Keep Cycling! South Island New Zealand 2021

11 years ago, at age 70, Del did his very first bike tour, Cape Reinga to Bluff.  Having just completed the South Island section with him, I now have the deepest respect for him and his amazing, solo achievement. Del's memories of that trip had faded over the years, especially the uncomfortable ones - like endless hill climbs! Unable to cycle overseas last year, we planned to cycle around the South Island on our electric bikes.  When we found that it was impossible to fly them by Air NZ, we decided, as we've done so many times before on our trips to Australia, to take our push bikes and trailers! We both love the thrill of cycling, at a good speed, when pedaling is almost effortless. On only 2 days out of the 24 days we've been away, have we experienced this thrill. The remaining 22 days have been physically demanding and very tiring.  Cycling in heavy traffic, handling the bikes and trailers over rough or non- existent road shoulders, negotiating river bridges

Another beautiful morning! Left Gore at 7.30am. A flat, straight road with light Sunday traffic to start - and not a hill in sight for 15kms! (Only 3 hills whole trip!) Wore a thermal and windbreaker as well as cycling gear. Fingers and toes were numb for the first couple of hours.  Stripped off our thermals mid morning. Waited for a break in traffic, then stripped down to bare skin and pulled our cycle shirts back on quickly. Getting expert at this! Great to cycle at a good speed without effort for a change! Lush, green paddocks and large herds of cows or flocks of healthy looking sheep everywhere. Stopped for a Del-made cheese and tomato roll at 11.30am before we hit the town. Arrived Invercargill around 12.30pm and chose a motel close to Countdown. Went for a wander around the town. Most shops were closed and there were large areas of development in the CBD.                                                 Del couldn't resist a photo of

This morning we were keen to see if removing the heavy tent and camping gear from our trailers made our day easier. It did, but it was still a difficult ride today. From the first hill out of Balclutha, to the 15kms of hills that followed, we laboured and walked.  A roller coaster of hills and hollows led us through the pretty south Otago countryside. Herds of cows and sheep greeted us as we plodded past. We passed lush, green pasture and fields of yellow flowers - possibly canola. Luckily we haven't struck a single day of bad weather so far. We start the day with a thermal and windbreaker over our cycling gear. By 10.00am these are stripped off.  Stopped at Clinton for a coffee and home made cheese and tomato rolls, then off to attack those hills again. Finally we crossed the Mataura River and entered Gore where the statue of a  leaping brown trout welcomes visitors. Gore is a Mecca for Trout fishermen.  It

To date progress has been pretty slow - too much walking due to the hilly terrain and our weighty trailers.  We needed to do something to make the journey easier. We couldn't change the hills - but we could reduce our load - again!  We resolved to courier/freight the heaviest item, the tent, and any other item not used regularly, as soon as we arrived in Balclutha. With 26 kms to cover, we left Milton a little later than usual, at 8.00am. The road undulated through lush farmland - obviously serious sheep country. The undulations were enough though to get us off our bikes. We must have dismounted and walked around 15 times! That settled it! The tent and accessories had to go! Tall rectangular hedges, typical of the area, are often found stretching across hectares of farmland as windbreaks. We checked out the Old Sod Cottage on the way. I think that the old sod must have lived a pretty miserable life in this dark and dingy little home.

Set off at 7.00am as usual and began the cyclist's alternative route south, out of the city, with extra help from Google Maps. The route took us first through quiet, flat suburban streets.  Then it rose steeply as it took us over the hills and out of the city. More walking!  By 9.00am we'd only covered 8kms!  At 15kms the route returned us to the highway - and the traffic. We were now on the relatively flat terrain of the Taieri Plain. The traffic was dominated by heavy trucks - namely logging and stock trucks- and needed our full focus on cycling in a straight line on the road shoulder. We crossed the Taieri River Bridge and cycled with the river on our left and the railway line on our right for several kms. The road was undulating and, with a developing head wind, we quickly tired and began to take regular breaks. We passed Waihola Lake and stopped at The Black Swan Cafe to refuel and re-energise. Back on the road, we had 24 mor

Today we woke early but allowed ourselves a short sleep in. A trip to the albatross colony, at the furthest point of the Otago Peninsula, was planned.  No buses went as far as the Taiaroa Heads. The Royal Albatross Colony itself organized hotel pick ups, but these had been cancelled when COVID arrived. Monarch Tours organized a variety of wild life tours, but only did so if bus numbers were sufficient. Numbers are down.  No tours today! We decided not to hire a taxi or car for over 3 hrs. It's 31kms each way, so would be a full day's cycling so  -  no visit this trip! Instead we walked over 6 kms, checking out the route to take tomorrow.  We had chosen a south Dunedin motel to make our getaway more straightforward. No cycling on the motorway so we found a safe alternative route. After lunch made a quick visit to beautiful St Kilda Beach - white sand, blue sea and goose-pimply sunbathers. Still a chilly wind! Then back to the motel for some R&R before we take off

