A Weighty Decision! Milton to Balclutha - 26kms

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.

We crossed the Clutha River via a cycle/walkway over the arched river bridge and, just after 12.00pm, headed for the 'i' centre in the middle of town.

There we booked a local motel room for the night and located a freight company nearby.

We quickly sorted out the items we wanted to jettison, then towed them in a trailer to the freight company. The helpful receptionist there got everything packed ready for the courier pick up. Phew! All sorted before they closed for the weekend.

No tent etc means that, although towing will be easier, we'll bypass The Catlins now and instead head to Gore. It'll be another long run  but hopefully, now, we'll get a chance to do a little more cycling and less walking. We'll see!!