Manapouri to Dunedin

So I've often had a battle between my body and stubbornness, and today my body won.

I'd looked at the route ahead, fairly flat, so I figured I'd give Riverton a go, almost 130km away. On fresh legs I may have made it, but after 6 days above average riding I was a bit fatigued.

I headed off and managed a decent pace for an hour or so. Then I got a headwind. This took it all out of me. I was constantly taking short breaks.

Along the way I met another cyclist, at least someone was getting the tailwind!

The ride was fairly flat, that is until I reached the coast where rolling hills took whatever I had left. I passed 100km, and struggled on for another 16km before the sight of a campground at Colac Bay gave my legs an excuse to stop working.

My gps managed to freeze, losing all data from December. When I'm in Dunedin I might see if any data recovery programs can find it.

Distance day 116km total 4639km
Ascent day 700m total 50,100m

So still fatigued I planned a short day...

Of course not! That would be sensible. 50km to Invercargil, a little short for a days ride, and I would be staying at Kevin's so I needed to kill some time. Bluff is (not quite) New Zealand's most southern point, sounds like a decent detour.

I had a headwind all the way into Invercargill, and I was very fatigued. Still, Bluff was only another 30km away. Unfortunately that means 30km back. Headwind again. Stubbornness kept me riding, even though I was feeling like I wouldn't be able to make it back.

Eventually I made it! Absolutely stuffed I had a few people take a few photos for me. Unfortunately they all missed the important part of the sign!

Cape to Bluff in 9.5 weeks.

I headed to the nearby cafe for a drink, and decided a small meal would be nice. Almost falling off me seat I just sat there looking aimlessly at the ocean.

After quite a while I headed off. I was a bit worried that I'd really struggle, but a tailwind helped me along nicely.

Eventually I made it to Kevin's, one of Tony's mates.

Distance day 108km total 4746km
Ascent day 400m total 50,500m

So I actually was planning to have a short day today. I'd thought about Curio Bay, 85km away, but I was always planning to just go 50km to Fortrose and see how I was going.

Still with a headwind I made it to Fortrose, and had every intention of staying there. I had a long lie down in the sun, then looked at my watch to see it wasn't even 2 yet! Boredom got the better of me so I set off.

Some cows were very excited to see me!

At the top of a climb the road turned to gravel. A rather hairy decent followed. Just in case I needed some adrenaline to get me through the ride I decided I'd give going sideways a go. With that kick I made it to the bottom, but the rest of the gravel was fairly tough.

Whilst I think I found the gravel tough because I was tired, the concentration needed meant I didn't feel tired at all.

After dinner I headed to the nearby penguin colony. See that wore spec in the middle? That's a penguin. Too tired to wait around to see more I headed back to camp, along the way seeing some dolphins from a distance.

Distance day 84km total 4830km
Ascent day 500m total 51,000m

It rained in the morning. Luckily it cleared up before 6.30 though. Feeling much better I headed off .

Along the way I stopped at Niagara falls. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about...

Today felt like I was back in the north island. No sooner had I finished descending one hill then the next hill started.

Very early on I was climbing through The clouds, at only 100m!

Along the way I met 2 other tourers, one with just a pack! The other was well on his way to finishing his around the world trip.

After leaving them I had just 2 more big climbs before gentle undulations brought be to  Owaka

Distance day 71km total 4904km
Ascent day 1000m total 52,100m

It's amazing what a tailwind can do to morale.

Just 110km out of Dunedin I could have stretched and made it in one day, but I decided to stick to my plan.

I had a very lazy start to the day, leaving a bit before 10am. That was the only bit of laziness though before reaching camp.

Today was just a great ride. It even rained on me a little which didn't bother me at all!  All due to the tailwind.

Early on I gave my speed record a crack, falling just short. While there were a few hills with steep sections, most of today's riding was very easy. This accounted for my 3.5hr 71km, my fastest overall average speed.

