and resurrect a blog that's been idle for a very long time. Taking a flight from Melbourne to Christchurch and Bus to Invercargill I kept the bike boxed the entire way. With it pouring rain I assembled the bike in an alleyway off the main street (covered alleyway next to Tauatara Lodge), put the bike to bed ate Noodles from a take away and set about re packing my bags from flight mode to tour mode. In flight mode 2 panniers are empty and stuffed inside the bike box whilst the other two become checked baggage and hand luggage. (And contain the things that the airlines will allow for that mode). In touring mode one bag is clothing, one food, and the 2 front bags have tent, sleeping bag, tools, spares etc. I do my best to try and remember where I had stuff last time, so that I don't end up with conflicting memories and going to the wrong place each time.
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| Midnight Departure |
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| Narrow Bridges - some long |
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| Cycle Assembly behind the gate |
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| Start of the Northward Ride |
In the morning it's stopped raining looking like a clear day but blowing quite strongly from the south west. (Just as the MET website said should be my long term average expectation). I head off to the supermarket for breakfast and lunch then head the 25ish km to Bluff - the "start" of this journey - for the mandatory pic of the bike with the signpost located at the southern most point. (Of highway 1 and very nearly the land mass). With the curvature of the road I got to experience the wind in numerous angles, and as it was from my right each truck passing would cause wind havoc and try its best to throw you off. Entering Bluff the rain started again, I rushed to the photo point snapped a pic then back to the shops to seek cover.
After looking quite set in during the heavy patch I was surprised just how quickly it began to clear, so off I set back to Invercargill.
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| Sarah - walking to Cape Reinga |
With the wind still very strong from the south west I decided to hit the road toward Gore (whilst it was a tail wind). Overnighted at Gore Motor Camp (caravan park, camping ground) then on the next day to Balclutha. The wind had gone, the weather fine and sunny, and the road lightly undulating. Until the afternoon when I hit what the locals say are "no hills before Balclutha". Hearing the truckies changing down repeatedly I know it's not just the cyclists that would disagree.
Day three was Balclutha to Brighton (a Dunedin beach side suburb) with a few km of the steepest I've yet come across. I guess the "scenic route" signs on Findlayson Rd are a bit of a give away. But it gets you off the highway (and Motorway/freeway) for the trip into Dunedin.
Today Saturday was a small ride from Brighton into town, then in the afternoon - after finding my Brooks leather saddle tearing quite badly I set about finding a place I could add a rivet to help prevent it getting worse too quickly. (In Brooks defense it did sit out in all weather 24x7 for 18 months then get ignored for 10 years). I really didn't want to ride around town here for this the Waitangi long weekend without some form of repair. At this point I'll paste the content of an email that explains the story.
NZ fire service to the rescue...
My beloved Brooks leather saddle - (used by all serious tourers) has begun to tear only a few days into the trip. Left as it was it would have continued to tear rapidly. Immediately behind the tear, a piece of plate (part of the leather tensioning mechanism), so I tried a few places to see if they had a drill press and pop rivet gun but to no avail. 2 bike shops in town had a drill press but were closing now. I set off in the direction of both Mitre 10 and Bunnings for riveting gear both open til 6 - only to find an open Supercheap Auto on the way. Buying the cheapest rivet gun I could, a pack of 100 rivets and a 5mm drill I asked about any drill press out the back, but no. (Only the one on display). I then set about wandering the city streets at 5:45 on the Saturday evening of a long weekend looking for any businesses remotely mechanical that might have a workshop with drill press. The railways yes but not here at the station. At Cadbury I couldn't see anybody through any of the locked gates or doors. Several closed panel beaters. Then magic, on the other side of the intersection a fire station. Fire Stations , most of the time full of guys looking for a diversion, and they'd have to have a workshop out back. Now, how to get their attention (no, not like that). Looking through the front glass vehicle doors I saw a few guys and kept knocking until I got a response. Holding up a 5mm drill bit and a bike seat and miming the action of using a drill press through the glass he nodded, opened the door and introduced me to Jeff. (It was good to resurrect the mime skills so use ful on an international bike trip. )
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| Seat repairs |
My first meat meal in a while tonight Shish Kabab from a Dunedin Turkish shop with Ayran that wasn't on the menu but they made for me. (If you're going to eat Turkish...)
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