail to ride and I would say anyone who can get their leg over a bike would handle it. It offers a great range of scenery to ride through the added bonus of the 5^th longest ex train tunnel that you can ride through and later on we learnt that the train line that ran through “Tui” was only the 2^nd place in New Zealand (or it too may have been the World) that had a train station on a bend in the track! Wow, how special and almost unique are those two train facts?

Being a trail that mostly follows the old train line means there are no great big hills to encounter and it was mostly an easy gradient.

After riding about 4,000 km on my last set of tyres that were replaced yesterday I found my bike wandering and a bit wobbly today. I thought at first it was my luggage seat pak that was not on tight enough, a feel of this confirmed that was not the problem. I knew then it had to be a puncture! On new tyres what’s more with less than 100  km under their rubber. Fortunately I’m running tubeless tyres which means that with most punctures the sealant does its job in blocking the holes so long as you  more air in. I did this a couple of times on the way to our coffee stop at Tapawera and on checking it after our coffee stop all was good.

If you ever drive S H Way 6 to  or from Nelson then do deviate at Glenhope (Just past the old original Railway Station out in the paddock on the left when heading to Nelson) and take the Tadmore Valley Road through to Tapawera. 15 km of gravel before the seal through a lovely valley tucked off to the side of S H Way 6. You will be surprised at what a lovely little valley it is that you have driven through.

As happens with these journeys you make friends with a range of people and today we were riding at about the same pace as a couple of women (Janet and Sally - the “pink ladies”) – they are riding in support of breast cancer.  

At the Glenhope intersection with S H Way 6 we turned right and that’s when I dug deep got the bike in to high gear and pedalled like hell – the quicker one is off a State Highway the safer one feels. There was a reasonable shoulder however the big trucks at 90 kph push and drag a lot of air with them and you need to be ready for the “after shock” once they are past. As bad as having to deal the those physical aspects of the traffic is the endless noise pollution that comes with each of those big trucks as they rattle and clatter along the way. The positive aspect of this though is that once off those roads each day you get to appreciate the “quiet” of the countryside.

Here we are at a quant old traditional bach that has been in the family for 60 years that now offers dinner, bed and breakfast to us TA riders.

I had no internet reception yesterday and it's ver poor today so Pics will have to follow.