31st March (60km cycled)

In my humble opinion, having now ridden four of the famous New Zealand trails, to be classified a good trail in the Liz book of cycle trails, you need two things: Lots of signage containing direction and information on distance to next stop (Wilderness trail was awesome for this), and interesting sights along the way. Ideally well graded tracks are a plus too but I know that is just my own personal gripe, and am sure I could be easily persuaded if I rode a different bike..

The taste trail needs work to make it as good as the West Coast Wilderness trail, the Otago Central Rail Trail or the Alps to Ocean – I felt it needed more tastes.

Regardless, we had fun!

We stopped first at Riverside Cafe for a coffee. To be fair to it, there was signage on the trail. We parked up in the shrubbery and found inside an oasis of cacti and brunch items. It was heaving with people.

Very laid back place, coffee took a good 15mins to arrive. We weren’t in any rush!

Then we continued up an advanced steep track to the high point and met a lovely couple at the top who were living in Motueka. They owned a gallery down the road and we promised to stop in on our way. We had only done 12km and it was getting on for midday… very laid back. I know we were being relaxed but this was a bit too relaxed. Time to crack on!

We descended the hill, there was a small issue with Andy’s wheel half way down, these gravel paths eh.

Next stop was Mapua. There was a regatta happening so the harbour was buzzing with people. There were lots of boutique shops, cafes and expensive looking wine bars. Delightful! We opted for a recommended fish and chips at the smokehouse. It was delicious!

Next we were getting on the ferry to Rabbit Island. The trail continued around the perimeter of the island, over the bridge and back onto the Mainland to Richmond. From there it snaked around the coast line, over bridges and swamp areas to Nelson.

We joined the bike path through to Nelson, just as the rains began. The bike path followed an old railway line and went behind all of the suburb housing estates, it was immaculately maintained and really easy to ride. We followed it for around 10km to Nelson. I would have enjoyed it except for the weather! Soaked to the bone we arrived at the hostel.

The backpackers was situated above a club – we weren’t too worried about noise levels – on a Sunday surely no one is out clubbing!! The issue was that the entrance was around the back, through a locked gate and up a ramp. No one was around and the buzzer was tuneful, admittedly, but ineffective. So we waited til we saw someone coming out and piggy backed in. Locked the bikes under the ramp and found the owner finally.

Our room was well posh, it had a shower and a toilet and a sink. And a sparkling throw pillow. Gosh. First time in 2 months we hadn’t shared our bathroom with others! Fancy!

We went out to try to find some evening activities, but there were very few people out. Sunday’s are not the night for raving apparently. We ordered a pizza, returned to our hostel and watched Dr Strange on the TV.

30th March (rest day)

I love rest days. They’re great. Especially after a big week of mileage, we felt totally deserving of splashing the cash by planning a kayak trip. We were staying close to Abel Tasman national park, a beautiful corner of New Zealand that is totally vehicle free by land, miles of hiking routes, a big marine wildlife reserve and full of campsites right on the beach only accessible by foot or boat.

Today, we joined Top10. It’s happened. We are members of a caravan and camping club, oh god. I have turned into my parents. But we are going to save so much money now. We can still make back the $49 that membership cost us – all we have to do is stay at every Top10 in the North Island! And because we joined we also get discount with the R&R kayaking company, and the ferry over to the North Island. Hurrah. Already worth it.

The weather forecast was looking iffy for Sunday and Monday so we decided to book the overnight kayaking trip for Tuesday. This meant we would have today (Saturday) as a rest day, then we could cycle the taste trail to Nelson on Sunday, and then cycle back on Monday in the rain, it was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between Mot and Nelson but hey ho.

After reading the lonely planet we made a plan for the day. We cycled to Riwaka just north of Mot to the Hop Federation. There were free beer tastings apparently! We tried a few local beers, they had one called Strewth Lager (which made me think of my Gug and how irritated he used to get at me and my sister for not knowing something, ‘God strewth!’ He would cry. Bless him.) But we settled on a couple of bottles of the red ale and an IPA and dropped them off at the campsite for later (no licence to drink onsite, probably a good thing with bikes).

We then had to figure out some lunch. The book recommended Toad Hall. To get there we decided to take a non-linear approach and got lost around the back roads going past a golf course and a ship wreck on the beach.

We arrived at Toad, and had a Toadally Awesome Time. Harhar. We bought a 6 sample tasting of local beers, which were very tasty, and shared cervice and a pork belly charcoal bun burger. Both delicious. Never eaten charcoal before. Tasted like a brioche bun, i.e. not particularly of anything.

