Day 11 - 117kms - the otago rail trail

Wayne and I kicked its arse. We got away from middlemarch a little early as I didn't have to pack up a wet tent. It rained a fair bit over night so the trail which is dirt for all 150kms was a bit sticky. The guides say allow 3 days, so I planned an overnight at ranfurley which is 60kms up the line. The trail was rough in parts on the touring bike so I just took my time. The viaducts and tunnels were amazing. It was a lovely ride to my planned days end. However it was only miday. The next place to camp was another 60ks. I thought what the hell lets go for it. By the 100k mark I was battling. Sore feet and back from standing up on the rough all day. The last 20k had great tunnels and bridges. Rolled into town at 4.30. 6-1/2 hours riding time. Spent $25 and got myself a cabin again. Sweet

Mike finish. Happy mikey

Day 10 -81kms - lake waihola to middlemarch

Hardest day on tour. Relentless climbs and the first day of heat (28d) combined to bit me real hard. What a struggle. The best part of the day was finding a nice cabin in middlemarch and shouting myself a real pillow. Farewell the coast. Hello otago and the rail trail starts tomorrow. 

Should have sold my bike at the bottom of the hill

Neat 1000 meters vertical. Ouch

Day 9 - 80kms - Pounawea to lake waehola

I woke up to the first sunrise on the tour. It was so great to see and feel the sun. In fact the temperature topped 23deg. The day was difficult with very undulating countryside. At the 49k mark Wayne and I joined the main highway. It was truck city and we had to be on our game. I met some lovely people today. At lunch I shared my table with some Brits traveling in a camper. He was a retired firey. We talked for an hour or more. Tonight I met a French lady riding a 3 wheel recumbent around NZ. Absolute hard core. She must have been 65 if she was a day. 

Camp dinner

Trangia foot warmer

Wayne and his first sunrise

Our campsite

The French lady in her sled

Camp cooking 101 video - using your body heat

Day 8 - 76kms - Curio to Pounawea

Wow I don't remember this day from our last trip 10 years ago. I must have blacked it out. The climbing was relentless. The weather was the best since starting out. Still no sun but got to 17 deg for a while. The views were spectacular and the traffic was light. The country was mostly coastal rain forest. I had a great day. Very shattered by the 70k mark. Found a wee shop and bought a coke. That got me the last 5 kms to camp. I met lots of nice people today. Had a few good chats. 

New taste sensation. Peanut butter and Nutella on a soy linseed wrap. Awesome!

Day 7 - 81kms - invercargle to Curio bay

The rain stopped but the wind remained. The temp topped out at a balmy 11 deg. I had on every stitch of cycle clothing I could. Including my raincoat. For the first 60 odd k's it was a head cross wind but it kindly moved behind me for the last part of the day. The last 25ks was dirt and it was pretty tricky going. Wayne and I just took our time to avoid incident. We were very relieved to reach curio. It was exactly the same as my last visit 10 years ago. We found as sheltered a spot as possible. It was still so blowy that I cooked in the tent. The new tent is awesome. About 5 deg warmer. Wayne stayed outside

I was tucked up in bed well before dark. Watched sons of anarchy. Nice. 

Wayne hits the dirt. It doesn't bother him. 

The sea was angry that day my friends. No sign of hectors dolphins

Day 6 - - Invercargle regroup

With gale force wind and freezing hail conditions forecast I decided to bunker down and sit it out. First order of business was a tent upgrade. After trolling the town I settled on my first choice. A macpac Apollo. A 4 season tent that will surely help me deal with the bad weather better. I also bought a second raincoat as 1 is always wet. Heading our tomorrow into a 3 day weather window. Bike is prepped and ready. I have moved the shitty tyre to the front where it will have less weight on it. I've also bought an extra tube and repair kit. All will be good.

Poor Wayne in the rain

Nice invercargle park

Day 5 - 60kms -off to Invercargle

 60kms - 3.5 hours ride time. Horrid!

Today was planned as a short day so that I could spend the arvo at the E Hayes hardware store where there is a great bike and car exhibit set amungst their products including some of Burt munroe's bikes. 

