Arrival in Bluff to Complete New Zealand Cycling Traverse
Maria Leijerstam / 28.02.2010
<i>Rudely awoken by a lady that was insisting that we hadn’t paid for our campsite was not the best start to our most exciting last day cycling New Zealand's south island. We left quickly (and had paid for the record, $26).
The road was flat, very flat with some vast agricultural land on both sides. We passed mainly deer parks but there certainly was no shortage of beef and sheep farms also.
Shortly before arriving into Incercargill, we met an Italian cycle tourer that was shocked at the speed we were going. His mate had taken his panniers in the car as he was too tired to carry them. We exchanged a few words but then my desire to get to Bluff kicked in and we were off at top speed again. Wind still on our tail, we were flying along at over 30kph.
Invercargill was not particularly pleasant so we had a quick lunch, despite having already cycled 80km and were back on our bikes for the final 27km that would take us to Stirling Point in Bluff which marks the end of the SH. I was so eager to stand under the sign (similar to the one at Cape Reinga).
Rounding the corner and catching the first glimse of the sign brought tears to our eyes. We had done it. Champagne popping we carried out our standard Welsh flag dance ritual and those around, quizzed us on our journey accompanied by a round of applause.
Getting our sweaty kit off was great as we dived into the sea and began to swim to Stewart Island. Okay so we managed about 10mins before turning around and deciding to catch the ferry the next morning!
Our journey has now been sucessfully completed. In 23 cycling days we managed to get ourselves and our bikes across the whole of New Zealand from Cape Reinga in the far North to Bluff at the far South.</i>
<b>Stats:</b>
23 cycling days
2400km
max speed 73kmp
4-8hrs cycling per day
rest stops every 3-5 days
muffins eaten = lost count
muffins replaced by pies = 10
most car horn toots in a day = 15
<b>Favourite bits:</b> getting fit and eating lots of pies, simplicity of life on a bike with only 2 panniers, sunshine when it’s winter at home, variety of scenery, big mountain passes, stunning coast line and dramatic gorges, being outdoors all the time, C2C race and training on the Waimak and Goats Pass, meeting hundreds of fab people, a flat white (coffee to keep the wheels turning), freedom to go wherever we wanted, contributing to green travel, when a down-hill gets you up the next up-hill, hitting our top speed (73kpm!), no queues for anything, singer in Queenstown, creme brulee flavoured fudge in Kaikora, getting txt from people we met en route, finding each other after we’d lost each other in Plimmerton, jumping out of a plane at 12000ft, getting an applause at Bluff, edible gifts, very few mechanical issues, being able to sort the mechanical issues we did get ourselves with no male intervention, going fast, wearing newly washed cycling clothes, brilliant hospitality.
<b>Toughest bits:</b> freezing feet and numb toes in Lindus Valley, driving head wind leading to Queenstown that stopped us in our tracks even going down hill, paddling on the Avon during the C2C race in a sea kayak, long flat stretch between Dargaville and Brynderwyn, realising the journey has come to an end, tent leaking and waking up wet and freezing cold on more than one occasion, arriving in Queenstown and realising we’d have to camp as backpackers were full, being woken by Roy Noble from Radio Wales at 4.00am for a radio interview after a late night out, having to look at Tori’s ridiculous tan.
SleepMonsters
