Day 20, final day at Leithfield Beach camp.

In two days I would be in the Molesworth. But rather than struggle through 200km of gravel which my bike is not good for, I decided to end the trip here and come back another time with wider fat tires.

My bike has narrow tires which dig deeply into the gravel, and slip and oversteer badly. It's exhausting concentrating so much.

Plus I am heavily loaded so the bike doesn't float over the gravel, it sinks in.

I have a bus ticket and have disassembled the bike, and will stay in Blenheim for a few days before cycling to Picton and on to Wellington on the ferry.

It feels good to have made the decision, and I don't regret not doing the last 270km this time.

Day 19, Waimakariri River to Leithfield Beach north of Christchurch. 79km

Hot day! Really hot. 36.1° was the high for the day. No wind, just an oven of dry brown grass and endless scorching fields of hot cows and sheep looking for shade.

I drank about 8 litres of water and did not pee much. I probably should have drank even more. Towards the afternoon I started adding electrolytes to the water, and it really had an effect. My body immediately let me know it wanted more of the salty sugary electrolyte goodness.

Fortunately I did not have any trouble finding water refills. Unlike somewhere like the Mackenzie Country there were small towns or churches with a tap quite frequently here in Canterbury.

I stopped for lunch in Oxford, home of Who Ate All The Pies. Stupendously good pies, even in 36° heat. I ate two pies.

Onwards on the back road to Ashley Gorge, where from the bridge I could see hundreds of people swimming in the river. I guess it was Waitangi weekend and the hottest day of the year, and this was a most lovely little river for swimming and sitting in the shade.

Onwards ever onwards, through the baking brown land.

It is very dry land. The previous night at the Waimakariri I had seem a huge fire in the distance, as I woke in the night to pee.

Apparently more than 70 firefighters and 7 helicopters were battling a blaze.

It looked like this from my pee spot, but this is not my photo.

Towards the end of the day I struck some bad gravel roads for an hour. Deep gravel from roadworks maybe? My heavily loaded bike with narrow tires did not like the gravel, and slid side to side, sometimes digging in and throwing the steering off. It was not fun having to concentrate so much, and I vowed to avoid gravel in future until I got fat wide tires.

Finally I pulled in to Leithfield Beach holiday park which was packed with Waitangi weekend holidaymakers. 

Not a very nice camp. There were few trees and no shade until about 3pm but there was a cool beach with crashing waves. I wasn't brave enough to swim but I paddled up to my ankles in the cool water, before collapsing into a sweaty sleep. Overnight I didn't even use a sheet, just bare on the camping mat. It didn't cool down much at all.

Day 18, Staveley to Waimakariri River, 78km

It was cold overnight; on the hills overlooking the camp it was snowing, and in my sleeping bag I was wearing 2 jerseys, a down jacket, a woollen hat, and fleece pants. I was warm enough with all that and slept well.

The morning was bright, warm, and breezy, so I laid out all my wet things soaked by yesterday's rain and let them dry.

I departed at 11am with most things dry and headed towards the Rakaia gorge. 

The wind started off as a gentle breeze, and over an hour increased to a full gale. Wind more than 65kph! In my face, and sometimes to the side, blowing me into the road. 

I was down to 6kph and working hard pedaling into the wind.

Fortunately I didn't have far to go before I changed direction and descended to the Rakaia Gorge.

Dust and sand was billowing up from the river, so much dust that the river itself was hidden sometimes.

The descent should have been fun but was not because of the gale wind blowing from the side. Whenever the shape of the land funneled the wind I was pushed violently to the side, it was scary.

I took a well-deserved break behind a windbreak at the Rakaia bridge campground and watched a rescue helicopter land in high winds on the riverbed to take someone to hospital. 

Then refuelled with food and coffee I continued on.

The wind was my friend now; on a long 17 km straight the wind pushed me to 56 kilometres an hour without me pedaling at all. I think this is the strongest wind I have ever cycled with, and fortunately it was behind me. Those 17 kilometres I just coasted, never slowing below 25kph, and often exceeding 50kph. No pedaling! Just amazing.

But then I turned onto a differently angled road and the wind was from the side again for the last hour to the Waimakariri River. No good.

Wild plums gave me a boost of sugar in the last stretch, before I slept in my hammock in a pine plantation.

