Day two promised rain. On top of sore rear ends. Bummer (pun intended). But we were into it now and would persevere and gain character points along the way! Thinking we might beat some of the rain if we passed on the morning coffee stop about 6 km down the road even though it was a nice treat on day one. We wanted to enjoy this trip not just endure it. But we pedaled by the crowd of bikes having coffee and pressed on excited to get to the gorge before the rains came.

You never know what you'll see around the next bend of the trail...

Rain break!

Poolburn Gorge is said to be the highlight of the trail with unsurpassed beauty and two tunnels too! We saw the first tunnel as the rain started sprinkling and made a dash for it. How cool to have to don a headlamp to peddle through a hand carved tunnel and exit into a beautiful gorge. Cycling in dark tunnels can be very disorienting! I let Bob go first. And that way I could whoop and holler as I followed behind. Of course, “eat my dust” became very personal as I followed not only Bob but a group of guys ahead of us.

Our first tunnel (and a convenient place to put on our rain gear).

Old railway bridge, now rail trail bridge.

Gorge panorama (with tunnel on left side)

The rain continued as we exited the tunnels and crossed amazing bridges but fortunately we were able to stop at a small roadside attraction, Hayes Engineering, where they had a small coffee shop with a small fireplace. Aww…warmth and a place to hide from the heavier rain. We did not wander through the “attraction” distracted by hot coffee and warm soup! And we were introduced to a South Island specialty…cheese rolls. We would never have ordered one ourselves but some generous non-cycling Kiwis shared. Yummy. Who knew that cheese rolled up in toast could be so good! Maybe it we were just stalling.

Day two also included the highest point on the track, 618 meters (2,027 feet). Pedaling into a headwind again, but no longer in the rain we reached the highest point and cheered because it’s all downhill now! The sun peeked out through the clouds and lit up the green fields as we sailed down to our day two stop, Wedderburn. This was a stop where a lodge and cabins have been built to house the cyclist but we were not able to get those accommodations. Our hosts from Naseby’s Royal Hotel drove out and picked us up. And we just left out bikes in the bike rack unlocked until the morning. “No worries, mate, everyone does it.” So we unattached the panniers from our bikes and headed to our “hotel” – one of those establishments who have benefited greatly from the Trail Ride.

Highest point. It's downhill (mostly) from here.

Our hotel for the night.

That fireplace realllllly felt good after a day riding in the rain!

Now we’re recuperating.  We’re energized, but pooped.

We spent the early evening sorting photos, but it’s getting late and we want to do the trip justice, so four days and three nights of photos and stories will have to wait.  OK, here’s one:

OK, you really have to click on this to see the tunnel on the left that we came through.

For now, we’ve done 169 kilometers of mountain biking in three nights/four days, across the Otago District over what was formerly a train route.  It was beautiful, it rained, it was windy, cloudy, steep and gorgeous.  All at different times in the ride.  We met some fantastic people, stayed at some great inns and saw scenery that you just don’t see speeding past in a car, plane or train.

Speaking of “train”, tomorrow we’re taking a train from here (Middlemarch, more or less) to Dunedin on the East coast where we’ll stay the night and then come back the next day.  It’s supposed to be a stunningly beautiful trip and is called; “One of the world’s great train rides”.  Well, we’ll see and we’ll let you know, as well as update this blog with lots of new pictures of the adventures of the last five or so days.

Say it out loud and make it happen. That’s how we roll. And last year on the South Island when we spent a day on the Otago Rail Trail we decided we wanted to come back and do the whole 100 plus mile trail. And we are.

We left Kurow after spending another day chasing the elusive but large fish in these rivers. Actually this time Bob had one but it broke the line and swam away, probably laughing. But Bob was smiling too so both parties won.

Our trip to Middlemarch, where we were meeting our bike taxi, took us over Danesby Pass. The atlas clearly states that this is not a road for motorhomes or wide vehicles. So we asked our hosts what they thought of it. “It’s like all of the roads back here…sometimes a little rough but passable”. Well, it was a little rough at times. Loose gravel, sharp turns, very narrow and stunning! The kind of road that you want to stop at every turn to take pictures but worry that some local will come barreling around the next corner.

Here's a "tame" part of the road. I was, frankly, afraid to pull over on the steeper bits.

The view from near the top. The trip, though very rough and "white knuckle" driving was definitely worth it.

