25 August Tuesday: D Day!!!!
Stats: Our house Arrowtown to Cardrona Hotel: 29kms 12kph
Started off the day with fresh snow on the Remarkables and
warnings of a cold front sweeping through. With our last minute packing done
and our house clean-ish we had our friend Keith lined up to drive us to Cardrona
or to the top of the Crown Range at least, as snow was close… we could see the
headlines “irresponsible, elderly couple, first time bikers plucked from a
blizzard, hypothermic and lucky to be alive”….
Anyway at about 11am, the sun starts shining, blue sky peaks
through and things are looking brighter…..and with the help of a Metservice web
cam at the top of the Crown Range showing there was no snow up there, we loaded
up the bikes and headed off about mid-day.
Missed some of the zig zags by taking the Whitechapel short
cut, then zig zagged up the road to the Crown Terrace scenic stop ….so far so
good!! There was then a bit of nearly flat and a sandwich stop before the
serious climbing begins. Then up and up …Noel biked the whole way ,I did a bit
of walking, and with some encouraging toots from passing traffic we made it to the summit some 2 ½
hours after we left Arrowtown!! (to give us credit we did stop for some lunch!)
A few celebratory photos (we weren’t hanging about too long
it was very cold). Then down the other side and into a freezing wind, but
hardly any pedaling all the way to Cardrona.
Checked in to the Cardrona Hotel and had a restorative spa just coz they had one available for guest use. Dinner at the hotel with Jo and Ewen coming out from Wanaka to join us, nice.
Reveling in our 1st day’s achievement!!!
The lesson for the day is that while the uphill is tough the
reward of going down the other side is very sweet indeed!!
26 August Wednesday: Day 2
Stats: Cardrona Hotel to Hawea: 47kms 15kph
After a yummy breakfast we reloaded our bikes and biked
mainly downhill to Wanaka. Quite a cold wind in our faces and ice on the
surface of the puddles and small creeks.
In Wanaka our first stop was at a bike shop to buy brighter
tail lights than what we currently have so that we are more visible on the roads, although we’ve likely just
biked the busiest road that we will be on for awhile.
Lunched at Jo’s place, a hearty soup. We are lucky to have friends stranded by the resurgence of Covid in Auckland. Jo joined us on the bike ride to Hawea, we did this ride with Jo, Ewen and a friend of theirs a week ago so knew what we were in for. It’s a very pleasant and very popular track from Albert Town to Hawea, following the Hawea river and had the added bonus of watching some surfers at the river wave park.
A cheap Airbnb for the night with an elderly and quite smelly Mini (lab/Weimaraner X), to greet us. A walk to the hotel for dinner, Ewen joining us after a day of skiing at Treble Cone. A nice meal and a quick walk back to our residence on quite a chilly night.
Day 2 done ….and now we’re on our own!!
27 August Thursday: Day 3
Stats: Hawea to Makarora , 49kms 14kph
Simply stunning!!!! Pinching ourselves that we are actually
doing this!!!
Breakfasted upstairs at the Airbnb….with a hopeful Mini
watching on. Left via the Hawea store to pick up a sandwich for lunch. Then on
to the undulating road around Lake Hawea. It had looked like we were starting
out in a frost this morning, it wasn’t super cold... but it was brisk.
We wound our way up and down around the lake and lunched in
the sun, at the Neck, overlooking Lake Wanaka. Not that much traffic but what
there was, was mainly campers, caravans and rental cars….we seemed to have left
the bulk of the traffic back in Wanaka.
Wound our way along Lake Wanaka and through to Makarora, arriving there about 3pm, a bit weary and ready for a rest. Great facilities, our A framed hut sitting in the sun until at least 5pm. Dinner at the pub/restaurant on site, which was very quiet but slowly ticking over without the numbers of overseas travellers. No internet at the hut so an early night….hopefully sleeping better than last night!!
Sounds like we might get wet tomorrow ….joy!??
28 August Friday: Day 4
Stats: Makarora to Haast, 81kms 16kph
The forecast had been awful but improving closer to the day…
but there was fresh snow on the tops this morning.
Breakfast at the restaurant which was doing a brisk trade in
coffees for the road workers.