Distance day 71km total 4975km
Ascent day 550m total 52,650m

Camping in Waihola, just 30km from Mosgiel I planned to head to Oma and Opa's for morning tea.

I ended up leaving much earlier than I needed, so I went the long way, through Outram. I once again had a tailwind so I had an extremely quick run.

Plenty of time was spent catching up with them, and most of the Dunedin family. I then heading on to Dunedin.

Heading alongside SH1 was harder than I thought, having to check where I was going multiple times.

Made it to Dunedin!

Distance day 56km total 5031km
Ascent day 300m total 52,950m

Day one doing almost nothing! Definitely need it though.

Tuesday I was significantly more productive. I'd always plan on doing a few short rides around, and the Otago peninsula was suggested so I headed off.

The ride out was nice and easy, taking a bit over an hour to go the 30km. I came back via the high road.

I wasn't expecting quite that much climbing. Definitely worth while though!

Distance day 59km total 5100km
Ascent day 550m total 53,500m

For those that have been to Dunedin, chances are you know what Baldwin st. For those that don't, it is the world's steepest street. Doing a cycle trip I felt I had to give it a go.

At an average gradient of 1 in 3.41 it is very hard. Making it harder is one section that reaches 1 in 2.86.

As I approached Baldwin st, I passed a lot of very steep streets. I was very nervous. I figured it would be best if I didn't stop to think what I was about to do so I just turned in and started.

I ended up making it 2/3rds of the way up before I had trouble with my feet hitting my front wheel, forcing me to stop.

Getting started proved very difficult. After a long break I used a nearby driveway to give me a bit of a flat start.

That got me another few metres before I stopped again. And again, and again. Each time I was getting further towards the end of the steepest section.

Once passed that I could almost relax! From there it felt like just a gentle hill!

I then had the interesting task of getting back down!

Turns out to be just like abseiling, once over the edge it was easy! Of course I was hard on the brakes, still speeding up on the steepest section. Near the end I finally let go, with a huge grin on my face!

After that riding up Moari Hill to visit the Boyens's was a nice cool down!

Milford Sound

So Mildord Sound was always somewhere I wanted to ride, and when I figured I could finish off everything I want to do in Southland and make it to Dunedin by Christmas I committed myself. I couldn't have picked a better time. 

I figured 3 days would give me plenty of time, but it would mean a lot of climbing on the middle day. 

Nice blue sky and fluffy clouds made the ride amazing.

The first hour our so of riding followed lake Te Anau, but trees and hills were in the way so it wasnt until leaving the lake that I got a good view.

From then the mountains just kept creeping closer. The terrain kept switching between wide own valleys to very densely forested roads.

Along the way I passed Mirror lake, wasn't a very good mirror this day. 

The riding was easy going, some steep sections but short enough to cause little problem. 

After a quick break at The Divide I started the descent down to where I was staying for the night. Very quickly I was at the turnoff to the Hollyford valley, where I had another 8km of gravel to descend. What greeted me was a very nice, strange campsite. A great place to spend the night. 

Distance day 96km total 4341km

Ascent day 950 total 47,850m

With only enough food for one more night and the following day I had to make it back to Te Anau the next day. This meant a double mountain pass day. 

I was feeling amazing. Neck was hurting from looking up so much but worth it! 

750m altitude I had to gain to reach the summit. Over 20km that isn't so bad. 

I had a nice warmup climbing back to the main road. While it was still cold, threw jacket came off as it wouldn't take me long to warmup. As the morning progressed the mountains kept getting closer. This is why I ride!

Overall the climb was fairly easy. A few sections requiring a bit of effort, but only for short periods. 

2 hours after starting and just as the road had nowhere to go the Homer tunnel was revealed. 

This was the one part I was worried about. 1.2km at 10% down towards Milford, worth minimal lighting. Before hand I was worried about the climb out, but it turns out I should have been worried about the descent! 

