Fairlie - Hakataramea Valley 57kms
New Year's Day. Got away from Fairlie and made good progress up Burkes pass and had lunch under a tree by the village. Carried on to Dog Kennel Corner and turned up Haldon Rd. Hot and steadily climbing to the Hakataramea turn-off. Crowded under a lone tree for shade. The afternoon was hard and the gravel and climb fairly tough. Very little sign of water or shade so when we did see some, we stopped and camped. It was glorious and lay under a tree for some time. Gorgeous view of the Southern Alps and Mount Cook and sunset. Real Mackenzie Country beehives and big skies. Special time.
Saturday 2nd January 2016
Hakataramea Valley - Hakataramea Pass - Kurow 72kms
We were away and motivated to climb the 9kms to the pass. Tough but made great progress. Quite a lot bigger than anticipated at 965m. Delighted to descend down the other side and met some people at the top in their cars. Long, long gravel road for miles in the valley. Had lunch by a river and stopped at Cattle Creek after several rolling sharp hills. Met another cyclist and made a big climb up and over a range of hills at the end of the day into Kurow. Had wanted to go to the Hakataramea Pub but couldn't find it so went to the Kurow Hotel and had chips which was great. Camped at the camp - saw the eels and met other cyclists as well.
Sunday 3rd January 2016
Rained and drizzled heavily all day so we didn't leave and decided to have a rest day. Pretty tired and sat around the lodge commonroom watching tv and later braved the rain into town and had a coffee, went to the museum and then did some wine-tasting at the Ostler shop which was cool. Back for dinner. Talked to a German cyclist and another Canadian woman cyclist. Ready to keep moving.
Monday 4th January 2016
Kurow - Dansey's Pass Campground 41kms
The day dawned much clearer and sunny, though a bit chilly. Biked down the glorious Waitaki Valley and stopped at a vineyard to buy cherries. Lovely. Looked at the rock drawings at Duntroon and at the Flying Pig Cafe where Lucy shouted coffee. Turned up to the Dansey's Pass from Kurow - fairly steady rolling hills but manageable. Reached the campground and felt great to be there. Beautiful campsite by the river and lots of things there. Read a bit in the commonrooom, joined in some Gladiator camp activities, met Pete Scott and his family there, swung on the rope swing and ate and slept.
Dansey's Pass Campground - Naseby 52kms
After talking with Pete Scott over the dishes we got away and up the big hill not far from the campground. Lucy and I were there earlier so we waited at the top. Eased off a bit after that but turned to gravel and kept rising steadily. Had a welcome lunch stop by the river, though had descended a lot by then. Looked for a wedding ring for a guy who had lost it but didn't find it.
Carried on and steadily and then steeply up the hill. The last few kms to the Pass were hard. Rested and looked at the stupendous scenery. 935m. Colder at the top and on the descent so kept moving a bit. Steep and rocky and had to concentrate. Spectacular descent into Central Otago. Arrived at the Danseys Pass Hotel and felt like we were there. Had a wonderful rest inside, even though it was sunny.
We carried on the 15kms to Naseby and it was hilly and hard. Really steep into Naseby - almost like another pass. Really at the end by this stage so it was great to get into Naseby. We went straight to the Ancient Briton Hotel and had burgers. Went to the crowded camp after that, arriving after 8pm and just found ourselves a spot and collapsed into bed. Met Genevieve's mother there and had a chat. Very pleased to have managed the Pass and be making good progress towards home.
Naseby-Ranfurly 15kms
Slow start in the busy camp. Did washing and Hugh climbed trees. Went to the dam for lunch and the kids went swimming and dived off the diving board. Called in to see Jock and Barbara and then had a coffee at the Black Forest cafe where we met Pete Scott again. Then cruised down to Ranfurly, where we met two retired Dutch cyclists who were great guys and we spent the evening talking with them. They were in their 60s but had just come over Dansey's and been cycling all over the world. Very inspiring.
Ranfurly - St Bathans 40kms.