It was a 17km climb to the Haast Pass 564m.It wasn’t too
bad, I’d expected a relentless climb but this was a little up and down until
close to the pass….then the relentless up!! On the way we passed a new parking
area, new toilets and a new track to the Blue Pools, at Cameron Flat.
A few photos at the top and down we went….yeah hah!, a bit of brain freeze though as it was quite cold. Some light rain at the top and down past Fantail and Thunder Falls. Once we got to The Gates of Haast (bridge) the rain stopped and the day improved with even a little blue sky for a short time.
Followed the vibrant blue river north. Stopped at Pleasant Flat DOC camp for a cuppa and snacks, then wound our way to Haast township. The waterfalls along the roadside were flowing fast and you could see the water pouring off the hills , there had obviously been heavy rain overnight. One particular bridge we crossed over was “imp grotto”, a very mossy, steep sided waterfall…the imps would have to know how to abseil for survival!!?
Light, steady rain started to fall with about 15 kms to go ,
the closer we got the heavier the rain. Stopped at the township and bought some
snacks at the supermarket, which seemed to be all that was open anyway.
Then biked the remaining 4 kms in pouring rain…even the cows
in a roadside paddock had a “what the f*#^?” look on their faces as they watched us pedal by.
Got to the hotel at about 3.30pm and by 4pm there was super
heavy rain and it has continued on and off all evening. The room was lovely and
warm and with the added bonus of a clothes drying rack, one gets the impression
they are used to wet guests here. A lovely meal at the pub which was reasonably
busy with Friday night locals as well as a few passers by.
Did get a sting from Ongaonga, a NZ stinging nettle, luckily
my tights were some barrier but my leg is still stinging tonight ….it is a
rather vicious plant!! The lessons learnt from reliving ones self by the
roadside!!
Feeling rather weary but surprisingly not too sore.
Getting a few toots and waves as we go which is nice!!
29 August Saturday: Day 5
Stats: Haast to Bruce Bay 72kms 15kph
It absolutely poured last night but it is a beautiful clear
day today.
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| Crossing the Haast River Bridge |
A gentle ride to Ships Creek, a beach reserve, in very pleasant temperatures. A quick stop and a short walk to a lookout tower ….lovely views, we had the place to ourselves. Then reasonably brutal up and downs to Knights Point where we lunched with bread and bacon from the Haast hotel. We virtually had the carpark to ourselves with only 2 other cars stopping briefly to check out the view… which is indeed impressive !!
A few km’s on and past Lake Moraki, and a long gentle upward
slope (which you wouldn’t even notice in a car!!), but it was quite energy
sapping!! Onward to Lake Paringa, stopping for a walk and barley sugar, was
thinking there was a store there for ice creams or something but no ….there was
a couple of campers parked up for the night probably.
Then a long reasonably flat bike ride to Bruce Bay ….we were
getting rather weary. With about 10 kms to go we past a salmon farm café that
we have stopped at before with a coffee and cake sign beckoning but with a
longish uphill driveway we thought it too much effort to pursue. Was definitely
counting down the kms!! We were being passed by quite a few motorcyclists so
there was a rally happening somewhere.
Yay we made it to Bruce Bay and Mahitahi Lodge…the only accommodation at Bruce Bay , and a much needed stop for the night!! Feeling very weary and a wee bit sore, thighs and gluts.
Greeted with just out of the kitchen caramel slice and a cup of tea
….heaven!!! the lodge is run by Jackie and John, they are feeling the pinch of Covid with no overseas visitors.
The motorbike rally destination was Bruce Bay Hall so lots
of bikes on display but a chilly night to be bedding down in tents and on the
floor!!
After a rejuvenating shower we walked down the road to the
beach. A big sweeping bay was covered in washed out trees and was protected by
wetlands so not easily accessible. The roadside beach was stony and quite inhospitable looking ….it’s eroding
the road so there are road works to
stabilize the bank.
A lovely meal provided by our hosts and an early night ….supping on peppermint tea to aid recovery!!
The following quote
by John a ex farmer, ex fisherman and ex councillor is worthy of noting:
“When those that produce are controlled by the ones that
produce nothing… everything will deteriorate .”
30 August Sunday: Day 6
Stats: Bruce Bay to Fox Glacier, 48kms 17kph
A reasonably solid sleep last night after what was my
exhausting day (Noel’s too but not so much). A lovely made to order breakfast
of muesli, fruit ,yoghurt ,scrambled eggs and mushrooms….there’s some
advantages to biking!!! And with some caramel slice tucked into our luggage
away we went. Today is the first day of the trip that we haven’t pre booked
accommodation, we’ll just sort something out when we get there.
