Indoor Play, Cycling Days & Playing with Fire!!!

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8th March 2009 - ONWARDS TO HAAST - MORE RAIN & QUIET TIME!!!
The Atomic bus arrived at 10.50am...bang on time! We loaded on our bikes and jumped on the bus ready to make the journey to Haast. After around 1 hours travelling we made a stop at a salmon farm. Basically a few pools with salmon in and a gift shop and cafe. It was pouring it down with rain and so a cup of tea and a scone went down well. These unexpected stops don't do the waistline any good as you feel like you have to buy something to eat to pass the time.....and none of the food is healthy! Very tasty though! Back on the bus we travelled for one more hour before arriving at Haast.

We expected Haast to be a decent sized town but we were sadly mistaken. 1 cafe, 1 shop and 2 motels. We didn't have a lot of choice of where to stay as there was only one place offering rooms for backpackers...not even at a bargain price either! The place was ok.....beds were comfy, kitchen was well set up but no tv room!! Instead it had a big conservatory with puzzles in and old games such as connect 4. We had a walk around the town looking for something to do but no luck...there was nothing! We attempted to walk to the beach but even that plan failed as it could only be accessed by car which we neither had nor get! We decided to embrace what we had and sat in the conservatory for the afternoon finishing half started jigsaws, reading and playing old games. It felt a bit like indoor playtime at school when all the good games were gone! Only thing I enjoyed was hearing the rain on the roof...love that sound! Simple things please simple minds! I hoped the rain would ease for the following day though...I wouldn't enjoy biking in it!

I cooked a big pasta tea that night to load up on the carbs, It was then off to bed to write my journal and sleep. I just hoped I would sleep well for once as a Debs with interrupted sleep is a very grumpy Debs!!

9th March 2009 - A FIERY END TO A TOUGH DAY!!!
I slept ok I suppose. No one woke me up with incessant chatting anyway which was a bonus from the previous night! My alarm went off at 7. I dipped a foot out and it was so so cold I did not want to get out. I managed to wrestle with my jumper and socks to put them on under the covers before I braved the cold air! I had to do some jogging on the spot just to warm through as I made my breakfast. Nat joined me 5 minutes later. We were up early as we needed to be off early....lots of mileage to cover on the bikes today!! Remind me again why did we decide to bike?!!

Quite a few people up and about by 8am...a fair few of them cyclists...looked like we weren't the only crazy people in town! We chatted and swapped stories for a while as we got ready and then loaded up the bikes and set off on our way at around 8.30am. 82km to go!!

The first 3 hours riding (49km) were lovely. Quite a few hills but they all seemed to droll into each other and none of them were unmanageable. There was also quite a lot of flat which I love! The scenery was spot on as usual with many mountains and waterfalls along the way. We even rode through some low wispy cloud which reminded me of King Kong land. We were lucky with the weather too after all the rain recently...sunny all the way! The weather man is really looking out for us! We arrived at our first stop - Pleasant Flat - at around 11.45am. Time for lunch!

Our lunch spot was nice apart from 'The attack of the sandfly'!! Hate them and they are everywhere! We had planed to chill out for an hour or so but not with those parasites! They do not let up.....bite bite bite! One even drew blood on my arm and that was it for me......no relaxing rest...back on the bikes and on our way. The tough part of the ride began here!!

After about 2km the hills started! Steady at first but then it got real bad and I immediately regretted the decision not to have a longer break! The hill was so steep and so long. We may as well have been trying to cycle up Mount Everest! 10Km of steep incline...no flat parts, no breaks, just uphill! We rode what we could but some of it was just unmanageable for us! We had to get off and push the bikes up some of it. Even the buses and cars driving by were struggling so I didn't feel such a failure though I was disappointed! The pushing was no easy stroll either....especially not with the luggage strapped onto the bikes! I was tempted to throw some clothes out along the way to lighten the load but as I had limited clothing anyway I thought I'd best not! As the hill became less steep we got back on and pedalled the rest of the way up. I was pretty red in the face as I reached the top....not a pleasant ride!!

