1/1/2017
Kaka Point to Dunedin

Happy New Zealand New Year! I feel like I am in the future because all my loved ones are up to a whole day behind me.

My first and only sight for the day was Nugget Point. It was supposed to also include spotting yellow-eyed penguins from the Roaring Bay hide shack, but no penguins. There were a bunch of fur seals to the far side of the bay, which likely contribute to the lack of daytime penguin sightings since they should be nesting babies this time of year. It was a nice hike up to the lighthouse looking over the “nuggets” or all the tiny rock islands poking up from the point. The best part was that I left most of my bike load at the campground. It was a fast 12 miles without all the weight I normally have.

I then rode to Balclutha. 26 miles I should have accomplished yesterday. I likely would have seen penguins if I had gone last night. As I was turning up the road north I remembered that this stretch heading south was some of the worst head winds. No surprise then that I again had some of the worst head winds. It’s like the puppet master pulling the weather strings sees a cyclist and says, “yeah, let’s ruin that person’s day!” I am literally traveling on the same road but in the opposite direction as my ride south, I am supposed to have tail winds! I stopped at the Captain’s Cafe and Bar for lunch. Really nice lunch special of some local brand of fish. Trying to get in my fish options before leaving the country. I then found everything closed, but New World Market was open and they had an iPhone cable, since mine broke last night. Unfortunately no allergy medicine though. My eyes itch with an annoying fierceness and my nose has taken to running.

Onward to Dunedin. I forgot how sore my bottom was from riding long distances without all the stopping for fun side trips. I made it to Dunedin just in time to catch the last spot on the last tour of the day at the Cadbury World chocolate factory. So much chocolate! They literally give you a whole bag of chocolates. As well as a cup to drink as much liquid chocolate as you want while on the tour. And it ends with a ridiculous giant chocolate fountain pouring down the center of an old silo. It was a pretty cool tour altogether. I wish I had caught the Speights Brewery tour after that but no luck.

I am staying at the On Top Backpackers. Apparently everything is closed in Dunedin today too. No pharmacy was open, the camp ground I wanted was closed, and the first hostel up a big hill was booked out. There also weren’t any bike shops open, which I will have to stop at tomorrow. My low gears have decided to stop being functional. Which really makes hills a disappointment when I down-shift and the chain catches causing the pedals to lock up (second gear) or nothing happens at all except an annoying clicking sound (first gear). I am dying of this hay fever business too. It is seriously making breathing a challenge. Bitter sweet thoughts about this vacation ending.

I had a really nice and very filling feast for supper on Indian food. I may need to designate a new food group just for naan. Nice quiet eatery though. The hostel is relatively busy and I am not in a socializing mood. Boo to my allergy-induced poor mood!

The hostel is relatively nice to be in. It has free wifi, a large common area with comfy couches, and breakfast in the AM. My room is hot though, not sure how that will go with my wheezing…

12/31/2016
McLean Falls to Kaka Point – 52 miles

What a jam packed day! I had a slow start to the day because I ran out of allergy medicine and forgot to look for some in Invercargill. I was up all night with a clogged sinus and crusty eyes. It was the first time I have camped with a full campground too. I wasn’t prepared for the constant rustling of human activity late into the night. Regardless, a slow start. I did catch a bit of luck in the Whistling Frog Cafe, I stopped in for a coffee and one of the waitresses had a homeopathic hay fever serum. I don’t really know if it helped, but I felt better today than I did at any moment last night.

My first stop was Cathedral Caves, of the largest beach sea caves on Earth at 199 meters of total passage length. As I am in the same general area as yesterday, it makes sense that the beds dipping inland here are of a similar Jurassic sandstone as the petrified forest in Curio Bay. Though obviously the cave has formed over the last tens to hundreds of thousand years from the mechanical erosion and collapse of the rock. Sub-vertical joint sets orthogonal to the bedding enable the waves to create large, blocky passage cross-sections. My timing was perfect, I arrived right at the lowest tide, so I was able to walk all the way into the back of the cave and out its second entrance. The passage profiles are quite large. The first entrance is about 10 meters across and 20 meters tall, while the second entrance is 15×15 meters. They were once two separate caves that eventually connected. The waves continue to erode a single back passage.