So tired. Happy to lie down.

Day 17, Geraldine to Taylor's Creek campsite near Staveley, 85km

It was beautiful riding today, on my favourite surface: hard tar-sealed roads through flat country, with no headwinds. On backroads, so there was no traffic.

However it did absolutely pour down, complete with thunder and lightning constantly for about 20 minutes.

Fortunately during the thunderstorm I was able to shelter at a cafe in Mayfield ("I reckon it's the Mayfield grain") and drink coffee and eat a pie while observing the torrential rain outside.

That Mayfield guy, from the ad on TV. Today I learned where Mayfield is, as i went though it.

I continued on once the storm passed but I did get caught out by another shower which came through about an hour later. I got pretty wet because my raincoat is worthless, but it was not too uncomfortable.

It is snowing on the hills above me. I'm directly below Mount Hutt ski field and I suspect from the fresh snow that has just fallen that I will be wearing ALL my clothes and hat and trousers in my sleeping bag tonight! Brrr.

Added later: I have discovered my tent leaks terribly. Why did I not find this out last trip when it rained on the Rees-Dart? I need to re waterproof the fly.

Day 16, more than halfway. Fairlie to Geraldine, 64 km.

Highlights of the day: 

Vomited in the night because of mild food poisoning. Terrible sweet n sour takeaways. Felt better by morning though.

A shocking hillclimb of 300 vertical meters. I had to walk most of it. Whew, a real workout!

Almost fell off on deep gravel, going downhill (at very slow speed). Gravel is difficult on a heavy bike with skinny tires.

Hanging Rock

Rained on me for the first time. But it was a nice warm rain with no wind so it was ok.

Reached the official halfway point. I'm far more than halfway however because I did a big detour to Dunedin.

Halfway point.

Day 15, second day of rest in Fairlie

Today was my second day of rest in Fairlie. I woke with the sun and set out to hitchhike to Timaru. The campground owner kindly offered to give me a lift there because she had errands to do in the big city.

So kind!

We chatted awkwardly in the car. I have discovered that I do not like hitchhiking anymore because I don't like chit-chatting with people. And the people who pick up hitchhikers usually want some chitchat.

Hmm.

Anyway she very kindly dropped me right outside the bike shop where I purchased the needful things.

Then a water filter from an outdoor shop, and some good healthy food.

Then I did something I've never done before: I took a decentralized bus service. It's really modern: on your phone you put in your location and destination. A computer somewhere links up all the people in Timaru who want bus rides at that time and creates an entirely novel route to satisfy everyone.

I waited 18 minutes for my bus which took me right out to Washdyke and only cost $2.50.

It's really bizarre, there are no more set bus routes in Timaru but this clever computer thing gets everyone to their destinations faster than they would otherwise, without having to walk far, and it costs the council less because there are never empty buses on unused routes.

Amazing! The future, man!

From Washdyke I hitchhiked back to Fairlie, fixed the tyre, and had sweet and sour pork for tea.

Day 14, rest day in Fairlie

Despite not doing a lot of kilometres every day I decided it was time for a rest day. I had been going for a week without a break.

I had arranged for Mum to send a new tyre to the campsite so my plan was to eat a lot, sleep a lot, and change the old torn tyre.

The plan was going very well until I managed to damage the innertube valve when changing the tyre. I always carry a second innertube so I got it out but it almost fell apart in my hands due to age and perishing. Oh no! Stranded in Fairlie without a functioning bicycle!

That will teach me to inspect my gear more carefully before starting.

Tomorrow morning I will hitchhike to Timaru, buy two new innertubes, a new water filter, and some healthy food. Then hitchhike back to Fairlie.

Day 13, Tekapo to Fairlie, 52km

Wallaby. One of four. Dead.

Another scorching day in Canterbury, with the temperature reaching 30° today. I drank a lot of water and even stopped to ask some nice people in a campervan if I could have some water.

Of course they said yes, and we spent the next 30 minutes chatting about cycling in California in the 1980s and now in New Zealand.

Onwards, and I met a cyclist coming from Christchurch. We got chatting and it turns out he has prostate cancer which has metastasized, so he is enjoying seeing the world from his bicycle in the year or so he has left.

