The End Of The Cycling Era & Goodbye South Island!!


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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Geraldine
March 30th 2009
Published: April 13th 2009
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29th March 2009 - LAST DAY OF SORE BOTTOMS!!

My alarm went off at 6.30am. It was still dark outside and felt very early to be up. We didn’t have a choice though as we needed to be on the road by 7.30am as we had a long way to cycle and a bus to catch when we got to Geraldine, our destination. It would be our furthest cycle to date and I hoped it would go smoothly!!

We got sorted and set off on time. It was just starting to get light as we set out which was nice as the sun was rising over the lake and the sky and mountains turned pink. It was really unexpected and woke me up a little as I still felt half asleep when we set off. There was a bit of a hill to ride up as we left Tekapo which wasn’t the best as I didn’t feel like I had got going at that point but we made it!! Onwards to Geraldine!!

Once out of Lake Tekapo the ride was lovely!! The roads seemed to be mostly flat or downhill and with the momentum from traveling downhill we seemed to just roll up any uphills that came our way. Sweet!! It was a good start to the day and we seemed to be riding ahead of schedule because by 8.15am we had already done 15km. I hoped the rest of the journey would be as nice!!

Once past Dog Kennel Corner (don’t ask why) we stopped for 2 minutes whilst Nat watered the plants and the continued up and over Burke Pass. The book made it look like a monster hill but in reality it wasn’t so bad and riding it the other way would definitely have been worse!! After Burke Pass the next 25km were a breeze. All downhill and flat or so it seemed to us. We whizzed through Burke Pass Village, Kimbell and arrived at Fairlie (our half way point) before 10am….40 minutes ahead of schedule! I wish all the days on the bike had been like this one!! 44km down, 46km to go!!

We stopped in Fairlie for 10 minutes to give our sore bottoms a rest and reapply the Vaseline before continuing on our way. The next part of the journey was the toughest part. Around 5km past Fairlie we met Mount Michael. All the mountains that are tough to climb seem to be named after men…very fitting…nothing but trouble and hard work!! It was a beast of a hill but we lowered our gears and kept pedaling. I felt a burning in my knees but pushed through…up and up and up…until we reached the top!! I was really pleased to have got to the top without stopping and know that when we set out cycling at the beginning I would not have been able to do that! Pat on the back Debs!!

At the top of the hill was a lovely little tearoom in a converted barn. It was the last place to get something to eat before Geraldine and so we called in. We must have looked pretty sweaty and puffed because the lady behind the counter brought us some water straight over. Nice!! We tucked a tasty snack in as well and relaxed for 30 minutes. Really nice café and nice to sit knowing that when we left we would be starting on a downhill! Only 38km to go!!

Back on the bikes and after a very steep descent the roads levelled out. I was pleased once again that we were traveling towards Geraldine and not from there as the hills were much worse going the opposite way. We passed 2 cyclists that looked half dead but it was partly their own fault as they had so much luggage packed on the bikes they could have been mistaken quite easily for pack horses!! Silly people!

The last part of the ride was a nice one again. There were 3 or 4 surprisingly tough hills but we made it up and pushed on until the last 8km flat into Geraldine. I had really really enjoyed my last full day on the bike and felt like I had made a lot of progress over the few weeks we had been cycling. My only complaint was from my bottom as it had never felt so sore or numb!! That was one part of me that would be glad to see the back of the bike for a while!!

We reached Geraldine town centre at around 1pm...well ahead of schedule as the bus wasn’t picking us up until 3.20. We had a stroll around Geraldine for a while to kill some time. Seemed like a nice town although as it was a sunny day everyone was eating ice cream which was torture for me. Everyway I turned there was someone else tucking into a cone It was like a nightmare where no matter where you run or hide you can’t get away from the bad guy…only in my case it was ice cream! Sometimes life is not fair!!

Whilst in Geraldine we checked out the world’s largest knitted jumper (in Guinness World Records) which was huge. If Nat and I continue eating all the cakes we will need to start buying our clothes that size soon!! In the same shop we also checked out a famous mosaic of the Bayeaux Tapestry recreated from over 2,000,000 pieces of steel. The guy who had completed the recreation had even researched the missing panels of the tapestry and had included a depiction of them in keeping with the original. It was pretty special and had taken the guy over 25 years to do! He must have the patience of a saint to persevere with a project over 25 years…longer than I have been alive…wow!!

We met the guy (Michael Linton) and he spoke with us about it and also explained how he had encoded puzzles in the background that no one had worked out yet. He was what I would call a genius!! I am not too bad at maths but what he spoke about was way over my head! If you fancy checking out some of his puzzles and work or think you are a smartarse then go to his website at ww.1066.co.nz and see how you do!! Genius I tell you!!

Following our look around Geraldine we got some fruit from the supermarket, removed our front bicycle wheel for the final time and waited for the bus. It arrived pretty much on time and took on the final part of our journey to Christchurch. I managed to get an hours kip on the bus before arriving in Christchurch at 5.30pm.

I didn’t think I would have to get back on the bike that day but my hieny had to endure another 5 minutes as we rode to the hostel…Charlie B’s. Not a bad hostel and after checking in we cooked tea, used the net and settled to watch a film. Not my choice of film…Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker!! I endured around 20 minutes before heading to bed as did Nat!! I was very tired and was sure I would sleep well!!

Cycled 90km/56 miles

30th March 2009 - RETURN OF THE BIKES & SO LONG SOUTH ISLAND!!!
I had a cracking nights sleep. One of my best yet despite some random dreams! I woke at 7am and snuck out of the room to get breakfast…staying special with Special K!! Nat came in just as I had finished eating and so I left her to make her porridge whilst I went to get my grubby self clean and dressed. Once sorted and packed up we put the panniers on the bike for the final time and cycled to the bike shop to return them.

We couldn’t find the shop! We rode around the streets of Christchurch for about an hour and had to phone the shop for directions in the end! Worst part was that it should have been a 5 minute ride and was only 1 street away from where we first set off to! Oh well…that’s 2 women trying to navigate for you!

Andrew and Kaye at the bike shop were lovely once again and we chatted about our trip for a while. Turned out we had cycled 679km/422miles altogether. Not bad for non-cyclists! We were then reunited with out backpacks….so emotional! I was pleased to see the rest of my clothes but as I struggled to squash everything in as I repacked it and remembered how much it weighed, I wasn’t so pleased!! I was not looking forward to carrying him….give me the bike back!!

I was both sad and happy to be giving the bikes back. I felt a sense of achievement in what we had done and I had enjoyed a lot of it. We had seen so much more than we would have done if travelling by car or bus. On the other hand my bum was pleased to see the end of it and on days where the weather was poor I could not think of anything worse than cycling somewhere! Anyhow...bicycle chapter over…new chapter begins!!

Once out of the bike shop we lugged our backpacks back into town. I had not missed carrying so much stuff about! We headed straight to the information centre to book a hostel for Auckland and then went to a café for lunch and of course...another cake!! Oh dear...stomach expands further!! Our flight to Auckland was at 3.20pm but we caught the earlier than planned 1.30pm bus to the airport rather than hang around in town. No harm in being early!!

We arrived at the airport at 1.55pm and went to check in! Oh my days….the flight was at 2.30pm and not 3.20pm. Bloody good job we had caught an earlier bus else we would have missed our flight! Didn’t have to wait around at all…Bonus!!

The South Island had been fun and I was quite sad to leave it! Onwards to Auckland for our final 2 nights in New Zealand!!


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