After the tough uphill we went on some scary downhills. Steep and long!! We built up some good speed and it was pretty intense especially as my front break doesn't work quite right! Still...I didn't fall off and the adrenalin rush was good! Gave us a nice rest after that monster uphill too...much appreciated! After the bout of downhills the roads seemed to level out again and was much like the first 3 hours...rolling hills and flat roads! A nice way to finish the last 15km of the ride especially as my legs were tired and my right knee was feeling the strain! We arrived in Makarora...our destination, at around 3pm.....it had been a hard core day of cycling!!

There were a few people out and about when we arrived and it was a little bit like a welcoming party. I was still a bit miffed about having to walk some of the hill but felt better when a guy who was a keen cyclist said he wouldn't even attempt it. Maybe we didn't do so bad after all!!

Makarora consisted of 1 building. That building contained the shop, a restaurant and the the hostel...Wilderness backpackers! Very expensive for what it was but nice. We were put in a triangular shaped hut at the back of the building. We had a room to ourselves and an en-suite bathroom! Heaven!! Again..no tv room but today we weren't as bothered as we were tired from cycling all day and happy to relax in our room for a couple of hours before tea.

We went to cook tea at around 6ish. I filled my pan of water up for my pasta and then went to put the hob on. I didn't see any electric hobs and so reached for the matches, turned the gas on and lit it! BOOM!! A massive flame shot up at me and I shot back completely shocked! I quickly looked down at my body and patted my front thinking that I must be on fire...surely! I turned and looked at Nat who looked shocked too but then she burst out laughing at the look on my face! I had singed my hair, my eyebrows were intact but the eyelashes had taken the heat...they all had white tips!! We laughed for ages about how I nearly set on fire and I calmed down with a brew my heart was beating so fast! Even worse...there was an electric hob right next to me and I swiftly changed my pan to that hob! 10 minutes later as we were sat eating Nat was non too happy as she had burnt her pizza. I'd take burnt pizza over burnt hair and eyelashes though...wouldn't you?!! Think i'll lay off the gas for a while!!

Once the fiery fun was over we headed back to our room. I had the most amazing shower ever ad then got all cosy in bed where I wrote my journal and read my book for a while. Tomorrow should be an easier ride but we had been told that heavy rain was coming. I wasn't looking forward to it but no choice in the matter...I prayed to the weatherman for good weather and the eyelash man for new eyelashes before falling fast asleep.

Cycled: 81km/51 miles

10th March 2009 - HIDDEN HILLS, GUSTY WIND & CHAIN NIGHTMARES!!
I had another restless night again. Wish I wouldn’t wake up so often during the night. A Debs without a good nights sleep is a very grumpy Debs!! It was cold again too but after laying awake for an hour I got out of bed at 7.30. I could hear a spatter of rain on the roof but it didn’t sound too heavy….maybe we would be in luck with the weather! I certainly hoped so as biking would not be much fun in the rain! We sorted ourselves out, had breakfast and layered up ready for the day. We set off on the bikes at around 8.30am….64km to Wanaka. The biking book we had made it look like a much easier ride than the previous day with only one steep section about 1 hour into the ride. I hoped the book was right!

The first hour was quite nice. It was cold and there was a strong blustery wind but luckily it was behind us and so helped rather than hindered. I would not have liked to have been heading into it……very hard work!! Not long after setting off we hit Lake Wanaka. Very beautiful with the mountains in the background. I felt a spot or 2 of rain but nothing too heavy. Still….with our hoods up under our helmets we looked like right dorks and the type of people my dad would drive by, shake his head and say “Simpletons…biking in this weather!” Seriously though…the first hour was nice and we were even blessed with seeing a rainbow that appeared as if entering the water. Nice to see and took my mind off the ache in my legs that stemmed from yesterdays biking.

