New Zealand
New Zealand
We arrived in Queenstown, on the South Island of New Zealand, and were immediately struck with how cold it was. During our last day of cycling in Australia the temperature had risen to 43 degrees – New Zealand was such a contrast, at best it was 10 degrees and the temperature fell as the sun went down. We were staying in a ski lodge on the outskirts of Queenstown and it felt as if we had arrived for a winter holiday rather than at the height of New Zealand summer. We went in search of woolly socks and hats and wore long johns under our thin summer trousers.
All that said, Queenstown is stunning. The approach to the airport took us through a narrow valley of snow clad mountains. The lake surrounding Queenstown is set amidst those mountains. The alpine scenery is lush and green and the road sides are lined with lupines in full bloom. This was very different to Australia with its devastating fires and drought. It was lovely to be in in the mountains and all their greenery. We set off riding the next day having put Alice together in the boot room of the ski lodge and made sure Nik our Stolen Goat and Shiela our Western Australian MND puppy were secure on board. It was cold and rain was forecast but we decided to ride the Crown Range which is the highest sealed road in New Zealand and a steep climb. It was fantastic. The views of the mountains with their alpine crags and hills of green velvet were simply beautiful. We could see planes coming into land and, in fact, we cycled high enough to look down on them.
We stopped at the top, made tea and ate whilst looking at New Zealand stretched out in front of us. It was a fantastic moment when we could feel the freedom of the ride and how far we had ridden. The descent was cold and it started to rain. We made it to the Cardrona Hotel and stopped to warm up with hot soup in the middle of summer.
What I remember vividly on this ride and in the South Island, is the beautiful lupines which are not indigenous, but are everywhere - multi-coloured and stunning. The story is that a women roamed the island planting lupine seeds and as a consequence the flowers are everywhere. They will always remind me of New Zealand. We made it to Wanaka by which time it was freezing and pouring down. We stayed the night in a cabin rather than camping as it was simply too cold. We also decided to head up the east coast rather than the planned west coast as the heavy rains and storm had resulted in a landslide on the west coast and it was not clear that the road would be open.
After a late start we headed east, dressed in woolly socks with plastic bags on our feet (over our sandals). The day out of Wanaka was another big climb over the Lindis Pass - again the scenery was stunning, reminiscent of Glen Coe. Some of the drivers the day before had been a bit impatient as we climbed the Crown Range which is perhaps understandable but today we had our first real experience of drivers passing way too close and shouting abuse. It is a small minority but was a reoccurring theme throughout New Zealand which is such a shame as it did make the riding feel unsafe in a way we hadn’t experienced before, even in Asia. That evening we ate at the local pub which had live music. Everyone was dancing and having fun. The Kiwis are very welcoming and we had a great time. We continued riding towards the east coast
following a river and past a series of dams enjoying the scenery and looking forward to seeing the ocean. We stopped for fabulous coffee and muffins given for free in support of our journey. We made it to Christchurch and headed north on route to Kaikoura. It was another hilly route which made it slow going and we were planning on riding 115 miles that day – so a long day is the saddle. We finally made it to the top of the last hill at 8.30pm where we met a fellow cyclist from China who was riding in the opposite direction. It felt slightly surreal meeting another cyclist so late and so far from any towns, particularly one who spoke no English and who had never seen a tandem before as he kept staring at Alice with a bemused look on his face. The rest of the ride was magical as we descended to the unpopulated and stunning coast, riding along as the waves crashed until we finally arrived in Kaikoura, just as the last motel was closing. The owner kindly drove to get us fish and chips. We were heading for Wellington and aiming to get the ferry over to the North Island on Christmas Eve in order to spend Christmas with friends. This had meant some long days in the saddle as we finally arrived in Picton to catch the last ferry to Wellington, which set off at 10.15pm.
The ride to Picton had been one of our best as we rode along the coast, spotting seals and their pups basking on the shore. Christmas Eve dinner was at Subway as we waited for the boat. We finally arrived in Wellington at 1am and our friend’s house after 2am having seemingly ridden up every hill in Wellington. On Christmas Day we certainly rode for our dinner, crossing the Rimutaka Hills to get to Carterton where our friends were looking after a farm. We arrived in the evening jumped into the hot tub and then had our first ever vegan Christmas dinner. We took Boxing Day off and set off again on route to Auckland the following day.
We stopped in the beautiful Napier with its Art Deco building and amazing coast line and wetlands and were Raz lived for a while. Again we experienced fantastic Kiwi hospitality before we set off on the long climb to Lake Taupo. The road to Lake Taupo was very hilly, with some stretches of 15% gradient. We stopped on route and wild camped near a café which was closed when we arrived but did open to sell us sandwiches. The scenery was alpine and we eventually reached a plateau before starting our descent into Taupo. The road was busy, the hard shoulder was non-existent on part of the road or uneven, some of the cars passed incredibly close. We were glad to get to Taupo, where we sat by the lake taking in the fabulous view of the blue waters and the mountains. We were grateful the next day to get off the main road and away from the traffic on route to Cambridge famous for its cycling.
The route was lovely and hilly! The sides of the roads were lined with alliums. We followed a river and passed by dams. The road was lined with rain forest- it really was a beautiful ride. We finally arriving in Cambridge on New Year’s Eve. We were interviewed by Radio New Zealand and by Stuff, an on-line publication. The journalist for Stuff asked us about our experiences on the road and we relayed what we had seen and heard. This caused controversy partly because although the article was balanced, the title of the article was quite provocative, but we noted that the people who commented who had cycled, had similar experiences. The advice from one car driver was that we should cycle in single file which is not difficult for a tandem, (it would be a challenge to cycle two abreast). But what we would say is that we are very experienced riders – we have ridden half way around the world. We know the rules of the road. The bike has high visibility strapped to its back and we cycle with a flashing red back light. We don’t have mirrors as we look to avoid any blind spots. Of the countries we have cycled in, no other drivers have consistently driven so close or so regularly shouted abuse or made certain gestures (many of which would be quite challenging for us to do as women). This however is not our experience of Kiwis out of their cars, who have been incredibly welcoming, supportive and kind.
We were now on the last leg up to Auckland to catch our flight to San Francisco. New Zealand is a beautiful country although we cycled the country’s length, our visit was too short. We cycled just under 1000 miles in some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. We will be sorry to leave and not see more of this amazing country. I’m sure we’ll be back. Thank you New Zealand.
