Monday, February 23, 2015

Cardrona To Queenstown And Queenstown Cooldown



Down always from the summit

It's the evening of the day after our last ride of the tour. I am going to try to recap it before I forget all of the exciting events of yesterday.

We had a long climb to start our day in cool temperatures. I had to stop and rest my legs near the summit. When I got to the top, there was a bizarre event happening in the turn out viewing area. Richard and Germain were surrounded by several Chinese tourist posing for photos with them. Of course when I got there, they included. They couldn't believe how far we had cycled, especially the seniors in our group. The tourists were from a city near Hong Kong except one of them that carried on a conversation in French with Germain. She lived in Montreal.

The rest of the ride was either downhill or flat. I hooked up with Richard and Germain in the historic town of Arrowtown where we stopped for coffee. Richard pulled us the rest of the way into Queenstown. We arrived before noon.

Nine of us cleaned up and hopped into the van to drive to lunch. Richard had made reservations at Amisfield Winery for lunch. We bribed Asbjorn with a free lunch to take us there. And what a lunch it was. We ordered the chef's choice with four wine pairings, one wine or no wine. Our first of four courses was toasted homemade bread with pork spread similar to pate and watercress from their property. The second course was cherry tomatoes in a vinaigrette along side whipped buffalo mozzarella that had a consistency of whipped cream. Our third course was warm lightly smoked melt in your mouth salmon with shaved fennel and thinly sliced radishes. Our fourth was thinly sliced tender prime rib with browned potatoes. For dessert, we had a mixture of chocolate cake with coffee ice cream, custard with fruit and one othe that I can't remember. For the wines, a bubbly white was served with the first two courses, a Sauvignon Blanc came with the salmon, a Pinot Noire went nicely with the beef and a sweet dessert wine finished out our meal. The was the finest lunch I have ever eaten. To add to it, we ate outside on the patio in perfect weather.

Back to Queenstown, I packed my bicycle and we relaxed for a while. Then it was time for our social hour where all of the final accolades were made. We then walked a trail over to the gondola and rode up an extremely steep mountain to our dinner in the restaurant at the top for our final group dinner. We had an 8:15 reservation so we had lots of time to take in the view of Queenstown, the lake and the mountainous surrounding area. The buffet was very good and the restaurant was filled with several hundred hungry people. The staff said that they were serving 1400 customers that night.


After we rode the gondola down, we retraced our steps on the trail and headed off to bed.

This morning, Ann and I slept in. Then we walked to a recommended cafe called Vidu for our French toast, bacon and baked banana.


Then we took a walk through the Queenstown Gardens.


Lunch was at Vudu's second location. I had a falafel salad with spinach quinoa and pickled carrots.
And had a pork pie.

We managed to relax for a while, reading our email and checking in for our flight tomorrow. Dinner was at Captains where Ann had lamb cutlets and a salad. I had risotto with peas and monkfish. Ice cream was next at Patagonia.

I probably forgot a few things, but I might remember them when I add this trip to our website - annboblynn.com.


Saturday, February 21, 2015

Makarora To Cardeona

Greg Fowler, Kathe Fowler and Sheila Coe alongside Lake Wanaka

The fog kept the temperature down to the low 40s before the sun rose high enough to breach the mountains as we rode along Lake Wanaka. The rain forest was behind us. We began to see brown hills. When we reached our first summit, the sun was shining brightly along Lake Hawea.


I encountered lots of rollers, some of them steep, while riding next to the lakes. When I reached the end of Lake Hawea near the town of Wanaka, I found myself in the middle of an international triathlon. All of the racers were on the bicycling phase and were riding toward me. After a while, I reached an intersection where they were riding in the same direction. They all passed me. I did, however, go through their feeding zone where course volunteers were handing out food and drinks. I didn't take any, but I enjoyed the spectators who clapped for me and offered encouragement. David Williams, our co-ride director had a son doing the half triathlon. He was able to greet him at the finish.

I rode solo all day and reached our hotel around 12:30.

Here is a link to today's ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/258168189

 Our hotel looks like something out of the Wild West.


We have a room at the overflow hotel just up the street. It's new and modern, not like the rooms that half of our group are staying in at the old hotel. Because I only ate some snacks on the road, I had lunch of bangers and mash. The bangers were made with lamb and were very tasty. 

Our social hour was outside in a picnic area. Dinner was also outside on the hotel's lawn at picnic tables. Ann had salmon cakes and I had lamb chops. We both drink Guiness draughts. We had entertaining conversations with Greg and Kathe Fowler, Sheila Coe and Michael Blake.

It's getting late, so I am shutting down for the day.




Friday, February 20, 2015

Haast To Makarora

Chuck Jackson and our Italian cycle tourist 

The breakfast area was filled by Chinese tourists. They had the early shift with food cooked for their culture. Eggs and bacon came out for our shift at 7:00. We have seen lots of bus loads of families from mainland China. We're not sure that it is because of the Chinese New Year or that the middle class in China is wealthy enough for foreign travel.

