By Liz

12th March (happy birthday mum!)

We understood now how diverse this country could be, crossing from the lakes to the wild jungle of the Fiordland. It was magical. And of course, bugs everywhere!

Our first posh coach from Queenstown to Manapouri:

The boat that took us to the power station. It was stunning weather.

We arrived at the power station, and got onto another coach to drive over Wilmot Pass. The driver was quirky, and told us all about the hydraulic power station that had been put in. 10m diameter tunnel was bored through the mountain to funnel water. Incredible really.

We all were told there was a view. The mist and clouds prevented that though, didn’t stop us from looking!

We were told to wait on the ‘fully air conditioned’ platform for our boat that would take us on the Sound.

It was windy!

This was our tour guide, he was amazing. He had a good sense of humour too! We managed to spot some dolphins in a bay, and saw seals on the island closest to the Tasman Sea.

There was a moment when the captain turned off the engine and we came to a stop. The bird noises above the pressing silence was all you could hear. The outside world just disappeared. Utter calm.

It was an incredible day.

By Liz

11th March (60km cycled)

After a noisy night at the chalets holiday park (never again) we were quick to pack up and leave for New World to restock.

The road from Cromwell to Queenstown was always going to be busy but my goodness, clearly there was a reason for the traffic, the scenery was incredible. We followed the road next to the Kawarau River through the Gorge. It was undulating and tiring on the legs but time flew with these views.

We stopped for lunch at Kingston and got shouted at for having our own food. We did buy a ginger beer, but fine. We will eat our tuna wraps off the premises.

Andy leaping the barb after having a cheeky roadside wee 😉

We were a bit shattered through the township of Frankton, the hills were slow going and I was happy when we stopped at a pub in Queenstown for a drink. I noticed my legs are now a rainbow of tan shades. The joys of cycling.

Queenstown seemed a busy place. After going from village to village where the most excitement was the local supermarket – this was going to be a culture shock.

The campsite holiday park in Queenstown is at the top of the hill near the gondola. We paid our $55 a night; the most we have paid for a tent site so far, and got directed to the smallest patch of land ever. Our tent just about fit. We realised that the pitches used to be bigger, normal size, but then with the increased popularity the owners split the pitches in half. Yikes. We were squashed between two vans. Not pleasant!

Huge dining area, but limited tent spaces, hmm! Look at all those vans squished in.

After setting up we went to Four Square for pizza and beer and settled in for the evening.

By Liz

7th – 10th March (202km total, 152km off road)

LEG 1 – DUNEDIN TO PUKERANGI TO MIDDLEMARCH

We finished our Dunedin visit with a trip to the butterfly farm, where Andy held a spiky caterpillar, and the planetarium, to learn about the Southern Hemisphere Stars. We have been looking at these stars and they seem a bit, upside down.. 🙂 in some of the DOC campsites, where there is very little ambient light, wow – it’s amazing what you can see! Both shows took place at the Otago Museum – there were some free exhibits too.

The bikes came back to us after being in the shop overnight, we invested in some new grips to give ourselves more varied/comfortable positions on the bike! They felt smoother – just in time for the second off-road trail.

We were getting the Taieri Gorge train through to Pukerangi to start the Central Otago Rail Trail. The train journey is famed for being very picturesque. The cars were traditional with the flip seats (which we learnt all about in Pleasant Point!), and the commentary was witty and insightful.

The weather was a bit grey, but we were impressed with the Gorge and went through 11 tunnels!

Being outside in the tunnels was loud, but fun.

When we arrived in Pukerangi it began to rain. Whilst loading our bikes a few people came up to us and let us know that it was in fact raining, (yes – we can see that) and that it was quite windy on the tops, (‘so make sure you wear warm clothing’ – yes yes – will do). The people on the train looked on sympathetically as it departed the station, and after filling out bottles from a tank of water labelled ‘not potable’ – We set off to Middlemarch.

I was expecting worse, but the gravel track wettened by the rain was quite sticky, so not too bad under tyre, and then we were on the sealed main road a short 10km later. It was definitely hammering it down by this point and when we arrived at the holiday park in Middlemarch the lady on reception obviously felt so sorry for our drowned rat impressions she offered us a cabin. At double the cost of a tent pitch we couldn’t say yes. Dunedin and Oamaru had made us soft, and we needed to get back to sleeping rough.

