Monday, we went op shopping in town. At the first shop, I followed a lady around, hoping she would put down a really awesome dressing gown. She ended up buying it 😞. As we did all the shops we also went to the library to get some help about booking the Intercity Bus. They were not helpful as they were only a booking agent. Many calls later, we won’t know if we can get on with our bikes until 6.30am tomorrow. If the bus gets too full, they get upgraded to a double decker, which can’t handle bicycles.

We also needed to go to the police station to make an in person report about the cars that abused us. Just as we were leaving the cop shop, there was a collision. A guy pulling out of a carpark didn’t check properly and hit and older man with his car. The younger guy got angry, decided to drive his car as fast as possible, lost traction and hit him again. The poor old guy had damage to the front and back of the car now. It was a bit of a surreal moment and we ended up making new statements for this incident. The guy around our age has no insurance so hopefully the old boy has some good insurance for his car.

I tell you what, we are not enjoying Southland this time around. People here really hate cyclists. It is unfortunate because we loved our time renovating in Bluff. But this trip has soured our views. We continued op shopping and didn’t score much. We did get a cheap blanket to wrap the bike chains in. Went to the supermarket for dinner and went back to the holiday park. While Rowan cooked, I organised as much as I could, hoping we can get on a bus in the morning.

The alarm goes off and I call Intercity. It looks like we are good to go. We quickly pack up and head into town. We need to get there early enough to dismantle the bikes. Our bus driver is the most grumpy man. I think he hates his job with a passion. I would complain, but I don’t want him to get into trouble. Here we go 11 hours on a bus, we haven’t been on a bus this long since Spain and Morocco.

The yellow hue of a winter storm brewing, it stayed all day today! My sisters are yet again getting wet feet in Auckland. The bus trip isn’t too bad. Majority of the time I read my book.

The lovely Edward (neighbours son) picks us up from the bus station. We are staying at our very good friend’s and ex neighbours house Liz & Rick. I have really looked forward to seeing them and we have missed them a lot. It is really nice to spend some time here catching up.

We did it! 35km to Bluff!

An easy day for us with a fairly flat track to Bluff. There are a few hills but nothing too hard for us. We get onto the lagoon track after Rowan has had some fun on the boat and train! The train is designed to go on a wooden track. In 1863 they imported Lady Barkley and she is the first locomotive in Southland.

The track was pretty nice. It stayed on the waters edge for about half of the ride. Then we are following beside the road. I am suffering from some bad chafed thighs from yesterday. Every push on the peddle hurts and I am motivated to get there and get it done.

We get into town and find some bubbles and food to have lunch and celebrate. We cycle out to Sterling Point which is absolutely packed. We turn around and go to the Lighthouse to eat. Then we thought we better get the mandatory photo of the AA sign.

We ended up booking a shuttle back to the holiday park rather than a 70km day. We went past Joanne’s old rental in Bluff. I think it was 2018 we fixed the house up. They got rid of the awesome buoy letterbox. Other than some horrific net curtains it looks the same! Paint job looks like it is holding up well. Probably needs a touch up with it being a weatherboard home.

Well we weren’t expecting that! Our intention today was to get to Winton area not Invercargill. We got the last few kilometres into Mossburn and headed to the cafe where we got our lunch for the day (a couple of sandwiches). We then took off and did 20km in an hour. Wahoo

From then on we got slower, but that is kind of expected. When we arrived near Winton fairly early, we made the decision to push on to Invercargill it means a 100km day. There are not many photos today. It is all the same scenery. It was a very boring 100km. The hardest was our hands, they got absolutely ruined from yesterday’s ride. Today they just constantly ached and went numb.

We were not far out of Wallace Town going over a train overpass when dickheads decided to yell at me. Swearing and telling me to get off the road. Worse than that, I watched the horror of one of them opening the car door and holding it out with his foot and hand to try push Rowan off the bridge. At this point he was at the top of the bridge with no way to move over more and he would have been pushed off to the tracks below. It was really scary. It wasn’t until I caught up with him and we can pull over safely that one of them threatened to come back with his rifle. I think both cars were kinder to me because I am obviously a girl. We called the police straight away to make a report. Definitely the scariest encounter since cycling.