Our ride today was along the Haast River and up and over Haast Pass. It took us 50kms to get to the base of the pass and then we had a very steep ascent to the first summit. I have very low gears and I was still struggling. Most of our riders were able to finish the climb, but a few had to get motorized assist from the van. Those who made it were rewarded with a nice 15km descent.

Part of the descent

I rode solo today. I needed to relax at my own pace to make sure that I could get over the pass and not embarras myself by walking. The river was on our left. Cliffs and heavily forested woodlands were on our right. The mountains were in the background.


I reached our lodging around 12:30. Our room was not ready so I camped out in the café with most of our group. I had a long black coffee and a fruit muffin with white chocolate along with my PB&J sandwich. I'm having trouble uploading my route to the Internet, so I can't post its link.

All of us are staying in individual A-frame cabins. We have a queen bed and two singles. We also have a kitchen and a small bathroom with a shower. This is the only lodging within several kilometers. So we have to rely on its cafe. After our social hour in a common area, we walked to the cafe for a buffet dinner. I am not going to comment on the food because some of it I didn't recognize.

Now Ann and I going back to the café area to publish this blog and to look at our email.




Fox Glacier To Haast


Germain Berube and I arranged to ride together today. His roomie, Richard Hanke, asked if he could join us. I was surprised because Richard is one of the fast riders in our group. I suspect that he needed a day at a casual pace to recharge his energy level. He pulled us for 120 kms giving us a chance to put less pressure in our legs. So today is "Richard Hanke Appreciation Day".

We started the day by packing our bags into the van at 7:00 and riding about 1km to a restaurant for breakfast. We had a full breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, tomatoes and coffee. It was chilly outside, so it was nice to sit in the restaurant for a casual meal while the sun tried to get over the mountain.

As you can see in the above photo, the terrain was very flat. It continued that way most of the day. I stayed in my big chain ring 75% of the time. We stopped halfway into the ride at a café in a salmon farm. I had a good blueberry muffin and a cappuccino.

Back on the road, we began to ride over some rollers. We played leapfrog with a couple of Brits who were fully loaded and riding at our pace. One of them had been to the US to ride across the country. Both riders were very strong.

Toward the end of the ride we had to grind up three sharp peaks. Germain and I struggled while Richard flew.mhe waited for us before the last downhill.

We stopped at nature area that is one of the major wetlands in the South Island. Richard is a magnet for biting bugs, so we got out of there in a hurry.


We reached the motel fairly early.

I don't have a link to my ride because the Internet is not cooperating.

One of the things unique about traveling on these highways is the number of bridges and the fact that they are all one way bridges. You have to make sure nobody is heading in your before you start across. Coming into Haast we rode over a very long bridge that had a couple of turnouts along the way. Vehicles respect bicyclists' rights and wait patiently for us to get across.

After our social hour, Ann and I joined most of our group at the motel's bar/cafe for dinner. She had a falafel salad which she reported as the best salad on our trip. I had a hamburger which was OK.

It is now time to shut down for the day.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Harihari To Fox Glacier


We were under attack by Harihari mosquitoes last night. I finally put in my ear plugs so I wouldn't hear them and told them to have at it. I needed sleep and didn't  care about bites. Ann had one bite. I had none. This morning I discovered that everyone else had the same problem. Such is life.

Breakfast was at a café next to the motel. Bacon and eggs with good coffee.

The ride started with cool temperatures and a little fog that was lifting. You can see from the photo above that it cleared enough to see the mountains in the distance. The ride was mostly flat until I reached 66kms. Before that, I stopped once in a café in Whataroa for a muffin and a long black coffee and again in Franz Joseph in a café for a sandwich. I passed and was passed by several people in our group. I also rode for a while with a man from Bologna, Italy. His English was minimal as was my Italian, so we didn't talk much. Because his bicycle was fully loaded and heavy, I soon eased away from him.

Here are some more photos that I took along the way.



After my second stop, it was time for some serious cycling. I had to climb three major, steep hills before a nice descent into the town of Fox Glacier. On the way, there was a short, light shower. 

We are staying in a Top 10 Holiday Park. This is a chain somewhat like KOA except that it has cabins. Internet is costly so this blog won't be posted until I get a free connection later.

A few of us piled into the van and Asbjorn drove us short distance to see the Fox Glacier. From the parking lot, we took a long uphill path to the viewing spot. Fox Glacier is the only glacier in the world that flows directly into a rain forest. (I just discovered that we have been riding through a rain forest). The face of the glacier is not too impressive. I suspect that one of the many available helicopter rides that are for sale would get a more complete view.


Back in town, we had our regular social hour. Then we went to dinner in the main town area. Ann had a lamb burger while I had venison. We are now back in our cabin and ready to wrap it up for the day.


Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Greymouth To Harihari


In the mid to late 1800s, there was a gold rush in New Zealand. Today we rambled through the heart of the gold country.

After surviving the night in the Queens Room, we had a slightly delayed buffet breakfast at the hotel. I don't know the reason for it, but the person setting up the food was very flustered. We got off at a reasonable hour, though, in a light fog and chilly temperatures. I am proud that I was not the last to leave.