Then I rode to Lake Wilkie, a rare memory from the last ice age some 13,000 years ago left behind as a lake. It was mostly just a nice nature walk. But there was a simple yet effective series of informative boards showing how the mature podocarp forest is slowly reclaiming the lake.

Then I stopped at Tautuka Beach. It has a spectacular bay backed by forest. And is clearly a popular spot for surfing and beach driving. I almost wanted a vehicle so I too could go racing down the beach. I note this beach only because immediately after standing at sea level I rode up the beefy Florence Hill overlooking that bay. Beautiful views and literally breathtaking. I was sweating profusely by the top.

I then rode on to Papatowai Settlement and stumbled upon the Lost Gypsy Gizmo Gallery. Incredible little place! They even had a small coffee stand. The owner of this place makes mechanical trinkets, like hundreds, if not a thousand of them. They fill a small boxcar and have continued into the gardens around the place. There is even a back area with larger mechanical wonders. All interactive too. I loved it! I rode down to the Papatowai Picnic Point Forest because they have public toilets, and found a one day only children’s carnival. It was so cute. I didn’t stay.

I continued up another beefy climb to Matai Falls and Horseshoe Falls. Nothing special, but I like waterfalls. It did lead me to opt to head to Purakaunui Falls, which required gravel road travel. But you know what, that gravel road was beautifully level and not covered in deep shifting gravel. Though I probably liked it most because I really only saw a handful of vehicles on the whole stretch. Purakaunui Falls were also fantastic! Very iconic wide, tiered falls.

I then continued the gravel travel out to Jack’s Blowhole. Named after the Maori chief Tuhawaiki, or Bloody Jack, this is basically a sea cave like I saw this morning except the ceiling has completely collapsed. The result is that 200 meters inland, there is this giant blowhole. The sign says it is a 68 meter wide opening that is 55 meters deep. Tide was still relatively low while I was there and I could see sunlight shining through its 144 meters of tunnel to the sea. It was well worth the extra 14 miles of gravel!

I wandered into the town of Owaka next. Unfortunately it was evening by then, because they would have had a pharmacy. Hopefully Balclutha can provide the saving elixir for hay fever! Anyway, I missed out on a lot of cool sounding stuff because everything was closed. I at least had a really nice meal from Lumberjack Bar and Restaurant. The whole place basically reserved for supper parties, but they set me up at the main bar. Pan fried Blue Cod, cheesy scalloped potatoes, and seasonal veggies. I really wanted dessert but knew it would make the ride out too difficult. It was delicious and the staff were extremely friendly.

I probably should have set off for Balclutha, but instead rode to Kaka Point. A small sea side village overlooking Molyneaux Bay. It is a beautiful and scenic route to take up to Balclutha. The reason I set off to add even more miles is because I really want to see Roaring Bay and Nugget Point at the southernmost edge from Kaka Point. There are so many fantastic sights to see along the coast here, but the road isn’t actually along the coast because the bluffs are tall and not continuous. So every place I want to visit requires a lengthy side route out to the coast, then back to the scenic highway, up a short way, and back out to the coast. It has made a long day, but a day worth every mile. And I refuse to skip these last views just because it means a longer day tomorrow.

Back to topic, I am staying at the Kaka Point Camping Ground. When I rode in they had just made the call that no one else could fit, but they saw me on my bicycle and made an exception. Much to my great relief! If they hadn’t taken me, and I couldn’t find a hotel in Kaka Point, I would have been forced to ride an additional 14 miles to Balclutha. And after I already mentioned that I wasn’t skipping Nugget Point, I would have needed to go there first, meaning an additional 12 miles, for 26 miles total. It would have been really dark and raining (as it is raining right now, and I suspect I wouldn’t have made it yet). All the little side trips take up a bunch of time, I hardly made any distance today.