We cooked our packet pasta in the train (novel style kitchen area) and met a man from bloody Wellesbourne (the village next to the village my parents live in). You travel to the opposite side of the world, the furthest you could possibly go, and you meet a man from down the bloody road. He was very lovely. We had a good chat, he had been to NZ before, and loved it. Retired (of course, we apparently only make friends with retired people, not a bad thing but where are all the other young tourers?!) and had driven around the South Island for about 7 weeks. That’s the life eh.

We dried off in the TV lounge, and hoped the rain would ease off by morning.

LEG 2 – MIDDLEMARCH TO WAIPIATA

After a breakfast of cereal (we are now on honey nut crunch – not as good as Frosties IMO) we set off, via the local cafe to get a coffee and some bread, and to the local shop to raid them of all their fruit and ham.

We got phots at the start sign and we were off!

As this trail was following a railway line we knew that the gradient would be fairly gradual. The profile of the 152km track was steady uphill for the first half and steady downhill for the second. Easy.

As we set off it really felt that way, the sun was shining, the track was a bit wet and muddy, but smoother than others so we had a very relaxed ride. We saw lots of others coming in the opposite direction and after 50 odd had cycled past, ‘hi’ sounded wrong in my head.

We stopped at Hyde for lunch, there was a self serve shop with an honesty box. Bought some ginger ales and chatted to others who had cycled the trail.

We could have bought a stamp book and stamped it off at each station but what would we do with the book afterwards!? Carry it around for the next 2000km?

We went through a tunnel (and a few more the next day); very eerie because my torch really isn’t bright enough, what with the contrast of the sun so I have to follow Andy and all I can see is his silhouette, and not a lot else. The tunnels are narrow and rocky, they were hand made in the gold rush era, so they are only as big as the trains. If you wobble about too much then you might crash, so this took concentration! Luckily the longest tunnel was about 300m – so not too bad.

Another fun thing about the rail trail is that they have placed the planets of our solar system at a scale of one to one hundred million along the route! Very cool. We marvelled at how far away planets were from each other, and then you start thinking about the whole Milky Way and the numbers get too big to comprehend.

We stopped at Waipiata, and got cozy with some sheep for the night.

LEG 3 – WAIPIATA TO OMAKAU

The middle leg of our journey would take us over the high point. It was a little less smooth today. The trail had rocky sections. The gradient was still very gradual so it was not too bad. There were 2 tunnels and lots of bridges. Usually the slats were perpendicular to travel so very bumpy.

We set off early because the ranger had complained we were in the wrong spot last night, so we were anxious to get on our way incase he came back!

We got to Ranfurly and apparently this is the centre of everywhere, because that is where the sun was!! We bought supplies and then cycled past all the planets. We chanted the saying – My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets. Pluto was still a planet when this was constructed..

High point shortly after and I liked the sign, though I didn’t believe it for a second.

Utter tosh.

The next section was (to be fair) pretty downhill but rocky. The scenery had changed again. And we went past lots of planets.

The campsite in Omakau was good, there were the most tourers we had stayed with! We all congregated in the kitchen and had fun exchanging stories.

LEG 4 – OMAKAU TO CROMWELL

We didn’t have any breakfast and Omakau’s Four Square didn’t really have any good options. We cycled the first stage (uphill rocky track.. unimpressed) to Chatto Creek and had poached eggs and bacon on ciabatta- oooh yumm! Much better plan!

Then it was a much faster ride through to Alexandra. There was a brewery with our name on it. We stopped at Ferris Road for a half.

We saw Pluto:

And then we had finished!

But we weren’t done. We were continuing to Cromwell on our way to Queenstown.

There was a steep hill out of Clyde, which we were not sure about – we had not done many hills since A2O so we were nervous. This helped me get up the hill though, I conserved energy and made it 🙂

Beautiful scenery of Lake Dunstan. We stopped at a few rest points but quickly punted through to Cromwell. The campsite and a hot shower were calling. We had a choice when we arrived; to camp at a holiday park or save money at ‘chalets’.