This was my day for cruising slowly at my own pace. It was also my day to experience  some new things. The first was a bridge that we had to cross. It was a one lane bridge with railroad tracks down the middle. When I went over it, I took the left lane so that nobody could pass. I had to watch the surface of the bridge so that I wouldn't get wedged into the tracks. Looking down, I could see lots of spots where the pavement was missing and the boards were showing. It was scary knowing that heavy trucks and buses use this bridge.

The second unusual thing was the town of Hokitika. I had read "The Luminaries" a few months ago in anticipation of this trip. The story took place in Hokitika during the gold rush. I shouldn't have expected old buildings and muddy streets, but I did. Now the town has modern buildings. Instead of trading in gold, there are modern shops making and selling jade jewelry. I took a long rest here at a café while eating a huge blueberry muffin and drinking a large cappuccino.

The ride so far was very flat. I was getting pretty sore sitting in the saddle for so long. I decided to stop in Ross after riding 65kms to eat my PB&J sandwich. Roberta Vallejo was there having her lunch. When we were finished we took off again and finally reached some rollers that took us through several scenic reserves that were heavily wooded. The scenery up to this point was not much. I could spot the ocean from time to time, but that was it. It was much prettier in the woods and the rollers allowed me to vary my saddle position so that there was less soreness.

It was a straight run into Harihari, only one turn and that was into the motel. I stopped once to see Lake Ianthe, but that was it.

Here is a link to my ride: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/700119449#

Harihari is a blip on the road. It has two motels. We are in the less expensive one. After our social hour, we walked over to the other motel for dinner. It was a buffet with potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, corn, some kind of pasta, white rice, well done beef with gravy and popovers. For the Chinese tourists that were staying there, there was sweet and sour pork. The buffet was organized for them, but we were able to talk our way into it for a price. After they left, one of the waitresses gave us all of the after dinner mints that they didn't eat. We will have them tomorrow at our social hour. Our dinner companions were Jan and Lance James from Tempe and Paul Ciano from Los Angeles.

It's getting late. I am going down to the reception house to connect to the Internet and post this blog.

Westport To Greymouth And Pancakes For Lunch

Not really. We didn't have pancakes for lunch. I will explain later.

As usual, I was the last rider on the road today. It was a sunny, cool morning. Our route went south on the Great Coastal Highway. At first, I could not see the ocean. Pretty soon, though, it came into view and was on our right for most of the day.



I would like to say that it looked like the California coast, but it was similar only for the terrain. If you have ridden the CA coast you know that there are many extreme rollers. Lots of ups and downs and very few flat runs. As you can see in the photo above, the flora was quite different. There were lots of ferns and palm trees.

The highlight of the day was the Pancake Rocks. These are unusual rock formations next to the sea that look like packed pancakes. Most everyone on the ride took the nature walk to see them.


I also spent some time at the café across from the walk eating a yummy mint brownie and drinking a cappuccino instead of eating a real lunch. This was a congregation point for our riders and for several tour buses. There were lot of people there that we didn't trust with our bicycles and equipment out in plain sight. We worked a system were one of us would watch the bikes while others went on the walk.

I left the café with the French Connection. I lost them at the first climb. Germain usually stayed on my wheel, but this time he decided to stay back. I leapfrogged with them a couple of times. I had to stop and eat my sandwich when the empty calories from my brownie wore off. After I was rolling again, I saw them doing the same thing at the side of the road.

The spectacular scenery continued on the ocean side as well as the inland side.


Her is the link to my ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/256011509

I arrived at 3:30 in Greymount and checked into the Revingtons Hotel. This is a old-style hotel with very basic rooms. An Irish pub is on the ground floor and all of the rooms are on the next floor. Ann and I lucked out and were assigned to The Queen's Room. It is the only room with a king sized bed. The hotel is going through a period of renovation and parts of our room have roughed-in walls. One of our tour members was strolling through the ground floor looking at old photos on the wall when he saw one where Queen Elizabeth II was standing on our balcony with the Duke of Edinburgh waving to the crown on the street below. Hence the name the Queen's Room. So, several people in our group had to go through our room onto the balcony to recreate the royal moment.

We had dinner at a small restaurant close to the hotel. Ann and I both had a Moroccan lamb salad.

Now that the Queen's Room tour is over, we have shut our door and are closing down for the night. 


Sunday, February 15, 2015

Rest Day In Westport

Westport is a small town. It is much larger than Murchison where we spent the previous night. The Main Street is several blocks long with stores, cafes, gas stations and commercial buildings. A few buildings have "For Lease" signs on them. The city hall stands out as one of the best buildings.


Ann and I walked down the street for a few blocks for breakfast at a café that was on of the top 16 food establishments in town. We had poached eggs over crispy (their word, not ours) bacon and toasted ciabatta bread. It was covered with hollandaise sauce. We also had a large long black coffee with a dab of milk. A good breakfast.