We slowly cycled to New World to stock up for dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast (whilst we had the bikes in motion). Bought a deli lasagne and other treats for dinner. we also treated the tent to an air freshener. It is jasmine flavour. Works a treat.

The Top10 had a pool and a hot tub. Free to members. Oh yeah. So we did that, feeling very relaxed, we ate and drank our beers from earlier. What a wonderful day.

26th March – 29th March (233km cycled)

The next section of the trip was all about getting to Motueka, and as fast as we could. This, we felt, was our destination and final port of call for activities planned on the South Island. Over the three day section we had big days of distance and elevation to cover.

Westport was a small gridded town with little of inspiration. We probably felt like that because it did not stop raining whilst we were there! We only left the campsite on our rest day to go to the shop to get more food. This included carrot cake, chocolate, fajita wraps and soup! We were carb-ing up. Or just binging on sugar. We ate a full English breakfast for dinner and again the next day for breakfast. Thankfully I could still remember how to cook eggs. We also went to the pharmacy to get vitamin B1 tablets that we had been told would act as a deterrent to sandflies if you ‘overdosed’ on it. It excreted through your pores and would hopefully dissuade bugs from biting. Here’s hoping.

Oh the rain, it didn’t stop falling for a solid 36 hours. 400-500mm fell on the west overnight, and the rivers were swollen. The roads we had just cycled were announced closed due to slips, and the bridge at Franz Josef collapsed. It was a pretty dire outlook for anyone travelling south.

Luckily for us, we were travelling the other way.

On our day of departure we packed up rather slowly. We moved all of our kit under the enclosure to attempt to dry it off. We hung out drinking tea and eating cake, waiting for a break in the weather. Finally at midday I couldn’t take the waiting about any longer and we set off.

As soon as we left Westport the sun came out, the roads began to steam in front of us. It was quite eerie.

Our original target for the day was Inganahua Junction which had a motel park campsite (and not a lot else). We cycled past it and it seemed a little dodgy, so we opted to carry on a few more km to a DOC site in Lyell. We passed through a small village, Berlins, and stopped for a hot drink. Our lunch stop was a very speedy affair. The bugs had been hiding, out of the rain, and the muggy humid weather was perfect conditions for them to reappear in force.

We arrived at Lyell and set up campsite next to the entrance to the Old Ghost Road (an advanced mountain biking track which we couldn’t have done on our bikes). We were the only ones at the site, and quickly got into the tent to avoid suffering more itchy legs!

The next morning was chilly. We packed up quickly and started the day of hills.

Cycling was slower today, alongside the Buller river through the Gorge which was high, fast flowing and a murky brown colour. Each time we crossed a bridge, I did hold my breath but they all held their position. The cliff side waterfalls were abundant today, cascading almost over the road, but thankfully diverted with numerous culverts. We did cycle underneath a rock overhang in a horseshoe corner of the river where the water was almost in a waterfall, that was fun!

On the roadside there was a sign for a swing bridge, so we stopped to see what it was all about. Andy hadn’t topped up the Revolut card in a couple of days and we only had $20 cash on us, so unfortunately it was a choice between crossing the bridge for a tenner each (!!) or a coffee. We chose coffee. We are caffeine fiends.

We stopped again in Murchison for lunch and had our usual tuna mayo cucumber wraps which were as tasty as ever. From Murchison to the Kawatiri Junction the traffic was heavy. We didn’t enjoy this section very much, a lot of logging trucks wizzing past, and local farmers with trailers not giving much space for overtaking. I wanted to get off the section rapidly, so we put our heads down and got it over and done with.

We had plenty of options for the night’s accommodation: a DOC site near the river, a Farm B&B that the Peddlars’ Paradise recommended, and a free site on Hope Saddle. We decided to aim for the B&B. It was almost centrally located between the two sites, and the distance for the day felt sufficient! We cycled past the first site, and stopped for a snack. It felt too soon to set up camp, not enough distance covered, and very buggy. So we went on to the B&B, knowing if all else failed we could get to the saddle. Or even, turn back. The price was cheap for a double room ($70) and after finally getting some signal, we were able to top up the Revolut. We didn’t know if they took card though, and we didn’t have enough cash for a tent pitch.. chancing that they were up to date with technology, we punted on.

