South Island Part 2 - Hasst to Dunedin

We all (Me, Mum, Tom, James, Erin, Riley) left Hasst together, with the anticipation of the famously steep Hasst pass ahead of us. The first part of the ride was following a river through a gently sloping valley, with stunning mountains in front of us. 

They probably would have been more stunning if we didn’t know we had to climb over them. Eventually the climb began in earnest and it was seriously steep. Not many of us made it to the top without walking. I was doing okay but I was going slowly enough for sandflies to bite me, and the dexterity required to kill the sandflies and cycle up a 15% hill was beyond me – I unclipped and pushed my bike. After the top we had a nice descent before reaching Lake Wanaka. This was breathtaking. These were the views I had dreamt of before coming to New Zealand. 

We stopped quite early at a campsite by the lake and all had a swim. The water was cold but crystal clear. The beach was full of driftwood shelters and we (me, Tom, Riley) decided it would be a fun idea to sleep in one of these! Sleeping under the stars on the shores of Lake Wanaka! What a dream. Sadly this turned into a bit of a nightmare as the wind howled into our driftwood shelter. I’d been cold pretty much every night in NZ (try harder next time with ya sleeping bags Cath Kidston) but this was a new low. After a couple of hours we abandoned and returned to our tents.

We followed Lake Wanaka until we reached Lake Hawea and then followed that until the small town of Wanaka. Arriving in touristy towns after weeks of tiny villages containing almost entirely locals is always a strange experience. There are lots of advantages of being in touristy places, but the price/busyness/fakeness are always a shock. Wanaka is gorgeous, and we bought some beers and drank them on the side of the lake. In the morning we went to see “the most photographed tree in the world”, and while I’m pretty sure that claim is unfounded, it was a gorgeous tree (Tom reckons it’s fake…).

After Wanaka we tackled the famous crown range over to Queenstown. This was a 40km of escalating steepness. Around 30km in we passed a distillery which we’d heard gave out free tastings. This turned out to be true, and its remote location meant they were very pleased to have guests, even though we were obviously not going to spend $110 dollars on a bottle of vodka. This meant we all got to drink a decent amount of spirits... At this point I was feeling pretty merry and kept making absolutely hilarious whey puns (we should be on our whey, no whey, that barrel’s come a long whey). Anyway nobody else seemed to appreciate my comic genius and I eventually was sent outside. Everyone else might have been angry with me but I thought this my high blood alcohol levels might make the climb easier? This turned out not to be true. I did manage to get all the way up this climb without stopping which I was very proud of. At the top we had a panoramic view of Queenstown and the Remarkables.

 Queenstown looked very close from the top of this hill but this turned out to be an illusion and we didn’t arrive at our (outrageously expensive) campsite until quite late. We went out for pizza and then hit the town. All the bars were full of gap year students trying embarrassingly hard. It was quite smart and people kept trying to refuse me entry because I was wearing flip flops. When your only other shoes are cycling shoes this was not ideal.

We weren’t sure where we were going to go after Queenstown but we eventually decided on Alexandra for a number of the reasons. The ride to Alexandra turned out to be fabulous (although that’s not a surprise in NZ). In Alexandra we stayed with Ollie, Anna and Tarn, a cycle touring couple and their 19 month year old son. We’d met them a few times before as they were doing much the same route as us in their car. Ollie and Anna completed an epic world cycling tour in 2013 and it was really interesting talking to them about their trip (and about everything else as well). By this point a shower and some delicious food were very welcome!

In the morning we set off on the Central Otago Rail Trail. This trail pretty much started NZ’s massive network of cycle trails and after 10 years the towns on the trail have had lots of time to cater for it. Its slopes are gradual, there are no cars and the surrounding scenery is magnificent, with lots of Lord of the Rings type rocky landscapes.

 After the trail we had a seriously hard ride to Dunedin. The person who built this road had clearly just drawn a straight line without any thought for contour lines. We kept slaving up steep hills before rocketing down to cross a river, and then back up the other side, and then down again… Eventually we arrived at this tiny town on the outskirts where the only camping opportunity was in a caravan park full of permanent residents. The owner let us camp on some grass by the side and the residents were all very friendly. In the morning we tackled the last of NZ’s hills and wind and arrived in the Scottish (sort of) town of Dunedin. This town was great with lots to do… but we didn’t have time to do any of it. We had to get some boxes and pack up our bikes which took even longer than the longer that we imagined and by the time we’d finished it was evening and raining and we just went to the pub. In the morning we caught a very early bus to Christchurch, where there is also lots to do and we didn’t get to do any of it. I went for a walk and collected the fab birthday present El had sent me, Tom went to an art gallery and Mum went to the botanic gardens. Things went downhill from there as we had a series of mini disasters before we were safely on the plane. They continued to go downhill as we had to steal airport trolleys and push them across a motorway to our hotel (just 600 metres away apparently). Finally we woke up late to a gorgeous summer day in Melbourne (the city of dreams).