Several of us over filled the van and Asbjorn drove us out of town to Tauranga Bay where we walked along a hilly nature trail to see seals. It was a beautiful walk along the seashore. As a bonus, we saw a New Zealand land bird with her chicks.



This was the first time on this trip where I have seen real surf.


After this adventure, we came back to town. Ann and I went to the local supermarket and got some supplies for the group. We also bought some pasta salads for our lunch which we ate on the patio outside and of our room.

After hanging out in our room and catching up on our internet things, we took a walk to find the town's river. We saw it, but the shoreline was in an industrial area and a bit too run down for me. I saw some old railroad cars at a local railroad preservation society.



Ann persuaded me to go into the local library. Being a librarian, this is one of the things we usually do when we have time. 

We had a spontaneous dinner at the Dènniston Dog Restaurant and Bar. There were 13 of us sitting around a long table. Ann and I both had Vietnamese lamb salad. It was a good dinner with good conversation. It was not exactly a sports bar, but there were a couple of TVs showing cricket matches. When we left the bar was crammed with people.

It is getting late. We need to prepare for tomorrow's leg of our tour.





Saturday, February 14, 2015

Nelson To Merchison To Westport

I couldn't post my blog yesterday because we had no internet connection. Besides, I was wiped out from the ride. Today's blog will recap the last two days if I can remember everything. 

I seem to be the last one to start the ride each day. I can't finish my morning routine in time. This is typical of me on previous rides. I don't mind riding alone. In fact, sometimes I prefer it. The Nelson to Murchison ride was no exception.

The ride out of town had no tricky turns and I was following the route perfectly. After a couple of kms, a local cyclist caught me and asked where I was going. When I told him, he told me to follow him. He led me onto the cycle path which bypassed the busy highway. We rode along it for several kms until we met my original route. He turned off shortly and went his own way. It was nice talking to him and we didn't have to struggle with our accents to understand each other. He had just started riding again after having cancer and being treated with chemotherapy. His goal is to start racing in some local races once he has reached proper conditioning. I hope that he got a better workout after he left me because I was not able to push him much.

Vineyards leaving Nelson

So I was on my ride, a truly grueling experience. It was very long with a couple of hard climbs. Even though I had a couple of cafe stops, I limped into our motel very tired and sore.

Here is a link to my ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/255012511

Murchison is a very small town. It has a junction in the middle with buildings a half block in each direction. One of these buildings was the River Cafe where we had dinner. Ann had a Asian lamb salad while I had pasta with chicken in a cream sauce. It's good that I was going to ride the next day.

Because we had no internet, we went to bed early.

This morning we had breakfast at the River Cafe, an amusing experience. We ordered our meals as well as our drinks at the counter. Meals came out first in reverse order. Paul was one of the first to order and finally left when his meal didn't appear after everyone else was served. Our coffee orders came as we were finishing our meal. To be fair, we were not in a hurry and both dinner and breakfast were very good.

The ride today was sort of long, but it was mostly descending. The route went through a nature preserve alongside a river. The woods we went through were fairly dense. I could hear lots of bird calls. The cicadas were very noisy as were they on precious routes. I had a pleasant stop at a cafe where I had a banana muffin and the tastiest iced coffee that I have ever had. It had a couple shots of espresso poured over ice and it was topped with vanilla ice cream. 



I arrived in Westport slightly damp from a light rain shower.

Her name s the link to my ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/255012612

We sat with several of our riders at the Town House Reataurant which is rated #1 by Trip Advisor. It was the proper rating. I had venison fillets with a spicy pepper sauce. It came with a breaded stuffed eggplant with a butter/sour cream paste. Ann had pasta with monk dish and reported That it was excellent. I also had a large Liberity Sauvignon Bomb, a really good hoppy beer.

It is now getting late. I am shutting down for the day.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Havelock To Nelson


This will be a short blog. It is getting late.

I turned right from the motel in Havelock and then left into our motel in Nelson. The morning started off with some fog and eventually turned very warm. Before our two hills of the day, I stopped at a café with several others and had a delicious muffin (it had berries and chocolate chips) and an iced coffee. The second climb was more difficult than the first. I had to brake behind a logging truck on the second descent. I rode solo the whole day.

Here is a link to my ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/254131105

We have a nice room at our motel with a shower with several shower heads that spray on different parts of your body. Very relaxing.

After our social hour, Ann and I ate in our motel's restaurant. She had a huge Caesar salad while I chose pasta with salmon in a light cream sauce. We are getting saturated with large meals with meat. It felt good to cut back.

After dinner we walked through the town. Nelson is fairly large with a downtown area that stretches for several blocks. There were lots of people dining outside in the many restaurants.

Speaking of restaurants, Yesterday I wrote about muscles in Havelock. It should have been mussels. I would like to blame my mistake on auto correct, but it was my tired brain that did it.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Wellington To Havelock

Up at 5:00. Bags to the van at 6:00. Breakfast at 6:20. On our bicycles at 7:00. Follow the leader to the ferry terminal. On the ferry before 8:00. 