We arrived at the farm around 5pm and cycled up a steep gravel road to the entrance, cheered on by sheep and goats in the garden. There was no one home but there were two dogs which were so friendly! We hung around for nearly an hour waiting for the owners to arrive, but we were running out of daylight time. We couldn’t wait for ever, and we still weren’t sure about payment, so we decided to go the additional 4km and climb up 190m to Hope Saddle. Oof – after a day of hills, this was quite an effort.

The views more than made up for it.

Andy set up the tent quickly (potentially illegally as CamperMate told us it was only for self contained vehicles, but there was a grass patch and there was a drop toilet, so we thought must be ok) and I cooked the dinner; the site was at a higher elevation so no flies! Apparently it gets inundated with wasps but they had all gone to bed when we arrived. I could tell by the fruit bushes that were growing that this might have been true earlier in the day! We watched sunset over the mountains whilst eating pasta carbonara and broccoli out of the pan, and walked to the trig point to get a better view of the valley.

What a spot.

By the next day we were definitely a bit on the pongy side. Third day without a shower. Motueka Top 10 was calling! The ride today would be downhill – we had done all the climbing yesterday! The first section was fun, the road winded and went through the valley. Beautiful.

We stopped for a coffee at the Flat Rock Cafe which turned out to be a good place for a wash of the face, a fill up of the water bottles, getting rid of a bag of rubbish, and we had a read about the Taste Trail. Sounded good! The section we were on was being developed – apparently it started here but the signage was somewhat lacking. (Apologies for this wonky photo of the trail)

We cycled to Tapawera, and up Stanley hill (which we preempted with a muesli bar) and alongside many Hop fields. We followed the Taste Trail at Woodstock.

The roads were narrow and windy and undulating, reminding us strongly of Anglesey. We passed another swingbridge. This one was free! So yes – we crossed to halfway, felt the swing (actually pretty swingy!) and walked back. Had lunch after 60km – the downhill was definitely speeding it up!

We cycled through Brooklyn where apparently there was a food stop – not to be seen – so carried on to Motueka. We were glad to arrive. The site seemed quiet (and $$$ due to weekend rates) until a couple of campervans showed up with a loud group of English girls and French lads. Hmm.

We went out for a cheeky Turkish Kebab to celebrate getting here. Finally – some tasty food as promised!!

By Liz

24th – 25th March (101km cycled)

Beautiful weather the first day of the cycle up to Punakaiki. The coastal road was undulating. Some steep hills, and after a lot of cycling big distances we were pretty tired!

We had lunch on the beach, watching a family of fishermen for a little while. We then noticed there were dolphins riding the waves a little further out! Amazing.

We slowly made our way over the hills, love hills. Arrived in Punakaiki and got settled at the holiday park. Again we went to the beach and had a swim. We watched the sunset. Gorgeous. Could really get used to this!

The next day was forecast rain, so we were up and at ’em early to see the pancake rocks. There was a short track leading through to the blowholes and the strange rock formations. Was pretty cool.

The rain never happened but my goodness it was muggy. The feeling in our legs was of fatigue. We made our way to Westport but slowly does it.

Over perpendicular point was ok, then the next hill was twice as big and as long, and just kept going and going! We had lunch in Charleston. Not much going on there, there was an underwater activity centre though.. we are our wraps, had our customary ginger beer and continued.

Made it to the most northerly town we would be visiting on the west coast! The town of Westport:) it has a New World!

Rest day full of blogging tomorrow, staying dry from the storms.

By Liz

21st – 23rd March (234km total)

The Pedallers’ Paridise suggested the following route for the next stage:

Instead of 174km to Greymouth and a flat second day, we chose to do the West Coast Wilderness Trail.

On the first day we cycled from Franz Josef to Pukekura. I found it tough.. it was a long day in the saddle and there were a lot of hills towards the end of the day. We broke it up into 29km/30km/25km chunks, with big Mt Hercules in the middle.

Our first stop was in Whataroa. We had overtaken a German tourer (who’s name we later found out was Matt) on the way out of Franz, and cheerily said hello as we passed. He then caught up with us whilst we were having our coffee and we got chatting. We ended up eating lunch there too because we were so long! We said we’d meet him in the next town, Harihari.

Harihari is where the first solo pilot from Australia, Guy Menzies, crash landed after an 11 hour haul where he had to hand pump fuel into the engine. scary stuff. There was a little park area with a bench and a coffee shop, so we were set to wait for Matt to show up.

The last chunk of the journey was hard work, I should have eaten more maybe. But we got to the little campsite and saw that there were double rooms available for $45! Errr hello. Yes please. Stayed in a bed for the night. Amazing. Matt rolled in soon after us and all together with another German, another British couple and a couple in a van, we all sat in the kitchen chatting all night. Was very merry.