We opted to save money, we were on our way to Queenstown after all. Instant regret! I felt something was off when we were waiting for the office manager to show up, and I tried to find the bathrooms. I walked through a lot of cabin areas, not many vans and no tents. What was this place. We soon found out that we were staying where all the fruit pickers lived during the season. Apparently the activity draws a lot of people over (some 500+) and they all stay in the cabins. We were given our tent spot, near the kitchens (which looked a bit bare bones). Quickly we put up the tent, showered in some very aggressive water pressure, and walked into town.

There wasn’t much there. The centre was full of closed shops, but there was a fountain!

But there was a beautiful sunset.

We went for a Turkish kebab – yum -and then back to our odd campsite.

By Liz

5th – 6th March (rest days)

As this was the largest city (ahhh if you could call it that) / place we had been to since Christchurch – we decided to be cultural and learn everything we could about Dunedin. We went to all of the museums Dunedin has to offer, and here are my top facts about it:

• Dunedin is a Gaelic word for Edinburgh, the Scottish settled here when the gold rush hit.
• There is a strong British feel from the architecture (red brick terraces, railway station, windy streets, the botanical gardens) and maintaining the heritage of the city seems very important. They have kept everything.
• The city has branding in gothic lettering.
• There is graffiti art hidden on buildings throughout the city
• Dunedin has a permanent population of about double the size of my home town Leamington Spa. But it has the Otago University campus which encourages a lively student life.
• It has a confusing bike lane system, often switching sides of the road.
• It has an octagon in the centre, which is where all the bars are. And happy hours.

We treated ourselves and stayed in a hostel, Geeky Geckos. A rant about the hostel: I don’t recommend it. The people who work there are backpackers therefore they get to live there for free in exchange for 14hrs a week of cleaning/reception etc. This type of work is popular around the cities, we noticed a few in Dunedin offering this, and I didn’t really see a problem with the system til now. Unfortunately it doesn’t work. The residents treat their place of work as their home. They spend all their time there, they are loud, overtake the communal areas, and even if we had wanted to attempt to make a connection, it was hard when we were woken up at 3am by 2 of the girls we know worked there. It was deeply annoying. If we wanted to be disturbed we have a tent with no solid walls for that shit.

The bed was ok though. And that was really the only reason for staying there. It also was in prime location for walking into the centre, which we did as we sent our bikes to the shop for a chain clean, break bleed and gear index (look at me and my bike lingo ehh).

One big achievement of our stay was Andy, cycling up Baldwin Street. The steepest residential street in the world, or so it claims! Hats off to him, it looked horrendous.

I walked up, it was pretty epic!

By Liz

4th March (43km cycled)

After a refreshing lie in (in a proper bed… ohhh the luxury) we left the hostel at about 10am. We had to get out of Oamaru first.. Oamaru is on a peninsula a bit like Christchurch and it has some hills. I wasn’t warmed up and clearly lost my stamina after a day off so I am embarrassed to say I did not get the whole way up. Andy did. His legs are fine apparently. Cmon legs, wake up!

We took the beach road out of Oamaru, it was beautiful and avoided the SH1 road.

It was all too lovely to last long. We soon joined the SH1. It was busy with freight that wooshed past us, causing us to catch our breath. We stopped at the boulders in Moeraki to think about the situation. Neither of us were having fun. If you’re not having fun.. what’s the point. We made the big decision to not carry on all the way to Dunedin by bike, we would get a bus. We looked online and there were 2 a day, so we booked onto the midday intercity coach for the following day. Phew. That meant we were staying in Moeraki for the night.

People we met had said – go for food at Fleur’s in Moeraki – it’s amazing. When we checked the opening hours, of course, Fleur’s was closed the days we would be there. Just our luck!! This probably saved us money.. we were after all cheating with the coach and spending more than we thought we would..

We went back onto the highway for a little while and cycled the hills into Moeraki. We set up camp at the holiday park campsite, and went for a wander.

We decided there wasn’t much to do in Moeraki, and there was no way we were cycling back to the town Hampden up all those hills for supplies, so we went to the tavern for fish and chips and watched the sun set.