Wow. He got pretty bitter about the health system but I steered the conversation to what he's enjoying about the trip, so that was better.

Over Burkes Pass and then a nice decent to the plains. The land is far more green and obviously fertile. The Mackenzie Country by contrast is sere and brown, incredibly dry, and not producing much of anything except pretty views and electricity.

The last 8 kilometres into Fairlie was on an unexpected cycleway beside the highway. A very nice surprise. Who built that and why is it not on any map?

I saw 4 dead wallabies. One dead ferret/stoat. Two dead possums, one dead hawk, and a hedgehog. Dead of course.

Day 12, Lake Pukaki to Lake Tekapo, 60km.

The rain cleared overnight and I was woken by the sunrise at 6.30am. The smell of my coffee mingled with the stench of my neighbour's night poos. The campers on both sides of my tent had shit in the open and just left it there when they departed at dawn.

There was a toilet about 100m away, so I don't understand why. So weird and disgusting.

Anyway, I got on the road and saw Mt Cook clear and cold in the distance. 

I took drinking water from the canal and added a chemical purification tablet because my water filter is broken. I need to buy a new filter, hopefully in Christchurch.

It was a hot day and I drank about 5 litres. Got sunburned despite putting on sunblock two or three times.

Lake Pukaki was a most shocking blue from the suspended rock dust.

I found a bluetooth speaker on the side of the road, still in working order although the case was cracked. I tested it and enjoyed some K-pop for a while.

Not sure what I'll do with a free bluetooth speaker; I do not need more weight to drag around.

The Alps To Ocean cycle trail I am following is very good riding. Smooth packed gravel winding through the landscape, and most importantly away from cars.

Alongside the canal the road is closed to cars, so it is NZ's largest cycleway. Marvelous! It's glorious to have two lanes of tarseal and absolutely no cars.

The canal was not flowing because they were doing some maintenance on the Tekapo B station intake. So the water level was really high in the canal, even submerging tussock and grass on the banks.

A coffee break beside the canal.

I passed the Tekapo A power station and it was all silent, no water flowing. It was strange to see it all shut down.

Then I checked into the Tekapo campground, a most horrible dusty place with no shade and tents crammed together. The kitchens were overcrowded and the shower had a timer for 6 minutes of hot water before it went cold. Do not stay there.

But they had a lot of wild rabbits which were cute and almost tame.

Sunset from the campsite.

I used earplugs to sleep because it was a noisy campground.

Day 11, Omarama to near Lake Pukaki. 63km.

Highway riding sucks. Traffic is scary. I had to ride on the main road for 17km and there wasn't even a lot of traffic, but it was stressful nonetheless.

But it did mean my brother saw me as he was driving past! He stopped his Wild Kiwi tour bus, and we had big hugs and I said hello to his enthusiastic passengers.

So nice and unexpected!

Ben's photos.

Just a few kilometres further on from where I met Ben, I turned off the main road onto the wonderful quiet Lake Ohau road. It was great riding on the flat but interesting road. There are "kettle holes" which are filled with small lakes in glacial moraine holes, from the last ice age. There are no outlets from these little lakes so i guess they have weird chemistry and life by now.

Then around the lake and alongside the canal, which was beautiful riding again. I love smooth tarseal roads with no traffic. ♥️♥️

I pushed hard and fast to beat the rain, which began within minutes of putting up my tent. Great timing!

I had been watching the rain get closer and closer for an hour as i cycled faster and faster to try to beat it to the campsite. 

Your can see in this photo the rain sweeping in from the mountains.

Tonight I'm camping at Lake Poaka campsite, and even with two toilets available people have pooed in the open and not even dug a hole or covered it. Who does this? Tourists? I guess this is why freedom camping was banned. ☹️

Day 10, Boundary Hut to Omarama, 43km.

I'm really enjoying these short kilometer days. Just soaking up the scenery and arriving at camp with plenty of energy left to enjoy reading books and explore.

The rain cleared overnight and it is another glorious warm sunny day. The landscape is all golden tussock and steep mountains on both sides, with a swift cold river between.

Today I have at least 20 river crossings, on top of the 8 yesterday. The river is pretty swift and almost too deep for my bike.

I walk it across because of the rocky uneven bottom, and the bouyant panniers catch the swift water. The whole fully loaded bike floats up and tries to escape by swimming downriver! I have to grab it, brace my legs, and haul it across.