The campsite only had rainwater supply, and there were many signs to ask you to conserve water. The rains had not been great this summer, and for an area that usually gets 5m of rainfall a year, they were concerned they would run out! One sign in particular made me smile:

If it’s yellow, let it mellow

If it’s brown, flush it down.

Words to live by.

We had been wondering about doing the wilderness trail the next day. It would add a solid 100km to our journey but both of us were tired of the road. We decided to do it until Hokitika, and if it was hard going, we could rejoin the road.

Did we do that? No, of course not. We did the whole enchilada.

We packed up from the cabin bedroom, such a good night’s sleep, and when putting the bags on the bike discovered I had a flat! Uh oh. First one. In 1500km that wasn’t bad! We had been lugging three spare inners around with us, so it was good to use one!

We set off an hour after Matt, and were pretty sure that we wouldn’t be seeing him any time soon. He had mentioned something about glow worms at Hokitika, and staying there. We were either going to stay at the lake along the trail, or punt all the way to Greymouth.

We started the wilderness trail. It took us down a rail line, along a shingle path. Very flat and easy going, then through the bush! Narrow pathways were tricky, and the boardwalk over swamps was fun. Gladly no one else was coming the other way!

Then Andy met a big pig called Dude. We met his owner, a man with a bike and trailer, he lived in the woods. And Dude was a Maori pig. Hmm. Okay!

We had lunch at the Treetop Cafe. An attraction which took you above the tree canopy on elevated walkways. It sounded fun so we gave it a go. The weather didn’t allow us to see the mountains but we got a good understanding of the local Fauna and Flora!

The trail took us onwards to Hokitika! Hokitika means town of return. Apparently. According to couple in van last night.

It was a nice little town, had a good vibe. Also had a New World! Huzzah! So we shopped for dinner and decided that we would go to Lake Kaniere on the trail.

We arrived at the lake, bumped into Matt, of course he was much faster than us on his mountain bike! He had some beers so we quickly set up camp, cooked food and Andy braved a dip in the lake. We joined him until the flies were too much, then bid him a goodnight. Lovely day!

In the tent Andy and I were still not sure about the next day. The distance and climbing would be more to do on the trail than turn back to Hokitika, but in the morning after a restful nights sleep, we were convinced by Matt to go for it!

The first uphill part was fairly easy. We went through grassy meadow that strongly reminded me of LOTR landscape! Then we got to cowboy paradise where you could shoot some guns!!

What a strange place!

We carried on for a while more, the path was really fun, much more than the flat road would have been. Very glad we did it 🙂

When we got to Greymouth the sun was shining. We had rejoined the road at Kumara and it was quite a quick end to the trip. We stayed in the Top 10 (should have got that discount…) and went for a dip in the sea. It was a pretty amazing end to the trail. And we shared it with a new friend. Matt was getting the train over to Christchurch for his return flight the next day, so we were sad to say goodbye.

By Liz

20th March

We had some chores to do this morning, the washing, the shopping etc. We eventually cycled to the car park at the start of the hike to the terminal face of the glacier.

Something we have learnt, New Zelanders pronounce Glacier as Glassier. Very strange. Thought we were going bonkers. Are we in America?!

The track to the car park was sweet, it twisted and turned through the bush, and was very picturesque! We got to the start of the hike along with all the coaches, vans and cars and set off. There were a couple of options. The Glacier walk was an hour and a half round trip and took you to approx 750m from the face. Peter’s point was a 5 hour return hike and you climbed above the tree line of the mountains on the side, to get a proper view. We opted, this time, for the easier option.

Along the track there was a story line of where the glacier had stopped during points of time in history. It was quite sad to note how far back it had retreated, and how quickly. We had our lunch at the ‘finishing point’ of the hike, before turning around to go back to the car park and people watched. Was quite fun.

When we returned to the car park we thought we would see Peter’s Pool. The 8 year old who discovered the site, camped at this little pool, and hence the name. I was patiently waiting for the ducks to stop swimming about creating ripples over the water’s surface, when they did stop the reflection was awesome.

Before:

And afterwards:

Next we cycled back into town and went to a kiwi sanctuary. There were 2 kiwis in the enclosure at the time we went, we watched them scurry about foraging for food. It was so dark in there, so no photography allowed. Due to the increased number of four legged creatures (namely all of the road kill we had seen on our rides; stouts, weasels, rats, cats) kiwis are in decline and becoming endangered. The sanctuary rescues eggs and allows them to hatch in safety. They then keep them in the sanctuary enclosure until they are 4-6months old and then set them free in the reserve which is protected. It’s pretty incredible work. I really enjoyed the atmosphere in the place.

