van der merwes blog site

Date: Sunday 10 March 2013
Route: Reefton to Murchison
Distance: 86km plus 4 around town
Weather: mist in morning, very hot in afternoon
Accommodation: Kiwipark motel and holiday park cabin

Our first 30km this morning was in thick mist. I had to take my glasses off as they became too wet to see out of. I was nervous because the visibility was so bad.
Joe caught up with us and we rode together for a few hours which was companionable.

The first 50km of the ride was easy, until we reached the upper Buller River gorge. Here we had lots of up an downs through the gorge beside the river. The river is large and green blue with steep green mountains on either side.

We arrived in Murchison just as it was getting really hot – the heat this afternoon has been almost unbearable. We stayed here a couple of weeks ago on our way down to Springs Junction.

Date: Saturday 9 March 2013
Route: Hokitika to Reefton
Distance: 122km
Weather: hot and sunny
Accommodahtion: Old Nurses Home Backpackers – recommended

Today was the longest ride of the trip. The fact that there were no major hill climbs made it do-able – however I was exhausted at the end of the day.

We stopped at Greymouth outskirts when we saw a church fair. We had scones and bought a date loaf and biscuits. The road followed the Grey River and the main railway line from Greymouth onwards. We passed some historical coal mining works on the river.
We passed through farmland and many small towns.

Our ride was extended by Kris breaking a spoke – this one broke in the spoke nipple, so we had to take the whole tyre off (luckily we had a spare nipple). It took around an hour causing us to be on the road after 3pm – the hottest part of the day.

It became more wooded and hilly just before Reefton. Reefton is a cute little town and our accommodation is in a large, restored nurses home. Shared bathrooms, but with lovely large well equipped lounge and kitchen, leading out to a large garden.

We felt too tired to shop and cook, so we went to the pub in the local hotel that was advertising a “world famous roast” – it was very good. Kris had the large and had to share some with me, as I had a medium roast. We also enjoyed the Speights dark beer. There was a cute bar cat that was so confident he slept stretched out across the bar counter.

We ended up watching the Super 14 rugby again – the Cheetahs (Free State) against Invercargill. The Cheetahs won. We sat beside a party from Wellington who had also been to the Hokitika wild food festival and had a good banter.

We also met Joe from the Chatham Islands and his support part again – they were eating at the same pub.

Date: Friday 8 March 2013
Route: Whataroa to Hokitika
Distance: 105km
Weather: clear
Accommodation: Amberley Bed and Breakfast – recommended

We managed to leave nice and early this morning at 8am, as we had a long ride ahead. A thin blanket mist hung over the ground with the mountains showing clear above.

We had a hill to climb in the first 20km, before Harihari, where we stopped briefly to look at displays about Guy Menzies who undertook the first solo flight across the Tasman from Australia and landed in a swamp near the town, in 1931.

As we approached Lake Ianthe, the farmland gave way to thick rain-forest with some huge trees and many ferns. The second climb of the day was just before Ross. We were interested to see some earthworks just before we got into the Ross township, assuming they were quarying for nearby roadworks. However we were informed in town that this is indeed a gold mining operation!

With only about 25km to go to Hokitika, we stopped at a Ross cafe for coffee and scones. We got talking to the man who runs a small motorcycle museum next to the cafe. He is a real enthusiast and has painstakingly restored several old motorcycles on display. Most of the cycles are Triumphs from the 1960‘s and 70‘s. Also some old Harley Davidsons. The oldest was from the 1920‘s.

The final stretch into Hokitika is totally flat and quite boring. We were lucky to find accommodation here tonight as the Wild Food Festival is on and 12-17 thousand (depending on who you talk to) people have descended into town. The festival itself is tomorrow and you have to pay $35 to get into a big tented area where you can buy strange foods (we are not attending).

We spent some time this evening walking around. There are two different tent cities on each end of town. The streets are closed off and there is a significant Police presence (they have been shipped in from all over the S Island – the one we spoke to was from Blenheim). There are also groups of young people roaming the streets – girls dressed to kill and young idiots driving around in souped up cars.

We ate some excellent steak sandwiches from a street stall plus a selection of other take-aways. We also tried a couple of the bars. It is a glass-free zone for the festival, so they serve you your beer in a plastic glass.

