Day 32 - Monday 29 March 2010
Dist: 82 km. Av. Speed: 14.2 km/hr. Cal: 1117. Ride Time: 5 hours 43 min
Well, talk about leave the be(a)st till last…today had the biggest climb so far, by far but some of the sweetest ‘rewards’ as well.
I was woken at 4.51am by the sound of Trevor hurling - Trevor was my Aussie neighbour at the campground, and he and his wife Meg had asked me to join them for dinner at the local Thai restaurant last night - Trevor had the seafood green curry!
It was a pretty cold night and people were talking frost but luckily I didn’t need to be up too early because I needed to get my front tyre attended too at Cycle Surgery before I could leave and they didn’t open until nine anyway. I got them to replace the tube (and bought a spare) while I went in search of breakfast. Unfortunately I timed it just as the Kiwi Experience bus arrived at the café with a load of hungover, spotty, loud, pommy gits (and gittesses) all smoking and talking up last night’s drinking session. No comment.
I stocked up on food for what was going to be a short 80km cruise up the valley, over a wee saddle and down into Garston… or so I thought.
I picked up my bike and pedalled out of town toward Bannockburn at the foot of the valley, my large plate of muesli weighing me down and the mid-morning sun overheating me on the first short, steep climb from the lake up to the pub and café.
It was only 20 minutes into the day and had to stop and shed most of my layers, apply sun block and grab a cold drink in preparation for the forecast 27 degrees. The café had some great looking passionfruit muffins and they sold jet planes - both would prove critical later in the day.
So, lighter and well stocked I zoomed off up the valley on the sealed road, past vineyards and sheep, gradually climbing and getting great views of Lake Dunstan in my rear view mirror. It was amazingly quiet, with no wind at all, until boom… boom… boom… I thought I was being shot at but it was just those damn bird scarers from the vineyards. I could still hear them, the only thing breaking the total serenity, half an hour later.
I came to a fork in the road and it turned to gravel. I laughed to myself when I saw the sign on the Nevis Road fork that said steep climb - next 9km! I thought “ha, it can’t be as steep as Dansey’s and it can’t be as long as Waipoua”. It was 10.45am and I was immediately in the granny gear and didn’t get out of it until 1.30pm when I finally reached the summit. It was way steeper than Dansey’s and way longer than Waipoua! And there must have been fifty false tops.
I’d decided not to use the iPod today, because I wanted to enjoy the serenity, today was all about the serenity (darl) and perseverance - it was amazingly quiet.
I vowed I wouldn’t walk any of today’s climbs but unfortunately some got the better of me and I had to push, but even pushing I could only go 20m, rest, 20m, rest… The view was stunning and on a good day you can apparently see Mt Cook - Aoraki but there was a small amount of cloud over the mountain tops to the north.
The summit sign was a very welcome sight. It declared that this road was the highest public road in New Zealand rising to a height of 1,300m. That was it, the highest point on my journey, it was all down hill from here right? Well except for a few more wee climbs…
The descent to Nevis Crossing (a bridge) was so steep I was hard on the brakes the whole way down as I rapidly dropped 500m down to the Nevis River - the only river in the Southern Hemisphere that flows directly South to North.
A slight tail wind had kicked in (Doreen, I’m beginning to think you’re right - thanks for the phone message) as I turned and followed the river up the wide valley floor and my progress improved dramatically. The Nevis Valley is like another world, completely isolated and stunningly beautiful - and of course there’s the serenity.
I stopped for a snack at the old ‘township’ which was built around the gold sluicing boom in the late 1800s then ventured on south through gorges and wide open grassy plains and across 25 river fords. I came across four vehicles during the day and two of them stopped for a chat. They were the farmers, driving a flock of marinos off the tops for the Autumn and they gave me good information about the valley and the road/rack ahead.
My carrier that holds the panniers broke again today. The same ‘injury’ as happened back in Hamilton but this time to the other side, so I had to slow down a bit to ensure it didn’t come to grief all together and bring me to a stop.
The final ascent up to the last saddle was a bit cold, grey and blustery but the view down into the patchworked Garston Valley was incredible with the sun going down behind the mountains and a few back-lit showers sweeping down the valleys. I paused to take it all in. Realising that this would be the last time I’d be in this environment on Le Tour I tried to absorb it all. An amazing landscape - what a beautiful country.
Another rapid descent, hard on the brakes down to the valley floor, the main road, traffic and the Garston Pub and then it was on down the road to the B&B I’d booked some months ago. Bev and Matt were great hosts, treating me to lovely vegetable soup, a mutton roast and Matt’s tasty home brew.
I slept very, very well.
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