When we got to Wallace Town I was looking for a toilet (none). Only 8km from here to our campground, so I will hold it longer. When we went past the tavern, Rowan saw the two cars pull out. So we called the police back as they asked us to do that if we saw them again. Luckily they didn’t see us so there was no more confrontation. Talk about a horrendous way to end the day. These roads have been really good because they are back roads and are really quite.

It is getting dark as I pitch the tent. Rowan has cycled to the supermarket while I get camp ready. Well we did over 100km wahoo. I don’t recommend the Southern Travers Trail. It is boring!

I waited for the birds to waken me and let me know it is near dawn. Sadly there was no bird song. There are definitely birds around but obviously not in numbers I was expecting. I did have a friend once I got out of the long drop.

It is really stunning here, we will definitely come back and spend some more time here. A slow pace for the start as I keep stopping to take photos.

Once on the main road again we have a really jarring 20km mostly down hill. The rocks are really big and it makes it really awful to ride on. However we are going downhill and that is something to smile about.

We stay left and go up from there. Along this part there are 4 ups. Lucky for us they are ups we can actually manage staying on the bike. No pushing necessary! Just before you go down on the last up the cycle track turns off to follow the river. It is a really good trail. The stones are very fine and it is much nicer to cycle on.

The local campground is closed for winter. We end up finding a good spot a few km from the Mossburn village to camp. A early stop for us at 3pm. The rain has been following us so we are happy to get pitched, washed and fed before it really starts.

Today we got moving fairly early. Good that we did as we got chatting to an aussie couple. I got away to pack up the tent and Kaylee got up to say goodbye. She is a very sweet American girl. Unfortunately she makes me feel old as 20 feels very young to me. Once we have said our goodbyes we head to town. I head to an outdoor shop for gas and Rowan heads to Fergburger. Got to have one last one for breakfast haha.

We also get filled rolls for lunch from the ferg bakery next door. We eat on the pier waiting for our boat to take us to Walter Peak

The journey is very scenic, actually the whole day is scenic. I must say this is my favourite day for scenery. I can highly recommend the around the mountains trail.

Once we reach Walter Peak we get off and get on our bikes. Today is a challenge. Quite rocky road with bad traction and a fair amount of up!

Rowan is struggling this morning, but I am finding it good. When we get to Von Hill, it is another story. A big push up. We reach the top and have lunch. It has taken us 4 hours to do 31km. Not going great for time!

A few more downs and ups and then we finally head up river but we go down hill for 10km. How you may ask. Well 500,000 years ago the water went down this valley towards Mavora now the river is in a gorgeous and flows into Lake Wakatipu.

After all that lovely down, we now have a bit of up to contend with. We want to get to the lake so we can swim. It is getting rather late but that is what the torch is for I guess. Wow this place is bullshit. It is so amazing. The water is clear, the bush feels really old. You can see why they filmed LOTR here. It is out of this world. I will take more pictures tomorrow. Right now I am pooped.

We set up and swim as quickly as we can. We eat our dinner in the dark. There is a beautiful moon out tonight.

Nothing wrong with this campground but it really isn’t the best. The lake views are obstructed by road works and it really doesn’t have a chill vibe. We are going to be here a few days so we decide to move on and go to Creeksyde.

Creeksyde is a quirky arty campground. Lots of fun. The place is small and run by a family. Definitely a lot nicer. We did get some free food from the lake view holiday park. Enough to make a full meal. Someone stuffed up the pricing of this meat!

We got our bikes looked at as we both had some minor issues. The guy was really helpful and actually gave us a tutorial on how to fix it in the future. No charge either!

While here we have enjoyed a good rest and kept our days as simple as possible. We went into town each day and did some op shopping. No surprises there. It was really nice having lunches by the lake.

Stunning scenery! First of all, I want to buy one of the cute historic cottages in Arrowtown. Let me know if you have one for sale in my price bracket.

We shot into the village for a quick look before jumping on the trail. It is a very scenic ride. I can definitely recommend doing it.