Next on the list was to visit the hot pools. There were 3 pools of different temperatures; coolest at 36 degrees, going up to 40 degrees. Delicious! Haven’t had a bath in ages.. good chance to get a good soak on ha.

The heat became rather intense after an hour or so, we went for a burger in town and then cycled back. Very enjoyable rest day!

By Liz

16th – 19th March (287km cycled) (Happy birthday Sis!)

This was the next stage in the book that we took 4 days to do:

It rained all evening and all night so we set off rather damp around the edges. The first leg of the journey would take us just past Makarora to Cameron Flats.

It was another beautiful road nestled between mountains and lakes.

Each view point seemed to be at the top of a very steep climb. We stopped at the neck for a quick bite for lunch and it was quick because the flies were in full force!

We hiked to the blue pools which was only a kilometre from our destination for the evening; a DOC site. Andy thought we might be able to go for a swim… with all the coach loads of people watching?! No thanks.

Our campsite was beckoning and we had our pasta, quickly boiled up some water for tomorrow’s ride, and we were in the tent by 7 to avoid being eaten alive!

Too many sand flies. Beautiful site though.

In the morning I found plenty of bites on my ankles and back of legs, so this is my life til we leave this west coast! Itchy all over!

We set off very early, flies = no faffin about.

In this direction (again, thank you Andy for choosing this route!) Haast pass was easier than the crown summit, but still a kilometre of very steep.

That’s it, now in West Country.

The decent was amazing. I had the Jurassic Park theme tune in my head the whole way down. Waterfalls were dropping next to the road, there was lots of bird song, and the road was switchback steep. I felt for the tourers we met going in the opposite direction!

We stopped at all the outlooks along the way.

Legs were being attacked again by flies. So annoying. PISS OFF FLIES. God.

We got to Haast pretty early in the afternoon, and stocked up at the expensive shop. Lots of other tourers arrived but most going in the opposite direction. The motor camp was ok for the night, Haast town is nothing special. We didn’t mind leaving the next day.

This is the profile for the next section:

Looks ok doesn’t it! Apart from that bit at the end. Oh well. Worry about it when we get to it. We set off early from Haast, again the flies are making us very proactive!

A muesli and yoghurt breakfast set us up right for the hills to Knights Point, where we stopped for a rest. Not for long though because Andy was being pestered!

We cycled through to Lake Paringa’s DOC site for lunch. It was the fastest we have made up the wraps and eaten them! I wouldn’t have wanted to stay the night here, and we were going to but an American guy had mentioned there were cheap cabins further along. Sand fly free. Yes please. Stopped for a scenic snack in Bruce Bay.

Then got to Jacobs River for a night in a cabin (suspiciously no sheets on the bed, only a comforter… used our own sleeping bags) for $60. Came with it’s own sheep and cow though..

Next day we were aiming to get to Franz Josef Glacier.

It was a hilly day. Up and down. Up and down. To Fox was not too bad. We had lunch there, and quite a long break. The last few days were catching up with us.

The fog was finally lifting so we could see the southern Alps we had been cycling alongside for the last week!

We said hello to our old friend Mt Cook! Hello from the other side!

Managed to find a lunch spot in amongst the car parks in Fox Glacier, less flies here due to the concrete. Hurrah!

The sunshine came out for us! Finally!

Made it up all the hills to Franz and stayed out of town in a top 10. Our favourite luxury. When we showed up we were almost tempted into buying the membership, but resisted, again. $49 gets you 10% off on all holiday parks. Perhaps we were silly not doing so, but it would mean we would have to stay in Top 10s about 12 times to make our money back. And this was the third. Half way through the trip.. not sure.

The lady on reception told Andy he stank so on that note, we showered and washed all our clothes. We went into town for a pricey pint, and to our favourite four square to buy the ingredients for a stir fry. Was very tasty.

Still a bit itchy..! Rest tomorrow.

By Liz

15th March (Rest Day)

It was a freezing cold night, so we slept in a while, waiting for the temperatures to rise above 10 degrees Celsius! Eventually though, we did get up. The hot tub offered at $10 for 30mins was too tempting. So it was settled – a day off for our legs to recover! We went to the lake afterwards. Beautiful.