This was a huge ship. It had ten decks. Five were for vehicles and five for passengers. There were plenty of places to sit - outside on the top deck and inside at several lounges, cafes and family areas. Along with some of my group, I opted for the lounge with the soft reclining seats just like the airlines with more space. Ann stayed on the open top deck. Although the sun was shining brightly and the wind was very mild, it was too cool outside for me in my bicycling clothes.

The ferry ride lasted three hours. I was able to take a short nap, eat a freshly baked scone with butter, jam and whipped cream, and chat with my friends. We were able to resolve many of the world's major issues including how to program our GPSs.

The crossing to Picton was very smooth. When we reached the South Island, the channel became narrow. The hills on each side were steep and covered with green vegetation. It reminded me of cruising through the fjords in Norway.


When we were close to the end of the cruise, we were instructed to fetch our bicycles which were tied up on the third deck. We lined up at the exit and when the ramp lowered, we were the first ones to debark.


We rode a short distance and found the van parked at the side of the road. All of us chose to leave our jackets and other cool weather gear in the van. The temperature had kicked up to 80.

Our ride to the motel was short but it included two short climbs and several rollers. Our route was along the coastline with beautiful views. 


As I was descending into one of the small villages, a cyclist that I didn't know passed me, stopped at the side of the road and started spitting. After he caught up to me, he said that a bee had flown into his mouth and was stinging his throat. We determined that he was OK and proceeded to ride together for several kms. He was a local on a training ride. He admitted that he was a bit overweight and had taken up cycling to get into shape. He seemed to be in pretty good shape to me on the flats where we alternated pulling each other. He was struggling on the hills. It was fun to ride along with a friendly local and tune my ear to the kiwi accent.

This is a sample of the vegetation along the road

I pulled into the motel with David Williams and Germain Berube. It is another basic motel but it has a swimming pool which Ann used this afternoon.

Here  is the link to my ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/253717968

Did you know that Havelock is known for its green-lipped muscles? These are very large muscles with a bright green lip. They are about the size of razor clams that are found on ocean beaches in Washington state. After our social hour, Ann and I joined half of our group at the Muscle Pot for dinner. Most of the group ordered samplers of muscles cooked in varies ways. Ann and I can't eat these mollusks so we had a chicken burger and fish and chips. It was fun watching the others try to finish of their meals.

It's time to shut down for the night so I am logging off.


Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Rest Day In Wellington

This is our second rest day and what a wonderful place to have it. Wellington is a gorgeous city located on a harbor. The downtown area rambles along the shore but its buildings and streets do not block the shoreline. The shoreline has a wide walking/cycling promenade that is lined with cafes, small parks, kiosks and shops. The locals really take advantage of it. We saw hundreds of strollers, joggers, skateboarders, dog walkers, cyclists, swimmers, etc. especially in today's bright sunshine and warm temperatures.


New Zealand is a melting pot of nationalities. We learned this on our tour of the Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa Tongarewa). Our guide explained this at one of the exhibits that showed the progression of people who fled their countries and came to New Zealand because of wars and violent suppression of freedom. In the limited time we have been here, we have seen no bigotry based on race, religion and sexual orientation. Even we older people are welcomed when we go into restaurants, hotels and shops. This is partly because we are spending money, but we have a feeling that we are genuinely accepted. This is a very friendly country. It would be easy to live here.

We saw a bunch of other exhibits at the museum. The earthquake and volcano exhibit was fun because there was a small house we went into that simulated an earthquake.  We also saw exhibits for animals, the history of Air New Zealand and, most important, Maori culture. There was a giant replica of the Treaty of Waitangi which gave England power to rule over New Zealand. The tribal chieftains had to sign off on the treaty which was interesting because the tribes had no written language. Nevertheless, it happened and now there are streets in every town named "Queen" and "Victoria". 

Inside of a Mauri Ceremonial House

After our tour, we had a snack in the museum's cafe. (Did you know that Wellington has the best coffee in the world?)

We decided to stroll along the promenade for some more sightseeing. On the way back to the hotel, we bought some snacks at the huge NW grocery store.

Our plan tonight is to have a light meal and get to bed early. We have to leave our hotel at 7:00 to catch the ferry to the South Island.

A general note to those who are requesting more photos and more description of our thoughts about New Zealand. When I get home, I will expand on these daily blogs with more photos and publish them on our website - http://annboblynn.com.


Monday, February 9, 2015

Masterton To Wellington

We had a good hotel breakfast. The only difference from other days was the BBQ beans with the scrambled eggs. We had to make our own instant coffee, but Ann and I passed on that because there were no cups. Eager cyclists got there before we did.

I started cycling at a leisurely pace. The sky was bright blue and the wind had died down from yesterday. After about 10 minutes, I was passed by the rabbits. Richard Hanke, the winery owner from the San Jose area, and Paul Ciano, the chiropractor from the Los Angeles area, are very fast riders. The only time the rest of us see them on our routes is when they start later than everyone else. They arrive at our next lodging hours before we do. Richard takes lots of photos while he is peddling and has shared them on his Flickr account.