The ride was nice for the first hour and then it turned to hell. Torrential rain so hard you couldn't see the road. There was knowhere to hide out in open farm country so I just had to battle on. To add to the challenge the tyre that Colin gave me couldn't handle the touring punishment and I had two punctures. I arrived at the campground wet and cold only to find they had no  cabins. I put up my tent in the rain and threw my wet gear inside. After a warm shower I walked to town to visit the hardware store. Eager to avoid the wet tent I then went to the movies. 

I got back to the camp around 8pm to find my tent rather wet inside. I dried it with my pack towl and climbed into my wet sleeping bag. The winds were so strong that the tent was constantly blown flat on top of me. The rain and wind eased around 1am and I got a few hours of cold sleep. Worse weather us forecast for tomorrow. Nice. 

Happy times 

Burrs Indian still holds the 1000cc world record. 

Burts road registered bike 

His bike trailers

You know I love a good van 

Day 4 - 117kms - Manapouri to Colac bay

117 kms, killer headwind

I didn't set out to do 117 ks but it was blowing so hard when I got to my stop point that I had to keep motoring. Long day at more than 6 hours on the

Bike. I did make a new friend which was a highlight of the day. I was stopped on the roadside putting on more clothes when he came the other way. He came over for a chat and we were still there 45mins later. He is a professor from Christchurch uni and he has taken time off to ride from bottom to top. 

Lake manopouri looking towards doubtful sound. 

Back up to the snow

Lunch by s beautiful old suspension bridge. 

This land supports 6 sheep to the acre. Unbeleivable

Only 50kms to lands end at bluff

Opted for a cabin as it was blowing and raining. See the spare tyre on the back. Colin kindly lent it to me as mine is failing. Will fit it tonight I think. 

Camp cooking in the rain - video

Day 3 - 86kms - Mavora lake to Manapouri

86kms, 5 hours ride time 

After a wet and cold night I packed up the camp inside the tent while it pelted down outside. I also made coffee and toast in the tent. I didn't break camp until after 9am. It was 7 degrees and miserable as I headed off. Things didn't really improve for most of the day. I just put my head down and slogged it out to Colin's house at manopouri where I had a lovely evening with home and his wife Lila. We ate trout caught by Colin in the lake out front and veges from Lila's garden. What wonderful people. I love kiwis. 

Fresh snow on the hills around the lake made it a killer windchill

Day 2 - 68kms - Queenstown to Mavora lakes

I overslept a bit and woke up at 7:45. Had to pack up in a hurry to get down to the steam ferry. It was a long shot if they were going to let me on as they were overbooked. Turned out all ok

There were also 30 school kids doing a mtb trip in the same direction as I was headed. I met one of their teachers on the ferry. A fantastic fella named Colin who promptly invited me to come and stay at his house at manopouri on my way south. I got off the ferry quick smart to stay ahead of the kids and put my head down into a howling head wind. Bad weather was on the way and I needed to get to camp before the rain. 

This piece of road is the setting of my favourite ever biking photo taken 10 years ago. It features Brendan riding down the road. 

The weather was coming in fast. As I turned away from the lake the wing came onto my back and thing hot a lot easier. I made camp by 3 pm and I was happily all on my own. 

I managed to get set up and have a wash in the lake and cook dinner before the rain started. I crawled into the tent at 6.15. It rained all night. I was in the tent for 13 hours before emerging to snow on the hills all around the lake. No wonder it was chilly. 

Vital stats from day 2

Disaster strikes!

Is it a bad omen for the ride. Thismorning while packing up camp I blew my favourite thong

Wayne emerges like a butterfly

Wayne emerges like a butterfly

He had a lie down in the tent after the big flight. 

Then slowly he comes out of his cucoon. 

And gradually becomes the man he knows he is inside. 

Slowly but surely finding his feet

Until he can stand on his own. 

He told me he is very much looking forward to me giving him a flogging. 

I love Wayne. 

NZ - 10 year anniversary

I'm sitting at the gate waiting for my flight to Queenstown. It's 10 years since Brendan and I did our first tour of the South Island. I haven't booked a flight home, and I've got about a 2500km ride planned. It will be a bit dependent on the weather and how much I miss Lisa and the girls & Calvin. 

I'm doing this ride on my lonesome. Not sure how I'll go. I tend to turn it into a marathon. I'll gunna try and take it easy.