With all my lights on, and having asked a car to sit behind me for extra light we were off! My lights aren't bad, but they were near useless for the speed I was going. Even the cars lights didn't illuminate any of the bumps till it was too late. 

Holding on tight and just riding over anything I made it through! Definitely got the heart pumping! 

The view and the road in front of me made it all worth it.

20km of mostly downhill, with a bunch of switchbacks straight up. I was on the brakes heavily through the switchbacks, but after that I was able to go through most corners at a comfortable speed with minimal braking.

Unfortunately the start was in the sun so I didn't rug up. When I got into the shade it became cold. Not enough to make me stop though. 

The road flattened off significantly halfway to Milford as I had a gentle cruise to the ferry terminal. 

Last time I was here I couldn't see Mitre Peak. The conditions were just slightly better. While eating lunch am Aussie couple came along. They were cyclists as well, but they didn't really count as they had hired a car for a week. 

After a decent rest I headed off. Threw shade that had cooled me on the way down was gone. This, along with a very tough climb made door sweaty work. 

This side of the climb was tough! 900m in 20km isn't very bad, but when the first half was well below the average there was a lot of ground to make up. 

A few tourists cheered me on as I started the switchbacks, hopefully ill be able to get a few of their photos! With the tunnel in sight I knew I could make it. If I hadn't known about the tunnel the sight of the wall approaching would have scared the shit out of me. 

While resting at the top one of the road crew offered me a lift. I declined as that would have been cheating, and I wasn't overly worried. 

I did wait quite a few cycles before I headed off, but eventually I got myself sorted. The climb took me about 10 minutes. Going slow my lights were able to illuminate the road fine, so I was able to avoid any bad bumps. Oncoming traffic wasn't a problem either as the road was plenty wide enough. In all I had one stream of cars pass me from behind, and the second oncoming stream entered just before I exited.

I had a go at chasing down a bus, but fairly quickly the corners widened and our slowly pulled away. This descent was much more chilled. 

Eventually I got back to the turnoff towards where I camped, but instead I started climbing again. Another tough climb, so I took a few opportunities to stop at lookouts. 

I should feature prominently in some people's photo albums as a bunch of people took photos with me. 

Eventually I reached Lake Gunn, my camp for the night. I had a bit of trouble finding a spot to setup my tent but eventually I noticed a small clearing. 

I had a very quick dip before getting everything sorted. 

Distance day 79km total 4420km

Ascent day 2000m total 48,750m

After my big day of climbing I planned am easy 100km ride to Manapouri. The morning was really still which made for great photos. 

It was also quite cool. That didn't last long. Very quickly I was wishing for shade. 

Even though I'd already traveled the road before it was still great. It was only upon approaching Te Anau Downs that the riding became a little monotonous. 

I decided to give the Mirror lakes a second chance and I wasn't disappointed. 

Once in Te Anau I had a very lazy lunch. The heat was putting me to sleep. Eventually I restocked my food and headed onwards to Manapouri.

A nice flat timetrial had me at my destination easily. Whilst I was well away from any mountains, the sight of them off to the side was great. 

When I checked into camp the host mentioned there was another cyclist staying from Switzerland. Unfortunately heading the wrong way, and sounded as though he was taking it very easy. 

Distance day 103km total 4523km

Ascent day 600m total 49,400m

Wanaka to Te Anau

So I've had to stay in Wanaka for 3 full days, the longest time without progress since Hanmer Springs. Location is amazing but I've got an itch that needs to be scratched.

So a replacement part for the freehub was ordered on Monday, and it arrived midday Tuesday. If it was as simple as replacing the stuffed part I'd likely be writing this from Queenstown.

Tim riding away

Unfortunately there was a bit of work removing part of the destroyed bearing, and Tim had left an hour earlier so I would have had to bury myself to catch him even if he stopped.

Yesterday I grabbed a mountain bike and had a fun ride around a few trails. Definitely makes me want to get a mountain bike.