Today was the big hill day. When David gave his route preview, he warned us that it was a steep, winding hill with almost no shoulder and lots of traffic. (It was on another SH). The climb was about 1700 feet in about 7 miles. There were lots of left hand blind curves with no shoulder. I was a little worried about vehicle traffic and had a few close calls. But drivers generally were very courteous. Even the huge lumber trucks didn't harass me.


I reached the summit, ate a snack and put back on my warmer gear for the descent. And what a descent it was! I couldn't reach a very high speed. Older cyclists need to be conservative. I did keep ahead of a big truck until the road leveled out.



I stopped at a convenience store and ate my lunch with Clarice Sackett, Janet James and Lance James. After that I soloed in to Wellington on the busy highway without much to see until I reached the harbor. I had trouble finding the correct turns for our route, so I improvised on an interesting bicycle/pedestrian trail and finally reached our hotel.

Here is a link to my ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/252825256

Our room is on the tenth floor. It is small but it has all of the essentials - a bed, a bathroom and hot water. We have a good view of the hill and all of the houses behind the hotel.

Our social hour had nothing significant except the goodies that Ann and Asbjorn prepared. The liquor laws don't allow to use our own drinks in hotel meeting rooms. I suspect that the hotel lobbiests snuck this through the legislature. So John gives us a chit and we use it to order a drink from the bar.

After cleaning up the meeting room, Ann an I walked to Courtenay Place where there are dozens of bars and restaurants. We settled into Sweet Mothers, a New Orleans/sort of hippy restaurant. I had root beer beef spareribs with mashed potatoes, a Moonless stout and rhubarb strawberry pie. Ann had a tuna entrée and bread pudding. The restaurant was very busy when we got there. We sat at a long table with several other people. Our tattooed waitress was very efficient.

We have learned that New Zealand restaurants have taxes and tips built into their prices. They have also solved the separate check problem. When we finish our meal, we go to the register, tell them what we ordered and then pay our bill. Of course they know exactly what the table ordered, so it balances out after everyone pays.

We walked along the harbor to settle our meal. Now it is getting late and we are going to bed. It's a rest day tomorrow. 



Dannebirke To Masterton


We had an interesting motel breakfast. It was cooked and served in a special room at the motel. We lined up for the buffet and took our food to our rooms. It was either that or eat at the picnic tables next to the cooking room. It was a bit too cool to eat outside. We have found that bacon is not cooked until it is crispy. I am thinking that bacon must be cured a different way than at home.

The sky was clear and sunny when I left. I was the last to leave because I can't seem to get organized in the morning. I rode along one of the SHs for a short distance and then turned off onto a country road. Scenery was much the same as other days - brown grass fields with hills on each side. This road meandered alongside a small river. Along the way I stopped to watch dogs herding sheep from one meadow to another.


Back on the SH, it was raining. I don't like riding in the rain so I stopped at the Tui Brewery to wait it out. Other people from the ride were doing the same thing including Ann and Asbjorn. As I was finishing my long black coffee, the rain stopped. I left riding solo again.



On my way up the hill to my next stop, the wind dramatically increased from the side. I had to stop a couple of times because it was blowing me off of the road.

The Mount Bruce Bird Sanctuary was my lunch stop. There was a nice cafe there and some  of our riders were already there. The bird sanctuary is very popular having a nature walk where you could observe kiwi birds and other wildlife. I didn't go on the walk because it was getting late into the afternoon and I still had a long ways to go.



Sitting in the café I watched another rain storm blowing through. After a while, it let up and I decided to get back onto my bicycle. I teamed up with Germain Berube who is one of the French Connection from Quebec. He and I are close to the same age and have a similar riding style. Germain has traveled all over the world. In the 70s, he and his wife decided to travel from Europe to India taking 2 1/2 years. They even traveled into the "stans" on their way. They finished their trip flat broke and returned to Canada to start over.

When we crested the hill a few short kms from the sanctuary, the wind had shifted in our favor. We had a very fast descent to Masterton averaging around 40 kph.

Here is the link to my ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/252421099

I met Ann at the hotel. She has been there for a while and had a good swim in the pool. We have a large suite which fortunate because the social hour was in our room and outside of our room on the patio.

For dinner, we joined Clarice Sackett, Chuck Jackson form Woodenville, WA, and Janet James and Lance James from Phoenix. Our meal was at a hotel next to ours. Ann had roasted chicken with a sauce of figs and apricots. I had pan fried grouper. Both meals were excellent.

It's now getting late and I am going to bed.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Waipukurau To Dannebirke

We had a group breakfast in Angkor Wat this morning. This was the café, not the temple. We were served a full breakfast with coffee, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, hash brown potatoes and tomatoes. It was very good and very filling. Then it was a short walk back to our motel. Some of our group sat in front of the library to connect to its wifi. A strange spandex sight in the early morning in downtown Waipukurau.