Delightful.

The next morning we woke up early, unusually early, and took some photos on the beach.

By Liz

2nd – 3rd March (rest day)

We happened to arrive into Oamaru at the same time as the second German couple of Geraldine. We shared stories of our last 10 days; they had gone to the coast when we left them, then had done part of the alps to ocean, in reverse, then part of the Otago central rail trail.. they had done many more miles than us!

We stayed our first night at the beach front campsite, which proudly boasted a resident penguin and its chick! Due to popularity there were no tent sites available but we could share a caravan site with the Germans. A bit of a squeeze!

We went for a congratulatory pizza, wings and chips at the local brewery, Scott’s, and met other campers who had also just completed the A2O trail. It was a very merry evening.

Later on we watched the mummy and daddy penguins cross over the road, from the beach to the campsite to be rejoined with their chick. We saw them but it wasn’t til around 10pm that they eventually crossed the road. They were such funny little guys. So cute. When they got to the entrance of the campsite, the daddy penguin went off in a different direction, head down and flat out running to get under cover as fast as possible. The mummy went to the kitchen area where the nest was. The lady who owned the site said that she would wait out for them every night, to make sure they crossed safe and sound!

The next day we packed up the tent and set off to our hostel. We chatted to the other tourers, got advice from them, and gave a Spanish couple some assurance about A2O. They had mountain bikes. Anyone with big tyres we just say – you’ll be fine.

Oamaru is a quaint harbour town. It has a strong Victorian history and this is evident in the architecture of the buildings.

The morning was spent wandering around, it was a Sunday so the bike shop was shut unfortunately. Desperately needed a bit of TLC! We went to the steampunk headquarters which was very cool.

Inside there were lots of curiosities of steam powered engines that were said to have gone to space, and the stories behind the artefacts. It was really well presented. I enjoyed all the fact signs:

It was fun. And there was a light portal which I really enjoyed.

Dotted around the exhibit were animals made out of steam engine parts:

After getting knowledgable on all steampunk stuff we wandered down the historical precinct. It was full of galleries and boutique cafes. You could even dress up like a Victorian and get your photo taken! Unsurprisingly there wasn’t a line out of the door.

Later we checked into our hostel and befriended some retired Australian tourers who had been on the road for 11 months!! They were just finishing up a world trip. Absolutely amazing.

We liked Oamaru. Very sweet place!

By Liz

25th February – 2nd March (325km total)

Noting that we are cycling hybrid tourer bikes, with about 20kg on the back, no suspension and slightly too thin tyres; this week was challenging and I did want to pack it all in a number of times. We did make it, spoiler alert, but if we did it again, I would change the following:

• Ride it on a mountain bike
• Carry minimal luggage
• Stay in cabins and hotels

The trail was established in 2014, so relatively new, but thousands ride it each year. You can see the full trail info here: https://www.alps2ocean.com/ we didn’t do the legs as they are prescribed, we did the 8 stages in 6 days but often people do it in 5 (with no luggage and mountain bikes etc).

Here is my review (as a complete mountain biker novice, only just about got used to roads with the back weight). It’s a bit of a thesis, and day 3 was a rollercoaster of emotion for me!

LEG 1 – GLENTANNER TO PUKAKI TURN OFF

We set off early to the helicopter airport at Mt Cook. The clouds had almost cleared, and it was crisp as we cycled the road from Glentanner.

We arrived a bit early but thank goodness we did because no sooner had I started to call mum, we were ushered indoors to receive a safety briefing and weigh in. There were 4 of us and the pilot in the helicopter, and I (being the lightest) was told I would be sat up front! The excitement!! The bikes were hoisted up over the river bed in a precarious looking crate, surely they will just fall out?! Then it was our turn.

Helicopters are such an awesome experience: the ride was only about 20 minutes, but worth every cent of the $135 (each) it cost! The pilot swooped and dived over a canyon and showed us some impressive skills.

We landed and after putting on the bags, we set off along a very rocky path. It was slow going. The mountains on either side of us were amazing. After about half an hour, the novelty of cycling over rocks the size of my fist was starting to ebb away. We then got to a wet bit… I was following Andy and watched him cycle through quite a deep ford. His feet and bottom half of his panniers were submerged. I was worried. I stopped. Prepared myself – and went a totally different way and fell in. Well done Liz.