My bike is now already to go, and I've done a bit of a tune up so it should run as well as it could. Apparently the drive train is fairly worn, not unusually though. The mechanic suggested that it'd be best to replace the whole lot at once, so there's no problem riding it into the ground. Shifting will get worse, but if I can make it home I do have my old chain and 11-30 cassete that I could use as well.

Come hell or high water I'll be doing the crown range tomorrow.

It felt great to get riding again. And once again Merel. Straight up we had a quick warmup climbing out of Wanaka.

After that it was just a steady climb up to Cardrona, via the bra fence.

After a coffee we were straight into a small hill, but again it flattened off. The mountains on either side just kept getting closer. I was expecting the property climb to start around every corner but the gradual rise continued. When it came we knew it.

20 minutes spent mostly out of the saddle and I was up! Not the hardest climb I've done this trip, but pulling into the wind had taken a lot out of me.

A little later Merel made it as well. She'd been forced to walk a bit, but looked very happy to be up.

We had an awesome descent ahead. I was expecting switchbacks right from the start but they came much later. We stopped At a lookout 1.2km from the top, and saw a cyclist coming up. He sounded very happy when I told him he was nearly done.

We headed off again. Eventually we reached the switchbacks. I wish I could try these unloaded on closed roads. As is they were pretty cool. I had to laugh when I saw a 100km/h sign, cars would have been lucky to get half that.

We both made it down safely, only breaking the speed limit by double...

The ride into Queenstown was fairly easy, but I was glad to get onto a cycle trail to avoid all the traffic.

After a Fergburger for lunch Merel and I parted ways, Merel to a friends place and myself heading along the shore to a campsite for the night.

Distance day 84km total 4099km
Ascent day 1250m total 44,700m

I'd been looking to do the Mavora Lakes route to Te Anau for a few days, so I'd  bought a ticket for the TSS Earnslaw.

I still had to get to the boat first though. The ride from town the afternoon before had been tough, and it was tough on the way back.

The cruise across the lake was very pleasant, although far too many tourists for my liking. Once of the boat and riding I had the road almost all to myself.

 Riding on gravel can take a bit of concentration but it wasnt long before I had to stop and take in the scenery.

 While a few cars passed throughout the day, my main company were sheep and cows. Both did their normal silly thing of running along my path much to my amusement.

Lunch was outside a cottage in a truly shocking location...

I had a couple of creeks to cross, no problem at all and the cool water felt amazing as it was fairly warm.

The only rough part of the ride came around halfway. 3km of steep climbing had me out of the saddle, but the surface was pretty decent so I didn't have much trouble finding traction.

Mavora lakes was my camp for the night, and sand flies were my company. At least some rain in the evening have me another excuse to stay in my tent.

Distance day 70km total 4169km
Ascent day 950m total 45,650m

I had a terrible sleep. No idea why. That and the low cloud made for slightly tedious riding, although I amused myself by pushing harder than I usually would.

My pace on the gravel was pretty good, and once on the sealed road it picked up. Definitely helps mostly descending.

I got into Te Anau and got to enjoy a very sunny afternoon!no

Distance day 72km total 4243km
Ascent day 150m total 45,800m

Mildord Sound is next!

Hari Hari to Wanaka

I am on the west coast, so I have to get wet. Today was fairly decent considering what other people have had.

We rolled out with a light mist. Basically the whole ride would be like this, although occasionally it got slightly heavier.

First up we had Mt Hercules to climb. Not really a mountain at only 200m, and we were starting just short of halfway up. The descent was very tight, plenty of 25kmh corners. It was good fun going down but it would have been amazing in the dry.

After that we had a few small hills but otherwise it was very easy riding to Franz Josef. The whole ride we should have had the southern alps towering over us, but the cloud blocked all views. We did cross a river with an amazing blue colour, but you'll have to take my word for how cool it was.

I'd been thinking about heading over to Fox Glacier, but with some big climbs, and more importantly descents I figured it would be miserable riding so I called it a day.

There is a cycling couple staying as well, but they're heading north.