Once past the alpacas, we collided with a group from an ebike hire place. Some could bike, but 80% of them were very wobbly and probably haven’t cycled in years. After getting around them and trying to stay out of their way, we were off. Luckily, they looked like they went to Gibbston Valley as we didn’t see them again. We carried on along the trail where we got to the top and had a rest. A lady asked for tissues or toilet paper for her friend who has a runny nose. Lucky for her, we are prepared.

After the uphill, there was the most spectacular downhill. It just kept coming. I felt bad for the cyclists in the other direction, but most of them are on ebikes, so I don’t feel that bad. We have three ups to do after this. At the shotover bridge, we get over taken by some ebikers. Making the hills look piss easy. Rude! Haha

We head off track a bit because we are going into the Frankton shops. Somehow we managed to damage the Kindle screen (he blames me, of course) now we need to replace it. Yes, this will be his third Kindle of the trip! Everyone is out of stock. We get to the warehouse and they only have the display model. One of the staff members happily sells it to us for $50! It’s much cheaper than $279 for the full price. Happy days!

Sushi for lunch and off again to get back on the track. It is reasonably flat the rest of the way into the main centre.

We head straight to the holiday park to set up before heading back downhill to the 4square. We can’t help but get a Ferg Burger to share on the way back. The line is so short it seemed mad not too!

The struggle is real!

I don’t know why but today was really hard. It started well. Foggy and cold, but the kitchen was still warm from last night. Time disappeared in the fog and it was after 10am when we hit the road. The first part all the way to Roaring Meg was really good. The traffic gets on your nerves after a while. Not because anyone was dangerous but the noise and being on edge gets to you after a while.

After Roaring Meg it was uphill and it felt really hard when it shouldn’t have. From then on I really struggled. It was just mentally taxing. We arrived at Gibbston Valley and jumped on the track. But I got annoyed that we were going slow and it was harder than the road. Especially because we followed the road. So we hoped back off and only got back on when we saw the track leave the main road.

It has some pretty moments but it didn’t feel worth it to me. I just wanted to get back on the road and get to Arrowtown. Once we struggled a bit more past the bungy and again followed the road. Rowan made the decision we should get off. My knees are aching and I am miserable. I keep crying, getting frustrated and making silly mistakes. The road is hard and we have a good 10km to go. When we finally reach Arrowtown I am exhausted. I do perk up. It is around 3.30pm but it feels like 6pm. The sun has gone and it feels like a big day!

Goodbye Wānaka! We are heading for Cromwell today. There is a very important breakfast to have before we get out of town. Adam & Eve Bakery, a very good Mince & cheese pie! But first it is a lovely crisp cold morning. It is hard to get out of the tent since it is covered in ice!

It got us fueled up as we headed towards Luggate. It felt like no time at all and we had done 16km. Today was rather easy, I mean don’t get me wrong, it had some moments. I definitely got sore knees, butt and wrists. But it wasn’t gruelling.

Before long it was lunchtime at Subway in Cromwell. We arrived about 2pm, got some kai and went op shopping. There is only one now in Cromwell but hey it is always worth a look!

A trip to New World for dinner ingredients and we set off for another 8.5km to the holiday park. Unfortunately the main holiday park in town was closed down and turned into town houses. This park is a little off track but that is okay. It is older but the owners are really lovely. They have a great fireplace that makes a toasty warm kitchen.

A lady at the camp found a chestnut tree and showed us where to get them. Before we set off we grabbed a few to try ourselves.

Today, we are not going far, just to Wānaka. There is a trail that follows the river. It is really scenic. One upside I wasn’t expecting was a free breakfast while on the trail. There were just swarms of bugs to ride through it made breathing and seeing very hard for a while.

We still did close to 30km for the day. By the time we got to all the op shops and had a nosy through town after we settled at the campground.

The campground wasn’t that busy but they only had one of their kitchens open and one set of bathrooms. This made the place incredibly noisy and busy. We got out as soon as we could and retreated to our tent.

We ended up taking two rest days here in Wānaka. The first one we needed the second one because why not. We hardly ever stay in Wānaka. It is normally a thoroughfare for us. We ate some delicious food and enjoyed the cold evenings and warm sunny days.