Or as I like to call it Te Kohurau, much better than the white version.

We went to the local bakery/dairy for lunch supplies before taking on the hill. Before we can get to the shop we have to wait for a lot of traffic.

I must have been extremely tired yesterday because it didn’t take nearly as long as I had feared. Once at the top the day was really smooth sailing. There were some minor blips but nothing I couldn’t make up. All along the lake are hundreds of caravans parked up. It is a cheap holiday home for $450 a season for about 6 months you can come and go as much as you like! Maybe a good spot for us in the future.

Before we know it we hit a lovely spot called Deep Creek. We stop there for lunch. While there we have Rod stop and say hello. We met him at the Ōmarama holiday park. He is off to do some trout fishing.

Not far from our lunch spot is the dam. We then had a bit of an up just after. We came across a fisherman on the river who was fly fishing. He ended up giving us a trout he just caught for our dinner. Yum, I think it was a rainbow trout. There was one more zig zag up to avoid the road and get the last few kilometres to Kurow. By the time we got to our house we were tired. The property in a large old homestead that could do with some love. But is more than enough for just the three of us. It was built by Sir Arnold Henry Nordmeyer who gave NZ it’s first social security to the workers of the Waitaki Dam.

We head to the 4square for some supplies. Tomorrow night we are no where near any shops. We come back and I get the fire going then have a shower. I am pooped, not much movement happened after that haha. We ended up staying up later than usual. It was a delicious trout, Rowan cooked it to perfection. Tomorrow is a very short day so there is no need to get moving before 10am.

My mother always said if you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all…

Okay I better say something about it. The day was delayed by my bearings in the rear hub of my bike. I had my peddles working intermittently. Luckily for us the extremely kind Aimee and Vaughan at Trail Adventures in town helped us out. Vaughan tried to help us fix it and ended up giving me a spare wheel and said to swap back on our way back through. He only charged us $20, extremely cheap! Finally on the move at 10.30am. From there it was pretty smooth to sailors cutting. We then turned away from the main road to follow the lake. The track got a bit hairy from there. I felt quite comfortable on it but I can see how others wouldn’t. There were spots where the rocks were so big, you just had to take it easy. The worst part about the day is we hadn’t mentally prepared ourselves for it. We thought it was going to be a groomed track around the lake. Well we were very wrong. The hills were pretty killer and the last incline was the worse. Not because it was so steep but it just kept going and it had a lot of false summits. The downhill was hard as you couldn’t go fast because of the track. It was also really windy which slowed us down further. Then when we got to the dam it was a steep down for 6km.

We made it to the pub around 5pm exhausted and ready for a beer! The day was only 35km but man it felt like more. Beer never tasted so good. I couldn’t help but have a sinking feeling with the knowledge of going back up that bloody hill to the dam for tomorrows journey. We ended up checking into our little place and enjoying some relaxing time after our showers then heading back to the pub for dinner. They had a good range of options and it was run by Indians. You can tell as all the food was well balanced and done extremely well. Joanne had a lot of vegetarian options and didn’t need to eat her cheese and crackers for dinner haha. Rowan was happy to have the $1 wings special and a burger. I had a roast lamb with vegetables it was great.

The day started with a cooked breakfast. We waited around a good 30min to help digest it, but really needed longer. The sunrise was lovely to watch on the mountains. 11km this morning and it is up. Joanne and I walk the 5km to the top while Rowan rides the whole thing.

The views are fantastic. The track is quite rocky in places and a grade 3 so not so good if you are not confident on a bike. We spoke to a few people who said they walked parts of it. 100m off from the very top we sat and had our packed lunch.

The downhill from there was really fun, we had to go slow in some hairy places. When we reached the gravel road it was smooth sailing from there. We did the last kilometres of the day much faster. It was exhilarating going downhill all the way to Ōmarama. We got swooped at by some magpies. Rowan the worst as one hit his helmet and glasses a few times. Nesting season so of course they are protective. we arrived at the top 10 around 5pm, our latest day so far. But of course the hardest day for the whole trip. Here is our cute hobbit hut.

Anakarang (Eddy) did a community initiative and they planted 1000 coral fragments. Which is pretty amazing!

We had dinner at the local pub, which had a surprisingly varied menu. We all enjoyed our meals.

Rest day, it is also a day I must toast to my grandpa. Happy Birthday Grandpa! He would have been a big 94! The day is really relaxing. We go out for some breakfast. At lunchtime we have a beer and a toast to g/pa. The day disappears fast and we head off to the hot tubs for a 1.5hr dip. They are really quite well done. You have lots of privacy. There are showers, you can order wine and food. Not a cheap thing to do but a worthwhile experience. With our wine in the tub we have another toast.