I left the motel with the French Connection and the judge. We rode together for several kms until I decided to take my off my jacket. The temperature was rising and there were no clouds in the bright blue sky to filter the sun. I caught and passed them when the severity of the rollers picked up. My legs felt strong and I wanted to stretch them out. I paired off with Jane Wicher and Katherine Scott. They are very strong riders. Katherine is especially tough on the hills.

The rollers were steep and the countryside was beautiful - fields of brown grass with grazing cows, horses and sheep.

At 40km I decided to stop and eat my banana. I was getting hungry and there was a big hill ahead of me. I rode solo the rest of the way passing or being passed by other riders.

The entire ride was on narrow country roads. There was hardly any traffic. Of the dozed cars that passed me in the first 60km, one was our van and the other was a Pedaltours van.

Here is a sample of our route:


I thought that yesterday's was my favorite, but today's route surpassed it. Here is a link to it: https://www.strava.com/activities/251779280

I arrived at the motel before 1:00. Our room is very basic with a queen bed and a bathroom. Ann was here shortly after I arrived. She had been down the street having coffee with her buddy Asbjorn. The town has only one main street with a few stores and cafes. 

I might have mentioned that Asbjorn is our driver. He is a friend of David Williams our co-leader. He is an Aussie who flew here specifically for this tour. We hear some friendly banter between the two: Aussie vrs Kiwi. David owns a sheep farm a few kilometers form this town. He currently lives in Germany where his wife is a principal of a school there.

John Gradwell was born in England, educated in the US and has lived in Canada for many years. He is a retired professor at McGill University in Montreal. This is the first ride that he has organized for BAC.

Ann and Asbjorn went shopping at 3:30 for social hour. We met as usual at 5:00. For about 45 minutes we drink, eat and socialize. Then John makes announcements and David goes over the route for the next day's route. People pitch in to help Ann with the setup and cleanup. Because there are very few places on the road to stop for lunch, most of us prepare PB&J sandwiches and grab a banana. The sandwiches get a little soggy and stale overnight, but cyclists will eat anything when they are hungry.

A bunch of us went to the local service club for dinner. It was in a large building. As we walked in, the meeting room was in front of us. The bar and pool tables were behind that. The dining room was to the right. We set up a long table so we would be together. Dinners included pork chops, chicken schnitzel, fish and chips, steak and steak sandwiches and mixed fried fish. It was an average meal with good portions. We were happy to support the community.

Although we rode the van to dinner, some of us decided to walk the few blocks back to the motel.

It's getting late. I am ready to shut down for the night.


Napier To Waipukurau


A few things before I write about today's ride:

1. Someone asked about my comments on SH roads. SH stands for State Highway. They are major thoroughfares between major cities in New Zealand. Most times that are the only road foe point A to point B. That is why we ride on them. They have become "dreaded" because most of the shoulders are narrow and non-existent. They also tend to be rough because their surface is chip sealed with big chips. If you stray to the left, there is gravel or ground. If you stray to the right over the fog line, there are rumple strips. Past the rumple strips is the road. Traffic has been moderate, but the speed of cars, trucks and buses and their closeness is very intimidating. Plus, the wind thrust from the large vehicles pushes us out of our line.

2. Ann does not ride a bicycle. She rides in the van with Asbjorn to the next hotel. Then they shop for the next social hour. She then sets up the goodies for the social hour.

3. Everyone is healthy so far. We have no illnesses or major accidents.

4. The hotels and motels have been good so far. They are not four star, but they have been clean. Hot water is normal.

OK. Today's ride:

The breakfast at our hotel apparently was too expensive, so David Williams worked out a deal at Cafe Desire which was a 15-minute walk from our hotel. We had a full served hot breakfast. We started with fresh-squeezed Orange juice and real coffee from one of those huge espresso machines. Then they served us scrambled eggs topped with a poached egg. There was sausage, ham, hash brown potatoes and toast. I tag this as our best breakfast yet.

When we mounted our bicycles we rode south along the ocean beach for about 10km. We were inland for the rest of the ride. We rolled through the towns of Clive and Havelock North and continued on a flat surface for about 25km. Then we were out in the country with cool temperatures, blue sky and a strong headwind. This headwind was in our face for the rest of the ride.

I was riding with John Gradwell, Andrea Kneeland and Germain Berube, our French connection. We began practicing a proper pace line technique. This helped a lot because we were going through rolling hills with the headwind. At about 30km the length and steepness of the hills picked up and we began to separate. We climbed about 100 meters onto an open plain. Tall hills were on both sides. The fields were filled with brown grass which was bent in our direction because of the wind. Our little group had split apart. Somewhere along the way, Richard Hanke, Germain and I became a group and we rode together to a biker bar at km 55. Richard filled his water bottles and went on. Germain and I stayed there and ate our PB&J sandwiches. The biker bar had a dozen or so bikers in it. They were all respectable looking kind of like the ones you see in the Italian countryside.

Germain and I left together and slowly rode the rollers into Waipukurau. The last few kms were back on one of the dreaded SHs. What a contrast to the country roads that we were on before.

This is my favorite ride so far on this tour. Traffic was light, the road surface was good and the scenery was beautiful. The only negative was the headwind. The pluses vastly outnumber the negative.