I must be careful to be upstream, otherwise the bike will be pushed down on me, and both me and it will fall, with not great consequences.

I have triple bagged the panniers so nothing gets wet, despite the water coming almost over the top of the panniers.

The rough four-wheel drive road continues past Top Hut and then a ridiculously steep climb to Omarama Saddle.

There is no chance of cycling the uphill. Pushing all the way! It is almost 400 vertical metres in less than 2 kilometres of track. 

The view from the top is stunning with the Southern Alps wreathed in rain and the rest of the Mackenzie Country baking in hot norwestly winds.

That's lake Ohau on the left, and Pukaki on the right.

Then a colossal downhill of almost a vertical kilometre, with my brakes hot and fading. I ride through deep puddles to cool the brakes, and small side streams.

Finally on the flat, I am pushed by a welcome wind to Omarama.

I eat two delicious pies from the 4Square, YUM and check into the campground.

Day 9, Oturehua to Boundary Hut, 42km

A glorious morning in Oturehua. It is so silent and still at the dawn, very peaceful.

The whole town has a hangover from last night: it was Burns Night, with kilts and haggis and piping at Waipiata. Apparently it's a big thing up here.

I go into New Zealand's oldest shop and buy a toothbrush to replace the one which has mysteriously disappeared.

Then I cycle in the morning sun, first on a good gravel road, then it gets rougher and worse, then worse again, until my speed has dropped to 7kph, down from the 20kph on the rail trail. 

Tussock replaces the farmland as I slowly gain altitude.

It's really a 4x4 track now, rocky and muddy, and I push my bike through at least 8 fords. The water is almost knee deep, and I am glad I triple bagged everything in my panniers. The panniers float up and try to escape from the bike.

I pass a family who has stopped their 4WD because the water is too deep. They say they're going to walk the few remaining kilometres to the hut instead of risking the ute getting flooded.

SNAP, suddenly one of my front panniers falls off. The cable ties attaching the crossbar have worn through and failed. Fortunately I have a lot of spare cable ties.

It takes only 10 minutes to fix, but while fixing I notice my front tyre has been torn deeply by a rock. Oh dear! It is rideable but that will be something to watch for sure.

30 minutes later I'm at the hut , a humble DOC hut which smells strongly of mouse. It's not a bad smell.

The family of 4 joins me at the hut after an hour. Friendly kiwis not accustomed to the great outdoors. They have a dog, I love dogs at huts, they're so enthusiastic.

I'm happy to be inside tonight because heavy rain is forecast overnight, clearing in the morning.

Rain while tenting is dreadful, mostly because it's difficult to go for a pee in the night.

Day 8, Daisybank to Oturehua. 53km.

We woke after a freezing cold night. In Oturehua it was minus 5 degrees on the grass!

Three very noisy young harrier hawks encouraged us out of bed. They were raucous and noisy, playing in the trees and squawking at each other.

We packed up and Mum headed back towards Dunedin and I continued on towards Ranfurly.

The trees in the distance is where we camped last night.

Dramatic skies in this over-processed photo. But that's what it looked like to my eyes.

The scale model of the solar system near Ranfurly. This is Earth.

Beautiful weather with no wind. 

I said hello to maybe 20 bikers all day, mostly families. I met one loaded cycle tourist like me, and we stopped and had a yarn. It's interesting to meet other long distance cyclists.

Then after crossing the 45th parallel twice I rolled into Oturehua after just four hours-ish.

Tonight I'm staying at the Crows Nest which is really a fantastic and interesting place. There's all sorts of Earth brick buildings and things made of driftwood and sculptures and a dog. A woman staying here just gave me apricots and cherries, so it's a very Central Otago feel.

Day 7, Middlemarch to Daisybank campsite, 39km

Mum and I drove from Dunedin to Middlemarch and set off for a nice short ride along the rail trail to the campsite on the banks of the Taieri River. It's nice, you can't get there except by bike or walking.

The night was rather cold, with mum wearing all her clothes inside the sleeping bag, and in the middle of the night she woke up and covered herself with a blue tarpaulin for extra warmth inside the tent.

Thankyou so much mother for coming with me, and for being the taxi and support! Love ya.