Wednesday, January 11/23 – Lake Pukaki Cycling & Travel to Te Anau

A day of two halves. We gingerly hobbled onto the bus still feeling the effects of yesterday’s hike. The morning segment consisted of a bike ride along the shore of lake Pukaki to Twizel covering 24 Kms on an undulating track.

Although the route is called alps to ocean this segment was neither. The bikes were top class with great suspension and one finger gear leavers. Only issue was ‘down here’, the back wheel brake lever is on the left. That required some quick thinking at times.

The lake was spectacular and the flowers were in full bloom.

As much as yesterday was about tender knees today quickly became about quaking quads. Nothing like a few hours in the saddle to make your legs turn to jelly. Stairs and getting back on the bus are proving to be major challenges. The group groaning and occasional shuffling is quite comical. But back on the bus we clambered and headed off to Te Anau.

Te Anau is the jumping off point to the Fiordland national park, NZ’s largest, and the site of many great hiking trails plus Milford Sound. We stopped in Cornwall for a late lunch as the topography and weather changed dramatically. Barren hills, low clouds and wind made us thankful we’d done our bike ride earlier.

The drive took us of Linda’s Pass with its incredibly narrow twisting road (glad I wasn’t driving the van) and past Lake Dunstan. Then it was out into the wide valleys again and into the Mossman region, home of the largest deer farms in the country. Of course along the way we saw a million sheep.

We passed many vineyards and wineries as this area is famous for its pinot noir but our schedule didn’t permit a tour and tasting.

Finally into Te Anua and it’s bustling tourist filled center. An Epson salt bath helped ease the aching muscles at least temporarily. After a great group dinner we got tomorrow’s briefing – two hikes totaling 20 Kms up in the mountains. Onward!