I backtracked and followed the same path Andy had taken, and then with now wet shoes and bottoms of leggings, we carried on.

We stopped for lunch midway along the gravel road section of the journey. This was not my favourite and unfortunately I did take a tumble, when the weight of my huge yellow behind skidded beneath me. I would learn that the back wheel break was my best friend in these scenarios! No stranger to a fall on the bike, I knew there would be bruising but nothing broken. A couple of alcohol wipes, a good water rinse, and a bandage to cover the graze on my elbow, and off we went.

At the end of the first leg, which was about 27km long, and very slow going on that awful gravel shit, we knew there was a lodge where we might be able to refill our water bottles. On the helicopter, the other 2 people we had travelled with were part of a larger group. There were 3 in total doing the actual cycle but there was a support group who we kept bumping into along the way. They happened to be staying at the lodge, and they offered us a packet of crisps and we chatted about Brexit (of course…) and cycling in general and then off we went to do the next 30km of gravel. The view from their lodge was incredible and they jokingly said we could camp the night next to the lodge, what they didn’t realise was we were close to saying yeah go on then! and it was with heavy legs that we got back on the bikes.

Clearly this photo was before the ‘accident’ – I look way too happy and enthusiastic.

After 3 hours of cycling on gravel, we finally reached the Pukaki Salmon Farms that just a few days earlier we had cycled past. That was the full circumference done, I have now seen Pukaki from every angle and in all weather. No need to come back for a while!

We camped at the DOC site at the Pukaki / Glentanner turn off. The long drop toilets stank, and a couple felt so sorry for us they gave us a Cadbury milk chocolate bar which we chowed down with alacrity!

79km in the first day, nearly 2 stages complete, only one tumble on the hard paths. Not bad at all.

LEG 2 – PUKAKI TURN OFF TO LAKE MIDDLETON

We quickly packed up and went straight to the Salmon shop to get a coffee and some breakfast, with flush toilets. What luxury!

We cycled over the plains to Twizel. Made a change from the road and was an easy pace.

We stocked up food supplies in Twizel at our favourite Four Square, and then headed onward to Lake Ohau. The path joined the road, and it was a quick spin along the canal.

Over the weir and then onto a shingle gravel path along the lake side. The top temperature read 32deg!! It was roasting. But beautiful lakeside views.

The bees were attacking me again when we stopped for me to remove some layers of clothing, so it was with haste that we made it to our free campsite for the evening at lake Middleton. Beside a lake as you might imagine, so lots of mossies and ducks.

LEG 3 – LAKE MIDDLETON TO OMARAMA

The next morning whilst we were getting ready, Andy was away from the tent, and I was happily allowing my duck friends to waddle all over the place. Pecking at things I knew were not food! Surely ducks are pretty harmless..

We brought an orange picnic blanket with us on the trip. Andy was reluctant at first because it was too bulky, but as I predicted, we have used it every day. It is the first thing we get out and the last thing we put away. We unpack onto it, sit on it on the roadsides, and Andy even used it as a pillow… well until today that is. I got it as part of the swag from work, so there is Arup branding stamped all over it. We fondly refer to it as ‘Ove Orange’. Sadly, Ove Orange got pooped on by the ducks. And thus he would never again be used as a pillow.

After scrubbing the blanket off and packing up we set off to Ohau Lodge which was the official end of Leg 3 of the trail. The wind and rain started almost instantly and it became apparent that this was an issue. It did produce the most amazing rainbow though, which I hastily captured on my phone before being blustered back onto the road.

It took an hour to go 7km. When we arrived at the fancy lodge drenched, we were welcomed in to have hot beverages. We ordered our flat whites, and created little wet patches on the sofas. We decided to wait out the weather and attempt Leg 4 in the afternoon, when apparently it would clear. We dried off and had a big platter of food. It was all locally sourced and delicious. $36 for a healthy lunch isn’t bad!

We met others who were also hoping to get over to Omarama (pronounced Oh-marama as in ohhh that’s how it’s said – took us a week..) and they seemed up for the challenge. The profile was up 600m and then back down again. Hmm!

