Category: Biking

Day 46 | Alexandra to Miller’s Flat

Posted on by oldman

Roxburgh Gorge & Clutha Gold Trails

Date: 15 March 2024
Grade: 2, 3

These trails are among my favourite great rides in New Zealand – thank you John K. The Roxburgh Gorge is accessible only via the trail, and for the middle 12 km, only by jet boat. We did the trail from each end last time, so the boat trip was a first, and it is definitely worth doing. Laurence, our driver, zig-zagged down the river showing us old gold workings and miners’ shelters – overhanging rocks with stacked-up schist walls and stone beds. Many more of these troglodyte dwellings are sadly now under water, thanks to the dam downriver.

With fresh snow on the hills above us and a freezing headwind in our faces, the thought of spending winter here chasing a hopeful fortune did not appeal.

Back on our wheels at Shingle Creek; a few nice switchback climbs and drops to finish this trail, then we crossed the Roxburgh Dam to the start of the Clutha Gold Trail, which has a much gentler mood.

We stopped at Cafe 103 in Roxburgh for an Allpress coffee and lunch, thereby avoiding a couple of showers, then carried on down the river another 20 km to a very well equipped ‘basic’ cabin at the excellent Miller’s Flat Holiday Park.

Supplies: Roxburgh

Accommodation: Miller’s Flat Holiday Park

These videos are best viewed on a computer screen. Turning your phone sideways helps.


Total distance: 77.06 km
Max elevation: 249 m
Min elevation: 71 m
Total climbing: 1084 m
Total descent: -1235 m
Total time: 07:35:33
Download file: day46.gpx

Battery use: 93% | 580Wh My back tyre had been softening and was much flatter than I thought, creating quite a lot of drag.


 

Day 45 | Cromwell to Alexandra

Posted on by oldman

The Dunstan Trail

Date: 12 March 2024
Grade 2,3

After a brief pilgrimage to Cromwell’s industrial area to pick up a couple of Sanga’s Pies, at Bannockburn we rejoined the Dunstan Trail, which we did last year in brilliant sunshine. Today it was lightly overcast so we didn’t linger, although it would be a crime not to stop frequently to appreciate the raw, brutal, and beautiful landscape close up. It’s certainly popular – there were about 15 bikes parked at Carrick Vineyard when we stopped for an excellent coffee with the best view ever, and Sounds2Sounds riders were going the other way on their seriously impressive ride.

It’s a great trail with a good surface – mostly grade 2 with just enough grade 3 (narrow blind corners around bluffs with nasty drops on the outside) to give a real sense of adventure. SH8, just across the water, was very busy, ha ha.

At Cold Stew Flat we just had to stop and eat our now cool Holy Smoke (steak and smoked cheese) pies and the judges decision is final. Sangas and Clocktower Cafe are equal first in all New Zealand and in a league of their own – we’ve tried them all.

We’re having a last couple of lay-days at Mark and Libby’s beautiful house near Alexandra, with fab views of the starkly clear but distant ranges (stop me if I’m going on too much about the light down here).

Supplies: No problems. Cromwell, Clyde and Alexander have everything.

These videos are best viewed on a computer screen. Turning your phone sideways helps.


Total distance: 52.2 km
Max elevation: 332 m
Min elevation: 147 m
Total climbing: 916 m
Total descent: -900 m
Total time: 05:16:21
Download file: day45.gpx

Battery use: 71% | 445Wh


 

Day 44 | Hawea to Cromwell

Posted on by oldman

Otago light

Date: 11 March 2024
Grade: 3/4

From Hawea we broke away from the Tour Aotearoa route to follow the Clutha for a while, and to visit friends near Alexandra.

The Hawea River track was our first off-road biking since Ross – 400 km of SH6 with mostly light and considerate traffic.  We let some air out of the tyres for extra grip, softened the suspension and had a 20 km blast on the well-maintained single and double track.

We stopped at the Pembroke Patisserie, Albert Town, for the World’s Best pastry and damn fine Allpress coffee, then took the Upper Clutha Track down the river. The other option is the Newcastle on the north bank. Both are graded 3/4, but having done them previously, we knew that the Newcastle is a bit too sporting for loaded bikes.

South of Luggate, we emerged onto SH8, and found it to be a very different beast from SH6. A narrow shoulder and a headwind didn’t help our mood, but the Otago light on the Pisa Range made enduring and dodging the rather rude and rapid traffic worthwhile.

From Pisa Moorings – a surprisingly attractive lakeside development – the Dunstan Trail, smooth gravel, flat, and wide, hugs the shore for the last 18 km to Cromwell. Our AirBnB turned out to be just across the road from our favourite Cromwell fruit store, Webbs, so we went shopping.

