That’s how we ended the last four days of the trip.  Some days we hiked together and others I fly fished and Ann took her new GPS and went for a 20 kilometer or so hike.  Fun was had by all.  Here are the results:

We spent one morning driving out to Milford Sound since it's considered a "must see" down in Fjordland...

...then in the afternoon hiked Key Summit...

...which was another hike we did last year that was worth a second go. Three hour round trip and you get great views from the top.

On the way back north, we stopped for two nights at a wonderful lodge at Lake Ohau.

I caught and released a bunch of small rainbows here (none were big enough to warrant a photo though).

Out of Twizel, Ann hiked Fraser Creek (a couple miles west of town)...

...while I, yes, went fishing again. But no catching...

...but, oh what a gorgeous day! I felt a little better later in the day when we stopped at the local hunting/fishing shop and they said the fishing had gone dead in March after a good Jan/Feb. It's all about timing, eh?

More fishing - this time out of Clyde on the Clutha River...

...while Ann went upriver for a hike...

...and captured this beautiful view.

And, we'll end the photos of the trip with this shot on the swing backyard of our cabin in Clyde.

What a lovely trip.  Three weeks in the South Island.  I’d go back tomorrow, but we’ve got work to do to get ready of the next leg of the adventure – sailing all the way back across the Pacific to get Charisma back on the west coast.

After four days on mountain bikes we decided to take a train ride. The Taieri River Gorge Train to Dunedin. Bob loves trains and was really hoping to do the ride from Christchurch to Greymouth across Arthur’s Pass but it wasn’t fitting into our schedule. We asked other cyclists about the Taieri train and they all encouraged us to go.

I love watching spectacular scenery going by. Bob does the driving because he worries about other crazy tourists forgetting which side of the road to be on, so he misses out on a lot of the stunning views. He was like a kid in a candy store… he would not give up his choice location on the “back porch” of our coach.

You can see Ann also enjoying standing outside watching the world go by.

No need to say more…just enjoy the pictures! You certainly can see where the word gorge-ous comes from!

The train station is in the middle of nowhere. You drive 20 minutes over a shingle (gravel) road from the nearest pavement to get here.

Our train car.

Here's the gorge. In the far left you can "just" see one of the bridges that we travelled over.

Yow! Some of these bridges spanned some deep ravines and were barely wider than the train.

The tunnels were no wider than the bridges. You had to be careful not to stick your head out the side going into one of these. Inside, there was less than a foot of clearance on either side.

The two hour ride brought us into Dunedin along the coast where we stayed the night at a nice little Bed and Breakfast before heading back the next day. (This is the train station)

The station was beautifully preserved and a real throwback to another time.

Downtown Dunedin. This shot reminded us that for most of our three weeks on the South Island we didn't see any stoplights. Nothing but very small towns. And the only traffic jams were a farmer and his dogs driving their sheep across the road.

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!