The trail literature told us the first 6km was an easy gradient uphill, steeper for the next 7km until the high point which had 3 false summits. Everything we had read also said it was ‘not too bad’. They were all on mountain bikes though. This might have put us off but we set off and found (surprise surprise) the first 6km was not really that easy, it was rocky and steep in places. I think Andy recorded 11% a few times. The rocks and the weight were not playing nicely either.. concentration was required to keep the front wheel steady.

After what seemed like 20km we made it to the first checkpoint. Now for the climb. I found it tough. After 2km of struggle I was so fed up I decided I would be about the same speed if I got off and walked! So for the last 5km that is what I did. My arm was aching a little from Monday’s fall.

We reached the summit finally. The views all the way up were incredible.

Andy took better photos than me as he was at the top longer. I was a touch moody because of the pushing.. and I was not looking forward to the descent at all. From the look of it, it was tight switchbacks on the same rocky path. Ugh.

The steep part did not last too long. Afterwards it was a dirt track across a field but there were large stones to be avoided. My arm was now in agony – and this lead to the second strop on the side of a road. The issue was that I hadn’t eaten since lunch some 2 hours before, so OF COURSE I was grouchy. Lesson to all, a hungry Liz is a bitch.

After eating and having a paracetamol I was good to go again. Just a swift 9km on another fucking gravel path to deal with (cue singing at the top of my lungs to keep the fear of falling off again away – Andy thought I was raving mad, but did say it was better than the sobbing), and then it was a blissful 10km or so on smooth lovely sealed road. Downhill. What a dream.

We arrived in Omarama and immediately bumped into helicopter crew. The bastards. They were staying in Omarama but had just done the Twizel to Ohau leg. They spoke of the wind yes, and the almost falling into the weir, yes yes, we had that too, yes, you’ll be fine with your pedal assist and your zero luggage, don’t worry.

Arrived at the holiday park. Felt like we had made it home. We showered and went out for a drink. Four square beckoned for a garlic bread and a pizza and we sat in the TV lounge, pigging out on a bread based meal, watching coronation street because it was the only thing on. What a day.

LEG 4 – OMARAMA TO OTEMETATA

All the literature we had read said that the last leg was quite strenuous, it’s 57km and there are a couple of big climbs. So we planned to do that as our last day, and put 2 legs together tomorrow, meaning that today was a sweet 29km and the easy leg. After yesterday I was happy to stick on the roads for a while.

We spent the morning using the laundry facilities, washing all our clothes. We sat in the sunshine in our swimming cosies and puffer jackets. Height of cool.

The ride was hilly and as the track was adjacent to the road we just did it all on the smooth paved surface. I think Andy realised that if I saw another gravel path I would have left him!

When we arrived in Otematata we had a coffee from a roadside truck. The lady recommended Loch Laird campground as it was the most sheltered. We went to set up camp after first going to check out the local shop (which didn’t sell any fresh produce, the bananas were black and the broccoli was brown..) and pub (to buy a six pack of a delicious pale ale) for supplies. We spotted a play park and Andy had a go on the children’s zip wire:

Fail!

We went to the campsite – a desolate park with lots of caravans but no one inside. What an odd place.

This suited us though. Music turned up, beers on the go, pasta for dinner. The ranger popped by and we had put a tenner in the box. He said it should have been $25 but because we were apologetic and said we would pay (the sign was not very clear to be honest!) he let us have the site. Canny do better than that!

LEG 5 – OTEMATATA TO DUNTROON

2 sections completed today. The first leg to Kurow was beautiful. We climbed the hill up to the top of the first dam by our campsite. What a view:

We then circled the lake on a sealed road. Very little traffic. Wonderful. Lots of flies in the shaded areas caused a bit of an uncomfortable moment when fishing out the 8th fly from your eye. But couldn’t complain too much!

We stopped at Kurow for lunch and to pick up supplies, licking 39km off the clock! The next stage to Duntroon followed trails through farmland. There were 3 river crossings, where the path became river bed. Fortunately there hasn’t been much rain so these were dry.

