After breakfast we checked out and drove to the other side of the road where our bike hire shop was ready for us. The bikes were in great condition. $60 rented us two bikes for the day. We saddled up and decided to do the river side track first followed by the railway trail. If your interested in riding this unique trail, see: http://www.otagocentralrailtrail.co.nz/ .
The first track followed the River Clutha for about an hour and a half. What a great track. We cycled through small streams, passed waterfalls and enjoyed the rollercoaster track riding up and down small hills. The bright green river was flowing fast and looked fantastic in the sun light.
We crossed over a main bridge into a small town called Clyde. Nice place. It felt a bit like a typical Yorkshire Dales village, with post office and tea rooms to match. We sat in the sun sipping a beverage and reading the Saturday papers. They are full of the Air New Zealand plane crash off the French coast and the killings in India. John stayed at both the hotels targeted by the terrorists, so could visualize the hellish situation those caught up in the event must have found themselves in.
We jumped back on our mountain bikes and joined the railway track. It meandered out of Clyde, taking us back through the outskirts of Alexandra before heading out to the mountains. Fiona could not stop singing the Casey Jones theme tune. John had no option but to join in.
To start with the weather was perfect and the cycling easy. The tracks are well maintained and not at all busy. The town of Alexandra is overlooked by the biggest clock you have ever seen, set into the mountain that overlooks the town. No excuses about being late here then!
As we cycled the clouds began to gather into strange shapes, like huge flying saucers, so we had to keep stopping to take a few photo’s.
After a couple of hours cycling the weather changed and the wind kicked in with a vengeance. Within half an hour, the cycling had become hard and less enjoyable. We stopped for some lunch by which time a gale was blowing. So, we turned around and cycled back to Alexandra with the wind behind us. Cycling was easy again.
We arrived back at the bike shop, only to find it closed. The owner had not told us what to do with the bikes and had not given us any locks. We ended up leaving then at the motel we stayed at.
The drive back to Wanaka was easy and soon passed as we sung along to Duran Duran.
Once in Wanaka, we went shopping for a summer dress for Fiona to wear at Hamilton Island were it will be very hot and humid. No luck!
We drive to tonight’s hotel and checked in. Very nice too. See: http://www.edgewater.co.nz/ . Our room has a pristine view over lake Wanaka and a bath. Most places in NZ only have a shower, so a bath is something to celebrate.
We updated the blog and then soaked in the bath. The last two days have been hard on the legs so a long soak was just what the doctor ordered.
We drove back to town and to our favourite restaurant in Wanaka, The Reef. It looks over lake Wanaka, serves great food and wine.
We went to the local supermaket, bought some munchies, relaxed, watched a film and zonked out again!
Tomorrow we head for Queenstown and then our five day hike on the Milford Track. We probably will not have internet access for this time.