We ended up involved in watching the very exciting Super 14 game between the Hurricanes and the Crusaders. The Hurricanes (Wellington) won by 1 point. Luckily there were some fellow Wellingtonians in the bar (dressed as the Blues Brothers), so we could cheer the Hurricanes on together.

There was also a lovely blues band that started playing during the game. The guitarist had a handlebar mustache and the lead singer was wearing shorts. Kris enjoyed dancing around with the Blues Brothers before beating a retreat.

The last excitement for the night was seeing a youngster (in a leg cast) get arrested by the Police. He was dropping his pants to traffic. Funny, we had just been dancing to brown eyed girl played by the live blues band.

Date: Thursday 7 March 2013
Route: Jacobs River to Whataroa
Distance: 92km
Weather: overcast
Accommodation: White Heron Sanctuary Motel

We set off in a cloud this morning. Dewdrops formed on our glasses as we were riding. The cloud lifted after the first hour. Bright sunbeams lit up the landscape and wisps of cloud hung around the the mountains and brushed against the tops of the tall forest trees.

It remained overcast and nice and cool the whole day. The first part of the ride, up till Fox Glacier had relatively easy up and downs, with us making good time.

Between Fox Glacier and Franz Joseph Glacier we had three long climbs – very exhausting – and two steep downhill runs. We were relieved when we got to Franz Joseph, as this is also where cell phone coverage started once more (after 3 days with no coverage). We phoned to make a booking for tonight, 32km away in Whataroa and then bought our groceries for supper. There was a good Four Square in the town and we were like kids in a candy store after the slim pickings at Haast.

Franz Joseph is a real tourist town, the air above your head buzzes with helicopters going to the glacier, like bees around a honeypot. Most of the businesses are cafes, but a coffee costs more than in central Wellington, so we decided to push on.

The road to Whataroa was a pleasure with gentle ups and downs, passing two lakes and finally running along a river.

Our accommodation here is retro but well equipped cabin. The proprietor was away for the afternoon, but told us the cabin is open, so we could just go in, which we did.
The only other guest here is a young Californian cycling through New Zealand. We had some beer and wedges at the local hotel bar – with a strong local flavour – men wearing short shorts and gumboots at the bar.

Date: Wednesday 6 March 2013
Route: Haast to Jacobs River
Distance: 89km
Weather: overcast with showers, no wind
Accommodation: Pine Grove Motel, 2km from Jacobs River

Our first wet day after two and half weeks of travelling. We waited a bit, and eventually left in a light shower, but it only lasted about half an hour. We dried off, only to drive through a soaking drizzle again at around 11am.

We had some steep hills after the first 20km. It felt like we did the climb around three times. The highest viewpoint was Knights Point Viewpoint, where a few tour buses had stopped.
After this the road was a bit up and down, not too steep.

We rode through impenetrable West Coast forest, full of ferns and vines. We could hear many birds. Mist and clouds shrouded the mountains and the two lakes we passed.

The last 20km of the ride were flat and easy. Part of this was along the very quiet beach at Bruce Bay. The beach has white sand, covered in driftwood. There is nothing much at Jacobs River – just a few buildings and a cute school which was deserted (we found out it closed this year as there were only four children last year).
Our motel was hard to find on the internet – it sits on its own on the motorway about 2 km from Jacobs River. Kris volunteered to set up a Google maps entry. We had to clean the bikes – they were filthy again from riding in the rain. All the while we were battling with aggressive sandflies. We retreated into the motel room which we are maintaining as a sandfly free zone.

Date: Tuesday 5 March 2013
Route: Makarora to Haast
Distance: 80km plus 2km into town to shop
Weather: clear and sunny, strong headwind from midday
Accommodation: Haast Lodge – backpacker accommodation – small rooms but good facilities – recommended for value for money

It was cold when we set out this morning, even though the sun was shining. Must have been because we were up in the mountains. We soon found ourselves riding through beech forests tunnelling the road.

We stopped in the first 10km to look at the Blue Pools – a short walk through the forest, including crossing a swing bridge to get there.