We woke up to no power. There was a power cut at 4am. That was not a good incentive to get up in the cold. I bit the bullet and finally did get up. We headed off just after 8am. Fresh dusting of snow on a lot of the mountains. The track was slightly uphill until we reached the first canal which is the Pukaki canal. It was one of those annoying ups that you can’t see but you very much can feel.

The Pukaki canal was down stream but when we reached the Ōhau canal is slightly uphill. I didn’t notice that incline. We reached the overflow from Lake Ōhau and had a sandwich.

From there we went on the Ōhau Weir track for 7km along the lake front. Absolutely stunning. We were making good time so we stopped quite a lot along the way.

At the end of the track we hop onto the road and cycle to the Ōhau Lodge. Before we reach it we have a bit of lunch by the lake. Joanne and I both get spiked by Matagouri.

39km brings us to Lake Ōhau Lodge at 2.30pm. I love this lodge so much it has so much retro in it. It has just gone under contract and I hope the new owners don’t refurbish it too far and take away all it’s character. We get into the tubs and have a soak with an incredible view!

We get out of the tubs and have an extremely large nachos to share. We all hop back in the tubs waiting for dinner time. Dinner is three courses, breakfast is also on for the morning and they provide a packed lunch. I shower before dinner with no plans to get back in for a soak.

Dinner was fantastic, we were very full and I didn’t last long until I was fast asleep.

A fairly easy 42km today. We left the beautiful views of Braemar Station to get even more scenic views. There is a definite bite in the wind today and forecast for snow down to 800m burrr. It is a fairly flat ride with some small ups and downs.

We take our time as there is no rush. It is harder work on the gravel road. Only a few cars come past us.

It is a bit windy and the wind doesn’t work in our favour but it also is coming mostly sideways. We reach the area where you go off the road onto a cycle track along the rest of the lake. We cycle to the Salmon Shop and get a few goodies before heading off to Twizel. This is actually part of the Te Araroa track.

The part to Twizel is quite desolate and at one point we get some slushy snow on us. Not enough to settle but man it is cold. That makes us want to get there even faster. We settle into our little chalet, eat our lovely salmon and look at options for dinner. There is a good looking place called Poppies that we decide on. We aim for an early dinner so we don’t have a late night.

After our night of camping we got up and packed up. Today we are going up river a bit, we decided it wasn’t worth $750 each to catch a helicopter to the start. We took the ute down as far as we could go and then cycled up a few kilometres. We didn’t go all the way to the start. Joanne took a lot of bird photos and on our way back we cycled all the way to the car park where Rowan had to drive the ute back. Joanne wasn’t up for cycling with all the trucks on the road and I don’t blame her, I wasn’t enthused either. The good thing about this trip I don’t need to excuse myself. If I don’t want to do it I don’t have to.

I call the Braemar Station to see when we can check in, not for another hour or so but she will let me know. So we have a picky plate of all sorts down by the lake as we wait. It doesn’t take long and we are okay to check in.

The cottage has a lovely view. We unpack the car, do a few loads of washing. Joanne washes the bikes down and we start to get organised. From here we have no car we just have us and our bikes. Joanne has booked two nights here so we have plenty of time to relax. The evening sunset is really good. We start the fire even though it really isn’t cold enough.

The next day is chill, we don’t do much at all. Today would have been Peter (Rowans grandpa) birthday. I spend a lot of time catching up on the blogs! I have gotten far behind. The internet is awful so I can’t upload any photos. So these will all have a further delay.

We make sure the bicycles are all ready to go. the weather is pretty rough and we head down to the lake for a beer as the storm comes in. A cheers to Peter for his birthday.

I missed packing our raincoats eek. The plan is to head in to Ashburton to op shop for them. Jack, the manager takes us up to look at the hydro electric generator they use for the property. The old building that it used to be in is going to be converted into accommodation. Jack has a lot of plans and there is going to be a lot of changes done on the property. The views are spectacular from higher up.

After that little excursion we head off towards Ashburton. Along the way we do some exploring, looking at the history of the area.

We head backwards a little to go to a cafe in Stravely for brunch. When we arrive in Ashburton it doesn’t take us long to find one jacket. It is a mere $2 and high vis. We don’t get much more success, but we do have another jacket that will work for Rowan. This cycle trip will be quite different as we don’t need any of our sleeping gear or shelter etc. however we will bring a few things just in case we need them.

Now off towards Geraldine, we may stay in Tekapo tonight. When we reach Tekapo everything is pretty booked out and they want to charge us $90 to camp. Well f&@k that. We head to Lake Pukaki where we know several places we can camp for free. We take the dirt road in, following the land for the defence force. We come across this cool hut which is probably built for mustering shelter. Looks like anyone can stay there, it is better than a lot of DOC huts.

