Day 9: Alexandra to Ranfurly. Otago Central Rail Trail day 1

The day started out early enough. We were packed by 8:30, but after breakfast of Birchers yogurt AND 3 eggs made in the shared kitchen, and the very friendly conversation of our chatty host, it was 10:30 by the time we said our goodbyes to Marj and the other sweetheart Barb staying in the home stay.

 

We stopped at a local bike shop, Rock and Ride, to buy a $12 tube (!) and inquire about an Internet cafe. If there is one thing New Zealand lacks, it is coffee shops with wifi, or even Internet. But at Rock and Ride, They were nice enough to let us use their wifi and make Drew a coffee in their espresso machine!

 

It took us until almost noon to post those last two blog posts and do some personal business. That was a much later start than we wanted, and our goal was 80+ km down the Trail. Best get started.

Once we cleared the town riders, we had the trail almost to ourselves. The terrain and climate had changed radically from the start of yesterday's ride. This area reminded me a lot of parts of Utah or central Montana. Quite dry, low mountain ranges separated by valleys, lots of ranching and farming.

 

 

 

Lots and lots of sheep ranching.

 

It was 2:30 before we took a break at the lovely Louder Station Cafe in tiny Louder.

 

We had our usual date scone and flat whites, and got a cheese scone to go, which we took directly across to a picnic table and chowwed with some leftover salami and cheese.

 

The next part of the trail was the most interesting.

 

We passed through two really cool tunnels. These we constructed around 1900 without power tools.

 

Even though we were on a rail trail, there was about 500 meters of climbing today,

as we rode our way between mountains and valleys.

 

It was 4:30 in the afternoon, it was hot, and we still had 16 km to ride. I needed a break, so we stopped at the Oturehua General Merchantile, New Zealand's oldest continuously operating store. Apparently they we trying to pay the back taxes, because my Coke was $3.90!

 

 

Onward, to cross the 45th south line of latitude.

 

and finally to the trail's highest point!

 

It should have been smooth sailing downhill to Ranfurly, where we would stop for the night, but in true Jordan fashion, a mightily headwind sprung up.

it was all I could do to take a short turn at the front now and then while my big wind break rode most of the way in front.

 

We were toast by the time we drifted in to the Ranfurly Holiday Park. Holiday Parks are similar to our KOA campgrounds in the U.S.

 

Being that the weather was warm and dry and it was our last night out on the bikes, we had planned to camp, but that wind took it out of us, and we opted for a cozy cabin for $40.

 

Problem was, when we got up close, the cozy cabin was not nearly the honeymoon suite we had thought.

 

No bother, the bar and restaurant we just a short walk away.

 

So we ended the night with pitchers of beer and the New Zealand version of a hamburger. They need to work on their ketchup.

 

 

Stats today: 4:50 on the bike over about 6.5 hours. Avg speed 17.6 kph. 85.4 km, our longest day yet!

 

Day 8: Makarora to Alexander: out of the wet, into the car.

 We got an early start today (10:10 instead of 10:45 or 11:00) since we didn't have any yogurt to make.  Instead, we ate New Zealand's favorite meat pies for Drew and a something called a mouse trap and a tasty boysenberry custard tart for me. 

 

Accompanied of course by espressos; 3 shots for Drew and 2 for me.

 

The rain stayed away today, and we were thankful that we could see the progressively drier climate as we rode alongside first Lake Wanaka

 

 

 

(still plenty of creeks and rivers draining into the lake)

 

Then over a skinny strip of land called the Neck, to Lake Hawea.

 

 

They were both beautiful lakes of an amazing shade of blue.  Both lakes are glacial in origin. Lake Wanaka is 1000 feet deep but used to be 3000 feet deeper over the past million years during interglacial periods.

 

With the land opening up and more rocks and water visible, I think this part of the ride was my favorite scenery so far on the trip.  We stopped only briefly to take pictures And for a quick coke and a candy bar at a gas station (where the attendant was cleaning off the handles of the pumps with a spray bottle of windex or the like and a towel - not the most American thing we have seen).

But we were trying to make good time to Wanaka so we could see about catching a bus to take us to the start of the Otago Rail Trail.   We arrived in Wanaka, the town we had heard is so much fun and is compared to Moab, Utah, with only enough time to book our bus to take us to Alexandra.  Too bad, because  it would have been nice to chill out with a coffee and dip our toes into Lake Wanaka.

