A Hard Day's Slog!! Oamaru to Palmerston - 57kms

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 'crashed' back in our cosy motel. 
Will sleep well tonight!








Comments

  1. Harry WhorwoodFebruary 14, 2021 at 9:08 PM

    Change in the weather as well which didn’t help. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CindyFebruary 14, 2021 at 9:39 PM

      Thanks, Harry. Feeling our age tonight after all that walking! Rain forecast, too!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What a Cycle Path! Kaiapoi to Christchurch - 30kms

Image
The Riverland Holiday Park, where we spent last night, is adjacent to the Riverland Golf Club and seems to cater for groups of visiting golfers. Great facilities - motel units, cabins and camping areas. Yesterday we encountered a new, tarsealed cycle way into Kaiapoi. Today we found the continuation of it, just a kilometre from the holiday park.                                                A group of well endowed bulls watched us as we left and we passed one of the large irrigation systems that keep this area so green. The many arches span the entire length of the field. We quickly found the cycle track.  Wow! It is tar sealed, wide and runs beside the motorway, protected from it by a sturdy, iron fence. Apparently it takes the rider all the way to the city centre! We were enjoying it so much that we missed the turn off to Hornby! After many checks of the Google map, we left the cycle lane and cut across to the west of the city to our motel in Hor
Read more

Rain! Picton to Blenheim - 28kms

Image
Heavy rain during the night. Woke at 5.15am and spent some time extracting the bikes and trailers from the shed, in the dark and rain, then manoeuvering them up and around all the obstacles in our way to the front door. Breakfast was a banana and cold water.  We sprinted off, walking our gear down to the Bluebridge Ferry in the rain, only to find that sailing was delayed a whole hour! The ship's passengers are interesting!  A large gang of patched Mongrel Mob officianados are heading off for a big convention down south. Lots of back slaps and secret hand shakes! The hold is packed with their motor bikes! And- the captain's just announced we can expect a lumpy ride and 5metre swells! Yay!! One big wave sent rubbish bins flying and kitchen gear crashing to the floor. Passengers leaving the cafe staggered from left to right to left as they made their way. Our bikes had been lashed to the side of the hold so were undamaged and, as we were near the exit, we managed to ge
Read more

A Very Long Day! Palmerston to Dunedin - 63kms

Image
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
Read more