It doesn’t take us long to find a good spot to camp. Rowan gets into the lake for a wash, I am not keen to get into that cold of water. Especially with the wind up. I have a wipe down instead. It takes a long time for Rowan to warm up again.

We decide to stay here another night and explore the area. It takes a while to get Joanne’s bike back together before we head off.

We enjoy looking around but decide to go back and bike down to Mt Sunday (Edoras, Lord Of The Rings), then walk as far as we can. The manager here gives us permission to fly the drone. Mt Sunday is on their station land but they have given it to DOC to maintain and allow public access.

The bike ride gives us a chance to see if something goes wrong before we set off on the Alps to Ocean. It all runs smoothly. My shoelace gets wound around my pedal and I try to come off but fall into some matagouri. Luckily I don’t get too spiked. We also see a rare bird called a Wrybill or Ngutuparore. It is endemic to NZ and it is the only species in the world for have a bent beak sideways in one direction. Always to the right. Unfortunately they are not showing off their beaks but we get a few photos. There is a tour group ahead of us and we can see them coming back down the hill, swords glistening from the sun. Turns out four fans are here to take photos with their LOTR swords. We puff our way up to the summit and enjoy the expanse. Rowan got a lot of good drone footage earlier when no one was here. So we only put the drone up very briefly as we don’t want to disturb others.

Our bikes are all working as they should, we head back as it is definitely wine o clock. We have an addition, a man from Melbourne. Callum is here to see all of the LOTR sights he can. He is really nice and we enjoy the rest of the evening with him.

Here is a photo of Joanne getting caught for the second time today. We are going to take a pic each time she gets tangled up haha.

Monday morning and we are feeling rather relaxed, there is only a few things to do before picking up Joanne. The wind is really bad, but she is flying in on one of those big Emirates flights.

First job is to get the camper to the rust man, he should have it all fixed by the time we return. We get back and I take a chance to do some last minute emails and blog catch up. I also finish off cleaning the pantry for Liz.

The car is packed and now we are twiddling our thumbs waiting to pick up Joanne. Her flight is a little delayed but it doesn’t take her long to get through customs. It is 3.20pm, we do a quick supermarket shop and head for Mt Potts Lodge.

The drive is lovely and scenic. We arrive just before sunset. The staff are really friendly and we have the place to ourselves. They let us use their commercial kitchen and Rowan finds a 3kg can of beans haha. The place is in a great location, but it is quite dated. It doesn’t look like it has had anything but basic maintenance since the 70s. It is clean, comfortable and we quite like it here. They used to have a lot of business pre Covid with lots of people coming to Mt Sunday to see the site for Edoras for all the Lord Of The Rings fans.

They let us use their commercial kitchen to cook dinner. We had a picky plate of cheese and crackers and ended up too full for dinner. Around 9.30pm we had dinner. By then I was knackered and ready for sleep.

My fans keep asking when I will next be putting up a blog. It has been niggling me in the background that I haven’t written anything in a very long time! So come along and see what we have been doing.

From Nans house we headed to Dad’s where we had an awesome time. Dad & Sue met us for lunch in Manurewa at the Hill House Cafe. Very French, very yummy! A lot of good art around and they have lessons here and all sorts. Another really cool council owned initiative. While there we happened to have a roof box for the car just around the corner. Then we headed to Beachlands. Dad invited us to stay the night, which we gratefully accepted. As you may have read we have a few things here at Dad’s house. We make sure we pick everything up and pack the car well. Sue does pizza for us for dinner. Dad stokes up the pizza oven and it is delicious. That night we have a totally of 4 fires lit, we burned off some rubbish, then the pizza oven, then the outside fire, finishing with the inside fire. Sue made us a lovely frittata for breakfast and we said our goodbyes.

We took the scenic route to Papamoa stopping many times along the way. A quick look at Hunua Falls, which I remember visiting as a girl on one of our surprise adventures with Nana & Grandpa in the camper. When we got down to Paeroa, we had a good stretch and checked out some of the antique shops. You then pass through the Karangahake Gorge, it looks like a beautiful cycle. We both say let’s ask if Mum wants to do it with us. Around Katikati I see a sign for a nudist campground, I wonder if this is the one I have seen up for sale on trade me. I tell Rowan to turn right so I can check it out. We have a chat to the manager and I end up emailing the agent for more information. It has a lovely location but you are just buying a lease for the business and the business has not been doing well for the past 5 or so years. We arrive in Papamoa planning to stay a few nights. It is good to see mum. We get a chance to get on our bikes and do the Karangahake Gorge, it is not as nice and blue as it was a few days ago. The rain has caused a stir. It is still a nice ride. At one point we nearly get frozen wet to our bikes. It ends up only being 7km, not much of a slog. We wanted to take the train up further then ride down. The train doesn’t run on a Wednesday. A must have coffee at the train station when we get back.