But our goal was to get to the start of the Otago Rail Trail, which we had also heard many great things about. So now we were on a petroleum powered vehicle.  It moved so fast!!!!  The climate is much drier over on this side of the Southern Alps.  We zoomed past so many vineyards and fields that would have been lovely to take in at 20 km/hr.

But the $70 bus ride saved us a whole day of riding on busy roads. 

Once in Alexandra, we booked sight unseen on the recommendation of Jenny at the iSite, into Marj's Backpacker and Home Stay. 

 We got the double room in one half of Marj and Murray's remodeled house.  The lodging came complete with a sauna

Jetted tub (both of which we took advantage of), and shared kitchen facilities. 

But the best part of the stay was chatting with Marj, Murray, and their long-term tenant Roy.

We ventured out into town but didn't get a chance to stop for a cool one at this place.

but enjoyed the WWI memorial.

we stopped to pick up some goodies and yogurt at the first real grocery store since Hokitika 7 days ago, and man, what a grocery store it was!  Get a load of this pet food section!

In a cooler! With refrigerated meats for your cat. 

And dog.

The cat food cost $5.09 NZD for a portion about the size of a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  Weird thing is, we have not seen that many people with pets here.  Guess the pets that are Kiwi pets are lucky Kiwi pets.

But we didnt linger too long at the grocery store, because we had food on the mind, so we rode our bikes to Monteith's pub,

 where I had bangers and mash (had been wanting to try that since our Irish friends had told me about it) and Drew had a chicken sandwich and fries.  

It was a long time until our food came out, but that was because there was a movie being filmed near town, and all the actors and crew were eating at the same pub.  A movie? Being filmed in New Zealand? With a lot of short stocky men? And they had jackets that said "Hobbit" on them? Why, yes, it was the film crew from the prequels to the Lord of the Rings trilogy!  I am almost positive this guy is "Sam".

And we know for sure (because Drew talked to one if them while they were waiting for the bathroom) that this table is filled with body doubles and extras. Maybe even a main character? We won't know until December 13 and 14, 2012, when the two prequels are premiered.  Whatever, the case, they were nice enough to take a picture with me.

 What an unexpected bonus to an already fun day.

Today's stats: 3:15 ride time to do 63 km.  Then a pretty easy 1 hour bus ride.

 

Day 7: Haast to Makarora. Waterfalls, rainy day, better tendons, and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Today promised to be a hard day on the bike.  Our goal was the tiny town of Makarora, 78 km SE of Haast, but up in the mountains.  After our usual breakfast of Bircher's yogurt at the backpacker, we went for our customary Espresso and said goodbye to another biker we had been crossing paths with.  The first 10 km were beautiful. Clouds threatened,

 but we believed the nasty weather was north of us. We were riding up the Haast River valley, which was absolutely gorgeous.  

 

The geologic hazards were everywhere! There were three places the road had been recently taken out by landslides, warning signs for rock fall everywhere, evidence of recent debris flows, and I can only imagine what the flooding could be like.  

 

 

 The rains last night made the waterfalls extra spectacular.

 

 

We must have seen 30 waterfalls today.

 

 

 

Speaking of rain, it did. Not a pouring rain, but steady, for 3 hours.  

 

At first, I didn't care. My tendon was feeling much better, I was riding with my honey on Valentines Day in a beautiful country. What's a little rain?  

 

But when we couldnt even stop for lunch because the sand flies were biting Drew too bad, my gloves soaked through, and the road turned upward, I started to get a little cranky. I needed a sign to cheer me up. Here it was.

 

We had to tackle Haast Pass.  At only 564 meters, it wasn't any bigger or necessarily steeper than climbs in Utah, but with loaded touring bikes and wet rain, it wasn't fun either.  But we made it!

We are in Hobbit country. This is where the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed.  Drew was certain he could hear them in the shire.

Over the pass, the vegetation changed quite a bit.  It was still more lush than our mountains back home, but the ferns tapered off, and there were some open areas suitable for grazing. This was the first sheep we had seen in a couple of days.  

The last 18 km to ride to our stop for the night seemed extra long, which made our ultra cute and cozy A-frame backpacker cabin for $75 (no bathroom or kitchen - that would cost us $125) the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

78 km today in 3:21 ride time (-about 4.5 hrs total time) is a respectable day. We earned our real dinner consisting of fish and vegetables for me and chicken schnitzel and fries for Drew, plus we were just in time for happy hour!

 So we had a jolly time chatting it up with 4 Kiwis who were motor biking around the island.  They had ridden in one day what it took us 5.5 days to ride!  Fine chaps they were. Now if I could only remember the jokes they told us.