Just outside of Kurow there were signs along the trail: Stop! Wine! 300m! So we had to really..

Another attraction along the way were the Maori paintings. I think most of them had been taken to museums, but the limestone outcrops were amazing.

The last photo is of graffiti that was carved in before the district put in the fencing. I took a photo because at the top is the name of Brian Stacey. Brian is global lead for lighting in Arup. Tut tut Brian 😉

We went through the Duntroon wetlands which were lovely. The pathway took us over little bridges and through planting. It was so sweet!

We got to our domain campsite in a cricket field. It had some club showers and a fully stocked kitchen, so we had our food and went to bed early for the final leg.

LEG 6 – DUNTROON TO OAMARU

A lovely ride today along a decent pathway most of the way. Certainly the best kept off road track of the whole trail.

Firstly we went along the road to the elephant rocks, which were situated midway up the first climb.

We then carried on through the clay cliffs. The road was superb.

Then we came off the road through farmland. And the difference between a good path and a bad path was evident!

Guess who was walking again..

There was a big climb coming up and it just kept going! We thought we were at the top but it tricked us, and the last part was a 15% whopper. At the top the landscape was rolling green hills all the way to the sea! Finally – we could see our destination.

We followed the gravel road downhill (by this point I was pro on a gravel path) all the way to Weston where we treated ourselves with a ginger beer from Four Square.

The rail line from Weston to Oamaru – very flat and easy pathway. One slight hiccup 3km from the finish line: I somehow managed to cycle into a post, jamming my middle left finger between my break and the wood. What an idiot.

But then..

We did it!

Thank goodness for that 🙂 what an amazing trail – what an amazing week!

By Liz

18th – 20th February (114km Total)

This period of time was a decision making period. We knew there was a weather front coming in and potentially rain all of next week. Every time we checked the weather it would be slightly different. It was a tricky one. Choices were – from Geraldine, to take the highway to Timaru and coastline to Oamaru missing out the A2O trail… weather was mixed too but better than the other direction… but would be missing out on one of the best cycle routes in the country. Or we chance it, and go through Fairlie to Tekapo where it might rain, or it might not. Either way was a chance we would get soggy.

We spent the day deciding. We had a lot of jobs to do on the bikes and it was glorious weather, so why not take our time and enjoy!

2 German couples who were also touring (separately) joined us in our little camping area and we all got chatting. Both couples were retired, and had a lot of advice for us! The first couple were at the end of their trip and heading back to Christchurch. The second couple were thinking of doing what we were, but didn’t like the look of rain. We kept looking, kept checking, and after many pros and cons – we decided. We were heading to Tekapo and doing the Alps to Ocean. Rain or Shine.

The next day we cycled to Fairlie. The first 26km were quickly smashed. We stopped in Pleasant Point and found a railway museum. A very sweet elderly man took us on a tour and we got to ride in the model T Ford train car.

We went into some disused old trains, felt like a big kid playing with some of the models! They were so intricate, and all automated! Amazing.

Cycled on to Cave, through Albury, and then the head wind began. It was demoralising and the last 10k were a struggle for me. Emotional rollercoaster. May have thrown down the bike and had a strop on the side of the road. The saddle was giving me grief. Andy pulled me through it, and at the end we had a hotel room stay waiting for us. A coke and a fish and chips later, I was happy again 🙂

The sign in our hotel room was one of many signs we would see in the next few days that were a little bizarre. The mix of friendly but also a bit sarcastic was quite amusing. I don’t think I have ever been in a hotel which couldn’t dispose of rubbish before.

Next day we headed over to Tekapo. After a fantastic night’s sleep in a real bed, we set off. We had a coffee to prepare for a big day of climbing at the most bizarre of petrol station stops: Full of curiosities!

Again the signage at the public toilet made me giggle. No constipation or meditation!

First leg involved going over Burke’s Pass which has a summit of 709m above sea level. The last km was quite a steep climb but it was ok all in all.

We descended the other side and were amazed by the backdrop of mountains on the other side. Now we’re talking!

On we rode to Lake Tekapo and it was a gorgeous sight. Again the glacier water was a brilliant blue and the mountains in the back were just terrific.

We set up camp and went for a swim.