Supplies: Cromwell has everything you could need

Accommodation: An Air BnB that I forgot as soon as I left

These videos are best viewed on a computer screen. Turning your phone sideways helps.


Total distance: 73.75 km
Max elevation: 373 m
Min elevation: 196 m
Total climbing: 935 m
Total descent: -1099 m
Total time: 06:04:14
Download file: day44.gpx

Battery use: 88% | 550Wh The bit of MTBing and a headwind in the last stretch took its toll


 

Day 43 – Makarora to Hawea

Posted on by oldman

Hello Otago

Date: 10 March 2024

An easy day today – only 50 km to Hawea, and, to paraphrase the late great John Clarke, with a stiff nor’wester up our date.

Makarora marks a sudden and dramatic change from the West Coast to Otago, where bush-clad valleys give way to clear, high, craggy mountains and lakes are done differently.  Instead of being cosily surrounded by bush, they are opened up to the sky and framed by wide pastures and high ranges. This road follows two of the best.

It’s a bit discombobulating to bike along with the lovely Lake Wanaka on your right for 20 km and then, half a km over ‘The Neck’, you bike another 20 km in the same direction with even lovelier Lake Hawea on your left. It’s a stunning introduction to Otago and is a hint of what is to come.

The Camp – Hawea is right on the lake edge, and one of us had a (very short) swim. The camp is making an effort to be a destination, with a food cart and live music some nights, and luxury glamping options. Our cheap and nicely styled (on the outside) cabin is fine for us though, and we ate our pizza there with the muted music drifting over to us from a decent distance.

Supplies: Hawea Store

Accommodation: The Camp – Hawea

These videos are best viewed on a computer screen. Turning your phone sideways helps.
Check out Day 43 on Relive! https://www.relive.cc/view/v36AGMK87Gv


Total distance: 48.62 km
Max elevation: 451 m
Min elevation: 285 m
Total climbing: 720 m
Total descent: -682 m
Total time: 03:09:18
Download file: day43.gpx

Battery use: 48% | 310Wh


 

Day 42 | Haast to Makarora

Posted on by oldman

The seventh day of awesome.

Date: 9 March 2024

Just when you think the West Coast has shown you everything, she finds something else to top it off.

We’ve often driven down here over 1 – 3 days, but we’ve just been 100 times more impressed by it at bike pace, without the shell of a car insulating us from the details. The cliffs overhang more, the trees are close, birds fly in front of your face, the cows in the fields answer when we say hello. And people we met 5 days ago reappear and it’s like meeting old friends.

Another day of clear skies, waterfalls cascading down massive cliffs, wonderful river and mountain views and, as a bonus for the ride into the Gates of Haast, a bit of a tailwind.

We sipped the battery power, wary of The Hill ahead, and 40 km in, at that great example of mega scenery, the Confluence of the Landsborough and Haast Rivers, we (one of us – ed.) had used only 15%.

A wee surprise at Pleasant Flat  – I was visited by a Red Admiral butterfly -recently voted New Zealand Bug of the Year. It’s the first I have ever seen, and I won’t need the one blurry photo I managed to get because I’ll never forget the vivid splash of red as it landed and slowly laid its wings flat.

Nearly all the climbing, about 400 m, is done in one brutal 7 km stretch – some of it, at 15% gradient, needing a shot of Turbo.  We consumed about 40% of the battery in this one short section, however, with enough to spare, once over the second rise, the last 18 km into Makarora with a headwind wasn’t a problem.

We had a small room in the ‘stables’ at Makarora’s ‘Wonderland Lodge’ which may have earned the title when it opened but don’t expect too much lodginess now. Jill brought our bikes inside in the middle of the night when she discovered her bag had been ripped by a kea, with some of our breakfast going down the throat of the thieving native beast.

Supplies: Stock up in Haast, or have a meal at the Wonderland restaurant if it’s open, or the country cafe.

Accommodation: Wonderland Lodge

These videos are best viewed on a computer screen. Turning your phone sideways helps.


Total distance: 79.2 km
Max elevation: 572 m
Min elevation: 10 m
Total climbing: 1111 m
Total descent: -800 m
Total time: 06:24:20
Download file: day42.gpx

Battery use: 79% | 495Wh. We worked hard up to the Gates of Haast, 50km and used only 23%, but the 16% grade at the start, and every other paper that was more than 13% had me using turbo. At the top, a climb of 480m, we had 40% and then the wind turned into our face and we kept the power on for the last 18km.