After an hour or so the toughest part (or so we thought) came, but it wasn’t too bad. It was a 5km gradual hill. My chain came off at the bottom and so I had to fix that and get oily hands in the process but then I was raring to go! It wasn’t too steep and once we set off up it we managed to get up without stopping or walking. Very pleased especially as my legs felt very tired and like they had no energy in them today. Once at the top we started on the descent towards Lake Hawea. The descent itself was pretty scary and steep but loved it! That whole section was called ‘the neck’ and once past that part the rest of the ride was supposed to be plain sailing! Ha…I wish!!

The scenery was spot on…..no problems with that. We rode right around the edge of Lake Hawea. There were some ups and downs but all were manageable until…in the distance….we saw the monster!! It was almost vertical it was that steep and it didn’t look short in length either! I did not have the energy but pushed on anyway and set myself a marker for ¾ of the way up before I would allow myself a water break. All went to plan until ¾ of the way up you caught a glimpse of the road around the corner. It didn’t level off but carried on going…up, up and up! I had only rode a ¼ of the bloody hill! I had my water break anyway and then carried on. My chain came off…getting angry with it now as I didn’t even touch the gears that time! I put it back on and continued up having another break for water nearer the top! No walking which I was pleased with but didn’t like that I had to stop a couple of times. My legs just felt empty though! Nat was waiting for me at the top….I took my hat off to her as she didn’t stop for any breaks! Both agreed that we did not see that one coming!!

The next 15km were not quite as bad though there were a few more hills and both of us were tired. I was very excited to see the sign for Hawea…we had made it to our lunch destination….Woo!! I was so ready for something to eat. The ride across the bridge towards the cafe gave us a taste of what it would be like riding against the wind. Absolutely awful!! There was a cross wind and it was so strong it almost blew us from our bikes. You had to steer towards the left just to stay straight and not fall off. So pleased the wind had been behind us so far! The café was lovely and we stayed there for well over an hour having lunch. Quite a few cyclists who were on a tour stopped there and we had a good chat to them. They were lucky though as if they were tired or struggling they could get on the tour bus. At times I wish we had that option!

In theory the ride following lunch should have been quite nice. Only 3 hills...none too steep, 15 km (nothing when you have already ridden 49km), and the wind should have been behind us. Things didn't go to plan!! The wind changed direction and was now against us. I felt like I was pedalling into a brick wall!! Not pleasant! The hills were ok though and we pushed on until we came to the final hill just as we entered Albert Town. I could see it in the distance and it looked ok. Despite not having any energy in my legs I psyched myself up…..come on...final hill!! Just at the bottom, my chain came off again! I lost it, threw the bike on the floor and ranted that I was done! It was a stupid petulant tantrum but I was so angry that the chain kept coming off. I aint stupid either….contrary to popular belief. I know not to change gear when not pedalling and only to change one gear at a time. Still…the chain came off!! I was fed up! A guy driving by saw me stropping and stopped the van to check I was ok. It made me realise how childish I was being and I thanked him for stopping, put the chain back on and carried on. I don’t think Nat knew what to say to me and was just pleased when I got back on.This biking is doing my swede in....some parts I love and some parts I hate!! There doesn't seem to be a happy medium for me! The last 5km were ok. Still against the wind but we were nearly there.

I was so pleased when I saw the hostel and knew that I had a couple of days to spend in Wanaka without biking! Wanaka looked like a nice town and I was looking forward to exploring it!! We checked into The Purple Cow Hostel. It seemed nice, very clean and overlooked Lake Wanaka. We dumped our stuff and then went for a browse around the town. We attempted to buy some Mothers Day cards but as they don't celebrate it until May here it was difficult! Also....they celebrate 'Childrens Day' here in New Zealand.......another bonus!! Wish England would catch onto that one! After wandering around town we went and had a short walk by the lake. Very pretty even with the low cloud and grey sky.

As the evening approached we settle into the tv room for the evening film...Starsky & Hutch! I had forgotten how funny it was and laughed pretty much the whole way through! Love it! After the film it was pretty much a case of writing my journal, getting in bed and falling asleep! I had a good feeling about Wanaka!!

Cycled: 64km/40 miles

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