The climb up the actual pass was not too bad – long and steady with a sharp final climb. The downhill on the other side was extremely steep – we had to go slowly and carefully braking the whole way. We stopped at the Fantail Falls near the bottom and the smell of car brakes was overpowering. I was thankful we didn’t have to go up that way!

The rest of the journey was down the Haast river – the river bed is fairly broad and rocky, with steep cliffs on either side, covered in vegetation.

The ride was up and down, not too strenuous. Towards the end the headwind became wearisome. Kris found a monster blackberry hedge at the side of the road and we spent some time eating – they were perfectly ripe and warm from the sun. I could hardly tear Kris away from it.

We passed a number of bicycle tourists again. We met a man from the Chatham Islands again today (first encountered yesterday) who is riding from Bluff to Cape Reinga. He has his family supporting him in a camper van, so he is not carrying any luggage. However we still overtake him every day.

The lodge at Haast has a very pleasant communal lounge and kitchen set up. We went shopping to buy food for supper plus for tomorrow (as there will be no shop available). We felt frustrated at the limitations of the single local shop – high prices plus a lack of fresh vegetables.

Date: Monday 4 March 2013
Route: Wanaka to Makarora
Distance: 78km
Weather: clear and warm, strong headwind from midday
Accommodation: Makarora Tourist Centre Limited

Today’s ride was more hilly than yesterday with lots of ups and downs. We extended the journey a bit by taking a detour around Hawea Flats before we got to the lake. This took us through farmland and the town of Hawea. The road next to Hawea Lake has some wonderful viewing spots, where you look down onto the lake and mountains beyond.

At the end of Lake Hawea the road goes over a high saddle and comes down on the other side to the north western shore of Lake Wanaka again (the same lake we left 50km earlier). Some of the mountains on the other shore of the lake are so high that they still have patches of snow on them. One of the peaks was very sharp and jagged, as if it had been freshly cut out of stone. There were many little streams and one solid waterfall coming down off the mountain, under the road and into the lake.

The road eventually flattened out at the end of the lake and we found ourselves following the Makaroa river. The headwind became strong and difficult at this point. We were glad when we arrived at the tourist centre where we are staying in a cabin.

There is not much at Makaroa apart from a DOC office, restaurant/pub and tourist accommodion. There is also a small airfield where they have a helicopter to take tourists on trips. There are a few tramping tracks that start here. We did some maintenance on the bikes, including Kris replacing his front brake pads.

Date: Sunday 3 March 2013
Route: Alexandra to Wanaka
Distance: 94km to Wanaka, another 7km around town
Weather: perfect- clear and warm, no wind
Accommodation: Wanaka Lakeview Holiday Park

This was a day of cycling next to the water. There was a climb to the dam at Clyde – giving us a good view over the town. Then a long, relatively easy ride next to Lake Dunstan – nice and cool in the shadow of the mountain. At the start the lake is really narrow – with a mountain rising on the other side of the lake. At Cromwell we paused to view the town from above from the opposite side of the lake. We decided to stick to the road that goes around the eastern side of the lake, rather than crossing the bridge here.

It was a gently undulating landscape, following the Clutha river once we left the lake. Farming included vineyards and sheep. There were a few steep hills again just before Wanaka – but all in all a very pleasant and manageable ride.

I got a flat tyre mid-morning – one of my tubes began to leak at a patch – probably due to rough treatment on previous days.

We passed a few groups of touring cyclists – more than on any other day, including on the Otago rail trail (when we saw none). This is obviously a popular place to tour.

We were struck by the festive resort atmosphere in Wanaka – there is a steady stream of tourists around the lakefront, even though it is not high season. It is truly a stunning spot with the mountains on the opposite side of the lake providing a backdrop. The lakefront has kayak hire and many people were just sitting on the grass overlooking the water.

After finding our accommodation and cleaning up we found an open bike shop to stock up on spares – spokes and tubes. We then looked around the watering holes on offer and decided on the Monteith’s bar on the waterfront. It was great having a cold draft beer and wedges sitting outside on the lakefront.

For food we decided on kebabs (there was a large selection of take-aways and restaurants). We sat at the lakefront to eat them and ended up having a long conversation with a Swiss backpacker. It is his dream to catch a large brown trout in a NZ river – we hope he achieves it.