The rain had stopped around dinner, but I got as far as unlocking my bike to head to the glacier before it started raining again. Ah well, maybe tomorrow.

Distance day 62km total 3692km
Ascent day 450m total 40,050m

So I didn't go see any of the glaciers, and I have very few regrets.

As I'd been getting ready I'd thought about trying to make it to Haast in one go. At 145km it would be tough, but I had a few backup spots.

I had a short warmup before the climbing started, 3 large hills all before I got to Fox 21km away. The first was easy, the second had me out of the saddle a bit and the third I was out of the saddle for most of it. A light mist was a little annoying but no major problem.

On the way down the last climb I met an American cyclist. She mentioned she'd stayed with a British cyclist planning on heading to Haast. I was dismayed as there was almost no chance of catching him.

I blasted through Fox, and just before the first bridge out I met a cyclist. I caught him! He'd had a helicopter flight, so was just setting off around 11.

The cyclist was not only just a British cyclist, but Tim, a guy I'd rode with over a month ago near Thames. I very quickly realised that Haast was very achievable.

We were both very happy to see each other, so the first few hours went really quickly just chatting. It turned out I have been the only cyclist he's traveled with the whole time.

The day was mostly dry, but the cloud was very thick and low so we didn't get many great views until we reached the coast.

This also coincided with the first big hills since the start of the day. Tim had only started from Fox so had 500m less in his legs. Even so I was feeling pretty good, so I wasn't any slower.

Rolling turns allowed us to keep a respectable pace. Without this, and the company I would have fallen well short of Haast.

When we reached Haast I was feeling awesome, I coitus have kept riding but that would have been silly.

We didn't have any phone reception, but the last forcast made it seem like the next day would be fine until late afternoon, so we made the decision to do the pass.

Distance day 145km total 3837km
Ascent day 1300m total 41,350m

Haast pass, I believe NZ's lowest alpine pass. We had been talking about attempting to reach Wanaka in one day. It would mean another 140km day, my third for the week, but together we figured we may as well aim for it, we had plenty of backup options.

We got going early. It seemed like just on sunrise but it was actually 7.30. A nice 45km ride along flat and undulating roads.

The morning was spectacular, not clear but it was great to actually see the mountains for the first time since Arthurs Pass.

As we approached the pass itself the mist started. Nothing too bad, and the climbing kept us warm.

We knew the climb really started to kick up after The Gates of Haast. A runaway vehicle ramp was a good indication we were in for some pain. Thankfully the gradient dropped significantly so we made it to the top.

A quick descent followed, before a nice bit of fairly flat road, with a tailwind! We didn't realise how strong the wind was until we stopped for a break.

We were making great time, and then the hills started. The views of Lake Wanaka made the effort worthwhile. Following the shore made for very stimulating riding.

Eventually we left lake Wanaka and continued along lake Hawea. Just as stunning, and with a few large hills we continued on.

On one of these hills my gears started skipping. I did a few adjustments and made it a bit better. A little later it started to skip, and no gear would stick. I look down and I see my cassete wobbling! Not good.

Luckily this happened less than 10km to Wanaka, and as long as I was gentle and just kept pedaling I could still ride the bike. There was one hill I had to walk up but otherwise it was fine. If it'd happened any time in the last 300km I would have had to get a lift likely all the way to Wanaka, and missed some great riding.

It was great that we arrived in town early as bike shops were still open, as well as having mechanics working the weekend.

The freewheel is pretty stuffed. I'll know tomorrow, but hopefully they have the parts to fix it, but I may have to resort to getting a knew wheel otherwise I could be around for days.

Distance day 142km total 3984km
Ascent day 1650m total 43,150m

So it took all day, but eventually the mechanic had some time. It's pretty stuffed.

It's been made rideable for a few days, but I may stay another day. At least I don't have to resort to this:

I can either make my way to Queenstown where hopefully a part would be able to be brought in, our wait a day here.

I picked a good place to be stuck.