After a getting a nice red lobster colour we went for a walk to see the bridge and the oldest church.

Andy loves a bridge he does:

At the campsite I couldn’t resist noting that money was clearly spent here – in comparison to the other bathrooms where there wasn’t any sink lighting.. unsure about the pink.

Was a beautiful sunset over the lake when we were walking back with our food from Four Square!

we witnessed a moon rise above the mountains, and it was awesome.

My skills are nighttime photography need some work.

Tomorrow to Pukaki.

By Liz

21st – 23rd February (123km total)

From lake Tekapo we cycled the awesome canal route to lake Pukaki. There were only a couple of hikers on the route, and one tourer going in the opposite direction. We had the place eerily to ourselves. The sections of path were paved and a gravel type of road, which required concentration.

The canal was so blue!

The shallow pathway was very defined so we were ok along it, but slow going never the less. Concentration required. In the background you could see the mountains we were hoping to get to over the next few days.

And the weather looked crazy dramatic!

There were a couple of salmon farms along the canal, which we eagerly looked into, along with a bunch of sea gulls.

We were about 11km from Twizel where we knew there was a holiday park and a hot shower, so we cracked on over the road. We had done a part of the Alps to Ocean without even realising. And I was excited for the rest.

We have been playing cards during the evening. Usually we only carry the usual playing deck but on this holiday (and thanks to the 30th birthday celebration weekend at Center Parcs) we now own Monopoly Deal. Andy loves it. And is annoyingly good at it. He cheats.

Twizel is a moderately sized town, pronounced Twyzel, with two Four Squares, a couple of bars, an all you can buy camping bike shop (where we bought new cycle gloves to reduce the feeling of pins and needles after bumping along the gravel) and a pharmacy/post office. We had to have a rest day in Twizel due to the wind, so we hung out with ducks at Lake Ruataniwah.

It was idyllic and the ducks were very friendly!!

The next day, once the wind had subsided we set off to Glentanner. The road was rolling and we had an awesome view, finally, of Mount Cook!

We stopped for lunch at the lavender farm, the lavender wasn’t in bloom but we learnt about the bees that had been following us – apparently they are attracted mostly to blues and purples. What colours do we wear?! The big bumble bees are harmless but very big. Am a little terrified, being honest.

We soon rolled into Glentanner. The campsite was set into a hill with lots of little areas for tents. Very large dining and lounge area that got pretty busy and felt like a school canteen. Supposedly because there’s owt else to do.

We knew it would be raining all day the next day, so we settled in for a day off, before the alps to ocean trail. We met another cycle tourer, who is around our age but doing it solo. Massively impressive. She is also a Brit but is going to cycle home from Singapore… flip me. We exchanged stories, it is inspiring to hear how far others go. Makes us feel like we could do it too.

Very cold here, goes down to 3-4deg at night.. not quite got enough clothing.

The sky was amazing today, reflections of the green lake could be seen up on the cloud.

Helicopter to the start of the Alps to Ocean trail is booked for tomorrow and I am excited to get on our way.

By Liz

17th February – 82km cycled

This morning we tried coco pops with dried milk. Blugh. Not my favourite. There is something about the dairy here – it’s all a bit.. cheesy. I notice it in the magnum classic ice creams too. Hmm.

First thing’s first! Climb back up out of the Gorge. Felt ok, was a long one but manageable. Can it be? Are we getting fitter?

Today’s route takes us along the Scenic Highway 72 all the way to Geraldine. All downhill so with Andy’s 25km/hr speeds, and me keeping up behind in his drift, should be there in no time!

Stopped for lunch and an ice cream in Mayfield.

What a picnic table!!

Carried on for a while longer and stopped for a breather at ‘charring cross’ just outside of Mount Peel. This consisted of 5 or 6 roads intersecting in the middle of nowhere. With only a shed for shade.

The mountain ranges in the background kept us entertained on a very long straight road.

We made it into Geraldine at about 4pm, averaging close to 20km/hr! I think both of us agreed, even with the downhill, 80km is too much in one day! We had a beer at the pub, and I had grilled fish and chips. Pretty good! Was so sleepy after the day’s exertions I was in bed soon after.