It was raining!!The roadside beach of stones and tree roots
looking wild and moody. Then away from the coast through native bush , the rain
alternating from heavyish to light, and it didn’t stop. The road is relatively
flat….no monster hills anyways!!
It’s lovely scenery through native bush, there is some big
ole trees still standing and they are laden with mosses, some farmland and
rocky boulder rivers strewn with tree roots.
Unfortunately it rained continuously so not much opportunity for photo stops. By the time one stops and extracts phone from a plastic bag deep in a pocket the magic seems to have been lost. But some very photo worthy scenery just the same.
Most the cattle and sheep we see glance our way and I’m
guessing are thinking “mad buggers”, the horse we past wasn’t at all interested
in our exploits!!
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| Noel wondering which direction we are meant to go.... |
Luckily there’s been vacant road works toilets (not working roadworks) at very convenient spots, bonus!!, as after my run in with that nettle it’s taken until today to stop being sore when rubbed.
Arrived in Fox at about 12.45pm, quite wet, sleeves and
bottom of my jersey, pants and bike shorts wet through and our shoes felt full
of water as if we’d walked through a river. Not so pleasant!!
Thinking we were a little early to check in anywhere we
went to a café for a hot chocolate and pie.
Found our way to Ivory Tower backpackers, where a spa
sounded very inviting, but the spa was closed due to level 2 Covid. We’ve been given a huge family room so have
lots of room to spread out our wet gear, and air out the rest including our
sleeping bags just incase they’d got damp.
Wondered about going to see the glacier as the weather
cleared but it wasn’t clear for long and then saw the “10km to carpark” sign, so gave it a miss.
Bought ourselves some breakfast stuff from the 4 Square as
we have a kitchen with pots etc. in our room, so that’s a bonus !!
Dinner tonight is a choice of 3 restaurants all on short
hours. The big pub being open 6-8 pm only. Fox is looking quite sad ,empty
streets and empty-ish cafes ,a far cry from when we went through 21 months ago.
So a free afternoon/evening to rest our legs.
Fox township in the early evening resembled a “locked
down town"….3 restaurants open, our choice seemingly the most popular with 2
locals having a drink at the bar and 2 other couples, very quiet!!!
Luckily our room was big enough to put our bikes in
overnight as there is a kea lurking nearby. Managing to get our gear dry with a
rotation policy in front of the heater…thinking we must be missing lambing if
we voluntarily spend hours out in steady rain and just for recreation!!!
31 August Monday: Day 7
Stats: Fox Glacier township to Franz Josef township: 25 kms
11kph.
Woke up to a fine day, contrary to the weather forecast. We
breakfasted in our room ,poached eggs on toast, then squashed the rest of the
loaf of bread in our luggage and we were on our way.
The road was immediately uphill. There were 2-3 long winding
climbs and equally long winding downhills ….yea ha just rewards!! The climbs
were manageable as not as brutally steep but still 1st gear stuff. A
few big trucks on the road carting big rocks, probably for river protection or
something similar, 3 big rocks per truck.
The road wound through bush, rivers and creeks and out onto farming flats closer to Franz Josef. There is a lot of lambs about already but there is feed to match too.
Arrived in the township about 12.30 pm and found a café to lunch in, a lot quieter than last time we were thru with Jo and Ewen 21 months ago. However busier than Fox. A bit of rain started while we lunched.
Went around to Rainforest Lodge, recommended by Mitch, and
booked in. They had a spa pool and it was open for use, (still at level 2)
unlike last night. But instead of a spa we did a bit of laundry. We walked downtown for breakfast supplies, and
filled our afternoon in reading.
Had dinner at the restaurant onsite which was great . Walked
out into the rain so there goes our glow worm grotto walk tonight. So will be saving all
the activities for the upcoming Wakatipu Walking group excursion in Dec.
So another short-ish day on the bike, and tomorrow is a wait
and see as there is a lot of heavy rain in the forecast.
Thought for the day: Biking makes you appreciate what's
around every corner ….a steep hill and your heart sinks , a downhill or even
flat and your heart soars!!!!