Coffee in Ranfury at the store before departing for St Bathans. Quite hilly and threatening rain by about the top of the hill befor the turn-off to St Bathans. Much hillier than I recalled it, but were coming from the Ranfurly end of the St Bathans rd and it climbed very steadily and steeply before descending into St Bathans very steeply - down and down - which was a bit demoralising. Called into the lake and the pub and had an entertaining time there. They had no chips, milk, tea, coffee and the beer was running through a different line than it said.
Carried on - down - to the campground which was a windy and barren domain in the middle of nowhere. Very rough ground and very cold. Slept well.
St Bathan's- Oteake Campground 20kms
Only 20kms but the first kms were the steep climb up out of St Bathans - and my chain broke about 50m up from the town! Ficed that and carried on over to the Oteake turn-off. 13kms of flattish (but climbing) gravel and then some rolling hills into the camp. Took quite a while to get there. Had lunch on arrival and were delighted to find a really cool hut in there - just a day shelter but really amazing. Met some young guys on trail bikes and then went for quite a long walk down to the road and back around through the tussocks. Big, beautiful country.
Went back and the kids played in the river and we had dinner in the hut later, played cards and had a quiz. Watched a beautiful sunset and slept in the tent at the back of the hut. Great.
Saturday 9th January
Oteake Campground - Omarama - Twizel 70kms
Set out fairly determined for the saddle and it was fairly pleasant going, though ran into a few mud spots and ruts that were challenging and several river crossings. Made the top of the first valley easily and loved it. Much steeper up and around the corner and then saw the actual saddle road which towered above us and looked horrendous. Really did take a bit of courage to keep going and attack the hill but kept at it and pushed where we had to and tried to bike bits of it. Really struggled at the top and then finally the Omarama Saddle appeared there and the road levelled off and we saw the panorama of lake Ohau and beyond and we were there. 1357m so quite an achievement. John and Hugh arrived after that and we looked down the golden Central hills from where we had come on one side and the mountains of the MacKenzie on the other. Had lunch just over from the saddle.Bliss.
Continued on after luch and started confidently but suddenly it steepened down and we couldn't even ride large sections of it. Had to push and run and brake an awful lot. Hard on your arms. Lots of trail bike riders went past, experiencing similar difficulties. Pleased to get to the Broken Hut Rd carpark after a good hour of descending. Lucy and I fell off as we arrived when she got off quickly. People gave us water and apricots which was great.
Descended down the gravel to Omarama and were on our way when Kev texted to say Greg was at his place in Twizel and did we want to come over. What a temptation! But how exhausted we were as well! It was 5pm when we reached Omarama and we were quite tired from the wind so went into the Wrinkly Ram restaurant which was luckily still open and we had chips and milkshakes. The milkshakes were truly the best thing we had ever had and revived us sufficiently to believe we could make it to Twizel, even though a stiff wind was blowing.
My chain broke as we left the restaurant and so had to deal with that. Carried on and the wind wasn't too much in our face and we made awesome and determined progress to Twizel, arriving close to 8pm. Blissful to drink beer, have a bbq and catch up with Greg, Katy and the girls ad Peter Willemse who was there. It was heavenly. Showers as well. Kev's place was great. Camped outside in the tent. Slept well.
Rested in Twizel. Played mini-golf, had coffee, farewelled Greg and Katy and Isold and Etta. Rested and rested some more.
Twizel - Fairlie 100kms
Biked from Twizel to Fairlie. Perfect clear morning and had a spectacular view of Mount Cook. World-class cycling. Joined the A2O and then rose up onto the canal road - quite a hill - and had lunch by the canals. Carried on to Tekapo - quite a climb also and a bit of wind. Had also had trouble with gravel and getting off the canal road. Very busy traffic coming into Tekapo.
Had coffee and some yummy cake at Run 77 in Tekapo which we enjoyed a lot and then carried on to Burkes Pass. Not too bad and then descended into Kimbell and Fairlie. Arrived late afternoon around 5pm. Fish and chips for dinner and then a blissful holiday in Fairlie leading into Lucy's birthday a week later. Really amazing journey in some very high and remote places. Lonely valleys and vast hills and skies stretching in front and behind us, leading us to the comforts of little places in between.
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