We wandered about in Wanaka, it was a very relaxed town. We stumbled upon some community engagement where the city council were testing a fully pedestrianised centre, to reconnect the town with the lake. Loved it. Didn’t see a lighting master plan though. Was tempted to go ask about it..

Ahhh. Fond memories of spending a few weekends and evenings on community engagement. At this point I actually missed work.

On we went to a bike shop, bought some essentials for keeping the chains from rusting. And to MacPac for a new pair of trousers that zip off to become shorts. So handy!!

Along the lake front was a millennium walkway with a tiled timeline of events. It was quite fun to read all 2000 years of significant events.

This was the day when there was a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch. The news was very distressing. The campsite full of travellers was quiet. Everyone seemed to be in mourning. What a horrific event.

By Liz

14th March (77km cycled)

These next sections of the trip shall be known as summits, sand flies, and steep roads. We wanted to get up the coast fast, to get away from the flies that bit, to Abel Tasman where we were going to swap bikes for kayaks for a few days.

Andy has been amazing at planning out the route that so far had not really involved any climbing. He has been using the book Pedallers’ Paradise by Nigel Rushton.

We have been using it as a touring bible for the past month. But now we were going into the Westland, over the southern Alps, where signal was patchy, and hills abundant. The daily climbing and distances would have to increase if we wanted to reach Abel Tasman by the end of March. The book breaks down the 1000 odd kilometre distance into bite size chunks. So we worked with these and followed them to the letter.

From Queenstown we went to Wanaka. The profile for the day was this rather daunting prospect:

As the book says.. through to Arrowtown was lovely. We stopped there for a break. Many people we had met had said Arrowtown was much nicer than Queenstown but for me it was another tourist trap, a high street of shops offering all the jade and merino wool goods you could need. There was a cute coffee bar / pub where we stopped and it was enough to spend half an hour there.

A banana and a coffee is all I need to get up the Crown – apparently! We set off slowly up the switchbacks. They were steep, and there were 7 in total. It was hard work. We stopped for lunch where it levelled off, trying to get out of the wind behind some hay bales in a farm, and ate our new flavour of the month, tuna wraps. Unfortunately we bought tins but didn’t have a tin opener!! Duh. The prospect of having a crisp wrap was a bit depressing… so Andy, ever resourceful, got the knife out, and a cup, and a short 15 minutes later he had hammered his way through the tin to the juicy tuna!

We continued with the climb. I am glad it was cold, I don’t think I could have done it in the heat. We made it, but my goodness. At the very top we recorded 25% gradients. Yowchee!!

The decent was cold! I put on my buff (first time of wearing) and we stopped not too long after at the Cardrona hotel for a ginger beer by a warm fire! Mmmm didn’t want to leave.

A speedy 24km later we had arrived in Wanaka. It seemed peaceful and the holiday park was lovely. Big area for cooking and chilling out. We met up with the Spanish couple Judy and Cesar (from Oamaru) and swapped stories.

Tomorrow, should we have a rest day or crack on to Haast?! Decisions decisions!

By Liz

13th March

Queenstown rams excitement and adrenaline pumped activities down your throat the moment you arrive. All of the billboards are screaming ‘give me a go!’ And it all seems a bit too technicolour and too crazy and too expensive for us to embrace, so we ignored it, and went on a hike instead.

Day off the bike, casual 1000m elevation climb, Mount Ben Lomond conquered! And it was all by accident.

Initially we only intended to do the Luge. This is a race car ride in go carts down the mountain side. You get a ride on the skyline gondola up the side of the mountain and 5 rides on the luge for $60! Whatta bargain. We had a merry time racing, so much so we got a lady’s ticket for an extra go at the bottom because we had been whooping so loudly!

After all the excitement we had looked up some short walks and to get to the saddle of Mt Ben Lomond was only an hour and a half return walk, so – easy, let’s do it.

The track was as you might expect, largely uphill. And getting muddy by the intermittent rainfall. But when we reached the saddle the summit didn’t seem that far, so onwards and upwards! We had stopped at the bench for some nuts with another guy, he was in trainers and said it wasn’t so bad. ‘A little rocky where you have to scramble but it’s only short’. I should always disbelieve people when they say it’s not so bad.. the scramble over the rocks was steep, but yes, short. I had a panic but Andy, my solid rock, was there to coax me up!

The cloud came in for the descent but I had found a stick. So the way down became easy.

Our knees were quite tender after that epic climb. Am so happy I made it to the top though! My own personal sky dive triumph. Free, as well.