On the Road Again!

We woke up yesterday morning to the pitter patter of rain hitting our tent (why oh why didn't we stay in a cabin?) After finally dragging oursleves out of our dry cacoon, we headed to town first thing. I couldn't wait to check on my wheel and see if the hub arrived. I was at the bike store door shortly after they opened to inquire about the hub. It had arrived (Woohoo!) and the mechanic was already working on building the wheel... it would be ready by 11.

After whiling away a bit of time, 11 finally neared and I was on my bike with the loner wheel racing to the bike store. I arrived and the beautiful shining new wheel was waiting for me. The mechanic fitted the wheel and my bike was now ready to go. I couldn't thank him enough! I biked back to camp with a huge grin on my face - smiles wouldn't stop pouring over me. It felt good to have my bike back in one piece and to have a wheel "guaranteed" not to have any troubles for at least 5000 km. I was whole again!

Mally and I decided we would start on our way towards Queenstown, so we packed up our stuff in a spot sheltered from the rain and fueled up with some lunch. By the time we were ready to leave, the rain had slowed... I put on my glasses with the yellow lenses and it looked like a beautiful day :o) We waved goodbye to Wanaka and headed on our journey. We had the option of taking the long (110k), easy, boring route, or the short (70k), scenic, very big hill route. Despite our heavy legs, we decided that we couldn't pass up on the scenic route.

We began riding on a rather flat road. Hills covered in brown/green grasses, dotted with patches of green shrubbery, and peaked with nifty rock formations lined our path on both sides. Fields ran at the foot of the hills to our left and a winding river also followed us along the road. At times the stream dashed out into the fields, and other times it kissed the road and brought sounds of water trickling over rocks. We could aways follow its path by the patches of trees that ran alongside it. Aside from the fields of cows, sheep, and hay, we had a couple interesting sights that day. First we approached a monster truck junction that showcased giant trucks on enormous wheels and offered thrilling rides. As we got closer to the driveway, the fence outside the monster truck stop was lined with lingerie... Mally and I decided to cruise past this stop and keep on movin'. Later on in the day, we had a line of sheep running alongside the hill beside us... naturally, I called out "hello sheep" and one after the other... after the other stopped and cocked its head towards us as if to say "what?" Apparently most cyclists don't chat with the sheep as they looked a bit surprised.

We continued pedalling, and the terrain gradually began its ascent. The legs were feeling it for sure. I hoped that perhaps the hill would remain gradual and end soon, but I knew that we were climbing to the highest paved point in NZ and the hill would only get worse. The view however, remained spectacular... hills upon hills were layered in front of us. As we came around the bend after passing one hill, others would lay before us. Soon, the fields diminished and the hills closed in on both sides, but the stream continued to keep us company... dashing from one side of the road to the next.

It wasn't long until the road began climbing steeply in front of us. My legs began to burn and I kept clicking at my gears hoping for an easier gear, but I was in my lowest (doah!). I huffed and puffed and at each turn I held out hope that the road would flatten or the top would come into view. At last, I was sure that the next turn would show me relief... but it didn't... I grinded and grinded and huffed and puffed... and then (I must admit) I stopped. Uffff... why didn't we choose the flat road. I watched (jealously) as mally grinded along in her low (but certainly not easy) gear. A few sips of water and a breath of fresh air and I was back on the bike... it is not so easy getting back on when you are on a steep incline and carrying a heavy load, but I made it and continued to slowly grind up the hill. A few more long winding turns and the top was finally in sight! Yay! At last!

We reached the top and were congratulated by a sign that told us we had just climbed 1,076 meters to NZ's highest paved point. We also met a few other cyclists who had come up the other way and enjoyed the view with them, relieved that we had a nice down hill path in front of us. All the hills that layed before us were now in clear view down below. Hill after hill... with fields of green... and way down yonder, a glimpse of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. The sun was even highlighting the view for us now. What a sight!

As the breeze at the top began to cool us off, we decided to hop back on our bikes and begin the long, winding, beautiful descent. The view from the top was layed out before us on our way down... and the hills and fields gradually came into closer and closer view as we winded our way down. The road zigzagged quite a bit... before we could gain any speed, we would hit the breaks and turn 180 degrees in another direction. I felt like the marble zigzagging down to the bottom of a marble madness contraption. Luckily, this was the less travelled road and we didn't have a lot of traffic to deal with... just the view to distract us.

We reached the bottom of the hill and joined SH 6, the end of the longer flatter route we passed up for our view. We joined swarms of traffic, wild wind, and a bit of rain. The end certainly was flatter, but not nearly as enjoyable as struggling up the rugged, lonely hills. We made our way to Queenstown and were struck with the commotion of tourist crowds... a bit of a shock after travelling through small towns and rural villages. All we wanted was a warm dry place to sleep for the night (with a bathroom too!). We made our way down a small hill to the info center and found ourselves a bed. We then trudged oursleves, our bikes, and our load up the "small" (but seemingly gigantic) hill to the "Black Sheep". We were two very tired cyclists. It took our last remaining energy to get our stuff to our dorms and shower for dinner.

After getting ready, we met a friendly Italian traveller, named Claudio, who shared our dorm. He joined us for a nice pizza dinner at "The Cow" (Mmmm.. thanks for the recommendation Jamie). We talked a bit about our travels, shared stories, and learned a few useful Italian phrases (unfortunately megan and I could only remember a few not so nice words from our earlier Italian lessons when we were in Italy). After a leisurely dinner, we walked around Queenstown and enjoyed the last bit of light peaking over the mountains. Shortly before 10, we headed back to our dorm and our heads fell hard on the pillow.