We did stop to take pictures and luckily the one very fast local showed up at one of the gentler turns so we had time to get to the side. The pass climbed about 4000 feet and wound through sheep and cattle country and sometimes even along a beautiful river…Bob’s casting arm was twitching but we were on a schedule and needed to get to Middlemarch so only photo breaks were allowed.

Once through the pass we entered into the heart of the Otago region which is full of sheep ranches and fruit orchards. Not all sheep were on the range though and as we came hurrying around one bend a man jumped off a poorly parked pick up truck and signaled for us to slow down. And we did. We turned the bend and were suddenly engulfed by a flock of 300 plus sheep being herded across the state highway to the field on the other side. The dogs were doing a great job and we had quite the seat for the show!

So, we're off the mountain, down from the pass, back on a solid road doing 100 KM/H, round a turn and...SHEEP!!

Fortunately, the doggies had everything under control. We just had to wait a few minutes 'till they herded them into the field

Once in Middlemarch we moved our biking gear and bags to be transported to a waiting vehicle and were delivered to our starting point, Clyde. Our first accommodation is a lovely three bedroom house aptly named Plum Tree Cottage. And we have it to ourselves! We have harvested some plums and some pears and enjoyed the bottle of wine and brownies that were left as a welcome gift. And we are enjoying the beautiful twilight on the front porch.

View into the lot of our cottage

Such a nice spot we wanted to stay here a couple days, but...the trail awaits!

Sweet as…let’s ride!

Well, actually my experience was priceless, as they say. But as is often the case, the big one(s) got away.

It was a glorious day and a lovely little river. We parked the car just off the road and agreed to meet up again in two hours. Ann walked downriver on a hike and I, with waders, net, pole and sundry other fly fishing gear designed expressly to CATCH fish, headed up stream.

You couldn't ask for a more beautiful spot.

Let's go fish!

I was wading slowly through calm, gravely water when suddenly I realized I had “snuck” up on a huge trout. Moby Trout it was. It was so big, I actually thought it was a tree branch in the water and paid it no attention until I saw its tail twitch.

HOLY SMOKES!! “This is it!”, says I. I prepared to make a brilliant cast over Mr. Moby Trout’s head when I noticed the wind had started gusting. Right down the river. I did a couple false casts up over his head and let loose. Nothing. The wind grabbed the tiny feather fly and gossamer line and tossed it aside, sneering at my mere mortal attempt at a brilliant cast. Another try was a little better , but not great and the fly floated past Mr. Trout off to one side. I think he looked at it, but No Joy.

I tried a couple more false casts and as the wind seemed to ease, flicked the line out, but it slapped the water a bit and Mr. Moby Frickin’ Trout gave a little kick and slipped upstream a dozen yards or so.

Now that he’s seen the fly, and rejected it, I have to change to a different one. At this point I found I had what’s known in hunting as “Buck Fever”. I was so excited at seeing such a damn big fish, I was shaking too hard to tie the damn knot on the new fly!

Oh, such are the tragedies of fishing big fish in little streams. It went like that for two hours. I saw big fish. They saw me.

Oh, well. I had fun. Lots. And we’ll do it again tomorrow.

This is the town we’re staying at today and where we spent the evening stalking penguins.  We thought folks would like to see some of the architecture.

When there's a "Snooker and Billiard Hall" you know you're not in Kansas anymore.

And…while Ann went out exploring – I spent some quality time in New Zealand’s only whiskey factory.  It actually went out of business back in the early 1990’s, but they stored casks of the stuff and today are selling it again.  I bought a 1989 cask strength single malt.  Yum!

Ann in Takaro Park in downtown Oamaru.

And a bit of the skyline. Definitely has a British feel.

Ann has wanted to see the Blue Penguins “up close” for two years now.  Tonight we were finally in the right place at the right time to see a dozen or more cross the road and waddle up into the caves along the cliff.

Hmm...maybe this would be a good spot to watch for them tonight?

We got to the bay at Oamaru about dusk...

Just as we were getting ready to leave, around 10 PM, the little scamps showed up...

They come up from the beach, hide in the bushes then when the coast is clear - charge!

And so it goes here in the Southland.  Tomorrow we go fly fishing (I hope) up river into the South Central Region to the small town of Kurow.  We’re booked into a farm stay.  Not sure what that will entail, but this one is more upscale than the “Caravan” at the farm hostel.

Wish us luck!