Mum’s friend Bernie who I have known all my life had a clear out of clothes that she didn’t fit. I now have a lot of new to me clothes that are really nice quality. Thanks Bernie!

I really am drawing a blank on how long and what exactly we did for the rest of our stay. We did get some op shopping in. Oh I remember we got another big purchase. A camper van! Another unseen purchase this one a fair more expensive. Let’s hope we haven’t made a huge mistake! I try to organise the mechanics to start work thinking we are heading to Australia soon. It has been a year since Peter & Graham passed away. We really want to make it but the logistics are getting harder and harder. With the Alps to Ocean Cycle booked in, it is a more hectic schedule than we are used to. My theory with this camper is it has failed its warrant for rust issues and a few other consumable things. But it has had a WOF (warrant of fitness) a year ago. So surely the rust can’t be that bad… Famous last words…

From Papamoa we head to Cambridge to see Nellie and the boys. A detour to Reporoa to see my sister Sarah for lunch. It was nice to see her and the very cheeky Blaise. A good catch up and we got to see her and Mum’s project of a horse float being done up. You can follow her progress on instagram loosescrewtrailercrew. Blaise is naughty as ever and gets herself into mischief. They have a new family member Marshmallow, a wee lamb that was rejected by its mum. They are looking after it and training it up for pet day for Lucian.

Almost a week at Nellies house, we did get to go to our favourite shop twice! Honestly if you are passing through Cambridge on a Thursday or Saturday you must go to the Lions Club. They have amazing stuff for super cheap prices.

We got some organising done at Nellie’s she has all this space now. We moved the beds and set up the boys room. The garage still has stuff that needed to go. Like two old washing machines, which we found a whiteware guy to pick up. One of the boys pull a sicky and it is a day where we have a lot of balls to start rolling. We bore him out of his brains by not letting him use any screens and just talk about property all day. Rowan and I got to catch up with Aunty Deb when we had dinner at her new place in Te Awamutu. The place is fantastic for them.

Going South, we get down to Wellington today. On the way we pick up our new home in Waikanae. Now nothing has happened to it, so we are driving it carefully to the ferry terminal then hoping on a early morning ferry to Picton. The lady shows us about and and it is even cooler than in the photos. Rowan is going to drive it and I will follow in the Toyota.

Rowan gets it down to Blue Bridge terminal without a hitch. We book our ferry then and there. We didn’t want to do it earlier just in case we had trouble getting it there. We park it up and leave it. We head to Michaela & Gareth’s place for a late dinner. We don’t stay long but enjoy a quick catch up. Michaela kicks us out and heads for bed. We get down to the terminal to check in. We get parked up and I jump in with Rowan to catch a few hours of sleep before they load us on. We spent the extra $40 to have a cabin. It is worth it to have a good nap and a shower. It was really windy in Wellington and I thought it would be rough but the straight is flat as a pancake.

Wake up call from the staff and all I want to do is sleep. The sun is coming up soon. We head into the outskirts of Blenheim to get to Nelson. The drive goes relatively quick. We pick up a much needed coffee before Havelock. We arrive at Kelvin & Paula’s around 10am. Kelvin is out, so we head to the op shops to waste some time. I already have a million ideas on what I want to change in the camper. The next few days go by fast, we stay in our camper but use their bathroom. When we headed out to Motueka, we ran over a oven grill at the dump and put 4 good punctures in the tyre. Rowan finds a trailer we may use as a trailer or just on sell as it is set up with a canvas top which works as a camper. We made the decision not to go to Australia, we just have too much to do and it is near impossible.

When getting the trailer a warrant we eat an amazing croque monsieur. We say our goodbyes and head to our friends Liz & Rick in Christchurch. We arrive in the afternoon.

We end up being there for a week, there is a lot to do. Our silver cars battery is stuffed so we replace that. The AA guy gets our old hilux going. We drive it straight to the mechanic to start the WOF process. It fails on the speedo being out and some small rust bits they want us to fix. It takes till Thursday to sort the whole thing out but once done it is back to being our most reliable vehicle. on Friday we race down to Oamaru to chat to the council about consents and what the planning team allows. We also see a few block of land while we are there. That takes all day and we end up at Formosa in Ashburton for dinner

Our camper needs more rust repair then we thought. Turns out someone dodgy must have given it a wof last time. As the rust man points out there is no way it gets like that in a year. So we book that in for while we are away on our cycle. We try to sell the Toyota before we leave but it doesn’t quite work out like that. We have a good sort of what to bring and what to leave behind. It takes us a while to sort it all out. I give the hilux a clean as it is pretty dirty now. All this organising and running around leads us up to doing the Alps to Ocean.