Got off to a good start at 7.00am this morning. No rain so far and little wind. Walked a long hill out of Palmerston then enjoyed a good cycle.  Full of energy, we cycled over the Waikouaiti River and through the town. Around the 23 kms mark, things changed drastically. We walked virtually the whole 3 kms, only to find that another 5 kms followed. More walking! We stopped for coffee and a snack to re-energise at The Spot, a convenience store at Blueskin. Previous cyclists had suggested that, to get to Dunedin without the heavy traffic, we should head for Port Chalmers and take the cycle path from there into the city. A good idea, we thought. Just south of Waitati, we left the highway and took the Blueskin Road. It was quiet with virtually no traffic, but it quickly became steep, winding hills. More walking - in fact - these were the steepest hills we'd come across.  Eventually, after endless walking, we were rewarded with

We left the motel at 7.15am and instantly were hit by a kilometre long, steep hill! So steep that we had to stop every few metres to catch our breath. From the top, the road was like a roller coaster for most of the 57kms to Palmerston. Traffic, which included logging trucks and trailers, kept us constantly on our toes. We had no opportunity to relax. Walking was tiring and cycling against a headwind was exhausting. Recovery breaks became more and more frequent. Progress was slow. By 11.30am we were only in Hampden. Spotted a cafe there and decided that a stop and early lunch was in order. Followed the coast, passing Moeraki  then turned inland at Shags' Point.  The hills  and wind continued. (That's my best tired look!)  Eventually we plodded into Palmerston.  At 3.15pm we heaved a sigh of relief when the Pioneer Motel came into sight.  We grabbed something for dinner from the 4 Square across the road then literally &

Last night we watched as several hundred little blue penguins arrived back on shore after a day's feeding at sea, and scrambled up the rocks to their nesting grounds. No photography allowed. At 8.30pm we walked along the shore to the penguin observatory, about 15 minutes from our motel. On the way we saw an amazing sight - several thousand cormorants were resting on a wooden jetty. As dusk fell, they took off in groups to their nesting grounds. Today we enjoyed Oamaru - a wonderful farmers' market (where's Delly?) a fun and challenging children's playground,  and met a couple of cyclists who had just completed the "alps2ocean cycle trail" - 312kms which finishes in Oamaru (could be a future Henley challenge!), and visited the Victorian Precinct where all the old buildings have been lovingly preserved. Del couldn't resist sitting on a Penny Farthing! An o

We should have slept like babies last night after our long ride. We didn't! Probably over tired.  Del was determined to get to Oamaru today, so another early get away was called for.                                                             Timaru's Sacred Heart Basilica Traffic was light and a slight tail wind was building. Progress was slow as it took 15kms of walking/cycling up hills and humps to get back to nice, flat cyclable highway. We've left Canterbury Province now and are in North Otago. Endless hectares of golden cereal crops edged with tall, treed hedges neatly shaped into perfect rectangles. Butlers Berry Farm appeared out of nowhere just when we needed it. Had a compulsory coffee and muffin and we were on our way again. Came across several crops of sunflowers. What a dazzling sight! Felt as if we were cycling in France again. We considered stopping at Glenavy (23km from Oamaru), but decided to make the most of

Up early again and got away at 8.00am. Light wind and weather fine, though a little chilly to start. Our aim was to get to Ashburton as we didn't make it there yesterday. Arrived in Ashburton early, around 10.00am. After coffee and a yummy muffin in a Robert Harris cafe, we decided to continue on to Temuka.  We passed endless, flat fields edged with rows of tall wind breaks. Large herds of cows munched placidly. The traffic was fast and very noisy. We passed a lavender farm, too. I was beginning to feel a bit saddle sore so we looked out for a handy motel in Temuka. "No Vacancy" at every one! The 'i' centre advised that the Crusaders rugby team were playing a pre season game that night and all accommodation had been taken.  That settled it! We'd have to battle on to Timaru. We stopped for a late lunch on the wayside. We were both getting weary by now. Del patiently stopped regularly to give me a break

We left our cosy unit in Hornby at 7.30am. Fine weather and a slight westerly to start.  We were looking forward to coasting along the flat Canterbury Plains, when, a few kms out of Hornby, the road became an expressway! No Cycling! After many stops and checks on Google Maps, we found our way to Rolleston township and back on to the highway. By now the West wind had become quite strong and at times made cycling a straight line difficult. Windage from big trucks and trailers passing in both directions added to the difficulty. We worked hard controlling the bikes all the way to Rakaia. No coasting for us today! To get to Rakaia we had to cross the famous Rakaia Bridge - all 1.75kms  of it! Del and I pedalled like fury! Cars and trucks patiently crawled behind us until it was safe to pass! Had planned to cycle to Ashburton today, but decided that the wind was too much of a risk. Luckily the Rakaia Holiday Park was just the other side of the bridge.