Early highlights of the first couple days of this year’s South Island trip.

We flew in to Christchurch and despite the stress of remembering how to drive on the “wrong” side of the road again, we made it to our motel without too much fuss.  We spent the afternoon walking around downtown and viewing the after effects of the devastating 2011 earthquake as well as the rebuilding.  The devastation was so great, they are still demolishing buildings today.  But the rebuilding is coming along nicely and we enjoyed the city.

The sign really says it all.

Some of the rebuilding downtown district.

They have antique trolleys running through the downtown. Lots of fun to ride. Beautifully restored.

After the “city life” in Christchurch we shifted 180 degrees to farm living at the Onuku Farmhouse Hostel just outside Akaroa where our “room” was a trailer (known in NZ as a Caravan).  What a fun way to stay!

We had a beautiful drive out to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula.

Home for the night!

View out the outhouse window.

Since it was only 2PM, we decided to hike to the summit – supposedly a one and a half hour roundtrip.  Well…we took a wrong turn and had to take the “adventure trail” which ended up as a three hour hike/climb just to get to the top.  Oh, well a nice hike and beautiful views.

Humm...is this really the right way?

No trail, but almost to the summit anyway. Just took a bit longer.

Whew...

...and a lovely moonrise on the way back down.

Oh yeah, and the bull?  Next day we went for another hike and guess what?  We got lost.  Ended up in a field with a pretty cow.  There were lots of cows on the hike, so what the heck, we just walked on by – well, almost.  This one started coming towards us…well, actually me…and started snorting!!  We made a hasty retreat once we realized it was a bull and would probably not be amused if we tried to pet it.  Once safely beyond his domain Ann admitted that she was glad I was wearing my bright red shirt.  Until that is, I pointed out that her pack back was bright red as well!

Yeah, well, they didn't say what to do about BULLS!

Most of the cows were like this guy. They couldn't care less we were there.

We finally found the trail sign (hint: look on the window).

So, day three and we’re in Timaru.  Bob has already made new friends with the locals.

The locals here are good listeners...

The entry to our hotel. Quite a change from our trailer from last night.

But, that would be tomorrow (Thursday NZ time, Wednesday US time).

Today, we packed and packed, then did some boat work.  I finished reinstalling the starboard forward porthole.  It’s now done.  I also pulled the fuel injectors on the diesel. They are still leaking a little since our fuel contamination problem and subsequent cleanup in Fiji in 2013.  They were cleaned, but evidently not pressure checked.  Something’s not seating right, so out they come and I’m having them pressure checked this time. Hopefully that’ll solve the problem.  They drip about 1/2 pint in 12 hours of run time.  Not a lot, but knowing there’s diesel oil drizzling over a hot engine isn’t my idea of a “relaxing sail”.

Ann spent the day digging out all our “land clothes” which are buried in various hard to access spots in the boat.  Almost as much fun as doing the laundry.  Both are vital, but not a lot of fun.

We ended the day with a hike up Mt. Parahaka.  It’s the local mountain that towers over Whangarei.  For us, it’s about a two hour round trip hike up through some beautiful rain forest.  Relaxing as well as good exercise to get us ready for our upcoming bike ride.

So…tomorrow at 0940 we fly from Whangarei to Auckland, then onward to Christchurch on the South Island for about three weeks of sightseeing.  The fun starts on March 3rd with a four day mountain bike ride on the Otago Rail Trail.  We’ll ride about 20-30 miles/day in the mountains on an old train route.  That means it’s now a dirt/gravel trail. Not super tough riding, but about 40% harder than doing it on the road, so it will “feel” more like 40 miles/day.  Much of it along some pristine river, where if all goes well I’ll do some fly fishing.  Each night we’re booked into a farm or very small inn.

This is back country touring and we’re really looking forward to it.

If the back country part were not enough adventure, add that we’ve been watching the weather report for the last two weeks and it’s showing a BIG storm hitting that area right in the middle of our trip.  Should make for even MORE of an adventure, eh?  If you want to follow the weather Google “Clyde” or “Alexandria” and “South Island, New Zealand” and you can see about where we’ll be.

Stay tuned.  We’ll blog as long as we can get some internets along the way.  At the very least we’ll sum it up when we’re done!

Ah, after a nice BBQ with our friends, we’re treated with a lovely sunset across the river from our spot on Charisma.

Sunset over the river.