The rooms in our motel are pretty plain. They are all called suites for some reason. Our room has a queen-sized bed, a small kitchen area and a bathroom. Wifi is very expensive so this blog will be published when I get a connection.

Our social hour was at 5:00 in John's room. His room is a real suite with two bedrooms, a large sitting area and a kitchen. Speaking of John, the van had to go out and pick him up. His GPS went blank and he got lost. He said it was a good experience because he met some people who took him to their house for a beer while he called Asbjorn for a ride.

We walked a block to a pub with eight other people. For dinner, Ann had a warm Moroccan salad and I had pasta with shrimp. A shared fruit crumble topped off our meal. This was not typical pub food.

It is now past 9:00. We are wrapping things up for the day.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Taupo To Napier

We had a typical morning - rain and wet road - when we got up. We arose early because this would be our longest and hilliest ride of the tour. Our buffet breakfast started at 7:00 so that we could get on the road early. I was not in a hurry which you can see why later.

The streets were dry when I left mainly because the wind was blowing so hard. This time it was a tail wind or cross wind unlike yesterday's headwind. When I left the hotel I was not concentrating and I started to ride on the right hand side of our street. A friendly honk from a driver set me over to the left.

The first 20+ kms were a gradual climb. We were, however, on one of the dreaded SH roads. This meant lots of traffic, rough chip seal and shoulders that had lots of gravel or disappeared altogether. Because it was the start of a long holiday weekend, most of the trucks stayed home. There were lots of cars, though. I sort of zoned out during most of the ride and stayed to the right of the fog line. Cars would go around me without any trouble.

The first part of the ride went through a vast plane with brown grass blowing in the wind. We then reached what might be considered forests. I could see where hills had been clear-cut and then replanted. There were lots of small trees that looked very healthy. We were then in hill country riding alongside a river that had formed ravines. I stopped at a roadside attraction that had a view of a beautiful waterfall.


The road started to slant downward  and I had several fast descents. Even with downhill relief, I was feeling tired from the previous days' rides. I decided to stop at our preplanned rendezvous point at the Halfway Cafe. Several of us were there. It was a perfect place for lunch. I had a cappuccino with my PB&J sandwich and banana. I had already ridden over 40 miles and the next 40+ miles were very hilly. So I decided to hitch a ride in our van back to the hotel. When Asbjorn arrived, five of us loaded up our bicycles. After checking the list of people who decided to cut the ride short, we discovered that a tandem was missing. So we retraced our route for a couple of kms, found them and loaded them and their bicycles into the van. We had to rearrange the bikes and put a couple of them in the trailer. This was a struggle to stabilize them, but Asbjorn and Lance did it.

The temperature on the ride ranged from the high 40s to the low 60s. We had a cole of rain showers but none were significant.

We got to the hotel around 2:30.

Here is a link to my route: https://www.strava.com/activities/250955592

Several people who completed to almost 90 mile ride have entered this tour's Hall of Fame. Although I didn't see all of them arrive (we had gone to dinner), here they are: David Williams, Chuck Jackson, Greg Fowler, Richard Hanke, Bob Barrows, Germain Berube, Paul Ciano, Jane Whicher, Andrea Kneeland and Katherine Scott.

We hit the jackpot with our hotel room. I was able to soak away some of my sore muscles in our jacuzzi.

We had our social hour in the hotel's lounge. Afterward, Ann and I walked down the street to an Irish Pub. A pint of Guinness and Kilkenny went well with fish and chips and beef an Guiness pie.

Rotorua To Taupo

It was cool and cloudy this morning when we got up. We had our usual buffet breakfast, this time with scrambled eggs, bacon, etc. I left the hotel before 9:00 and headed out to one of the dreaded SH highways. We had and 15km climb to start our day, but part of it was on a nice bicycle path. We liked avoiding the cars and trucks. I still felt unsafe on the downhill until I turned off onto a secondary road.

This new road was much smoother and carried far less traffic. I stopped in Reporoa at 28km and bought some ginger snaps for snacking. Other people in group were here as well. When I got on my bicycle and rode down the road, the fun started. A strong headwind was blowing. It not only slowed me down a lot, but it pushed my bicycle around. The weather was perfect otherwise.

I stopped at 65km to eat my PB&J sandwich sitting on a log fence at a new estate development spot. When I started riding again, I had a 10km climb. This climb and the one before were very gradual, but the headwind made me go very slowly.

Finally at 75km I reached the top of the climb and started peddling downhill to our hotel in Taupo. My GPS behaved on led me directly to the front door.

Here is a link to my ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/250567836

Our room is on the second floor and has a wonderful view of the huge lake.



Our social hour was outside again. We set it up on a porch, but we had to relocate when the people staying in the rooms behind the porch returned and claimed their territory. Our new site was exposed to the wind and it was a cold wind.

Ann and I took a short walk into town and ate at a noodle shop with Chuck Jackson, Janet James and Lance James.

Returning to the hotel, we found that the Internet was down. This post will be late.