Happy New Year’s Eve! It is about 22:30 and I am heading to sleep. My mom gave me new year advice from her mother, and it is to not do anything for New Years that you wouldn’t want to spend the rest of the year doing. I feel pretty good about getting some good sleep and adventuring about. 2017 should be a good year for me!

12/30/2016
Invercargill to McLean Falls – 76 miles

After a good night’s rest I woke ready for the rest of this bike adventure. I took a shower, ate breaky, watched a cartoon, and headed off. I stopped at a random mine that was closed but advertised a cafe. It was also closed but a really nice English couple pulled up at the same time. They were super interested in my trip and how light my bike was packed. If the cafe had been open, I suspect they would have chatted a long while. Nice people. My first checkpoint was the town of Fortrose. It marks the first restaurant into the Catlins. I stopped for a coffee and picked up a Catlins tourist map. To my great fortune, the map included road types letting me prepared for gravel versus paved routes. My route was set, but it was nice to know that every vista was accessed via gravel road and that this leg of the tourist route also contained a 14 km gravel road.

My first stop was Waipapa Point Lighthouse. It was recommended because usually there are heaps of sea lions and fur seals. I only saw one sea lion way off from the lookout. But it was beautiful. I really like lighthouses. New Zealand’s lighthouses are no longer occupied by people, so now they are tourist stops.

The gravel road was just over 6 miles round trip. And it really got me thinking about vehicles on the road with cyclists. I am on a tourist road. There is the scenic highway and then there is this road, which links all the extra sights. Locals are easy to spot, they drive really slow when they see me, tend to nod my way, and usually are in a farming vehicle. They are very familiar with this winding road that is all gravel for the majority of its length. Then there are the tourists. They are usually driving fast, hardly slowing down while approaching me unless they become ostuck behind me as two vehicles try to pass. They don’t always nod, and in fact I feel like some are actually grimacing my way. It took me riding down the lighthouse road to realize this distinction. My presence on the road apparently causes too much delay in the busy agendas of the tourists around me.

That thought really sticks with me. I am among these tourists, and I have my deadlines too, but seriously they are in vehicles. The one minute of delay that I may cause them (if it is even a whole minute) can easily be made up or lost without significantly affecting the speed at which the drivers are moving along this road. My progress, however, is significantly impeded because I cannot risk riding fast for the worry that the next vehicle will speed wide around a bend and force my path off the narrow tire tread. In the whole 14 miles or so of gravel travel, I held my own well enough to only slide out once. No injury or harm done, but it kept me on edge. As difficult enough as it is to ride slick tires on gravel, I also had a fair amount of topography to the road, and the impatient tourists as described above. Since I have panniers, the back half of my bike is imbalanced and any loss of control could result in a slide. I didn’t even fall over, I haven’t fallen over yet from not clipping out fast enough [**knock** on wood]. But the bike still pulled itself down the slope as the slope of the road and depth of gravel reached the limit of my bicycle traction. Anyway, this long saga is to say that if all the tourists, cyclists should be the most reasonably impatient since any delay truly equals a delay. There isn’t really a great way to make up time while cycling except to stop less, which is not a very touristy thing to do.

I did ultimately decide to skip Slope Point, the southernmost Point on South Island. I decided the additional 8 miles of gravel with a big hill weren’t necessary. I have already been to Stewart Island, so I have been way further south in New Zealand than Slope Point. It was supposed to have nice views though.

Curio Bay I made sure not to miss. And it was a lovely break. There is a 180 million year old (Jurassic time frame) fossil forest preserved from ash fall. The wave cut beach rock reveals the fossilized wood. And it now provides stunning wave-crashing bluffs to take photos from. I took a long break lying on the beach in Curio Bay. At long last I finally am on the beach in my bikini enjoying the sun! I only gave myself an hour of sun time, though. Besides my left shoulder and knees being really tan, made all the more absurd by the stark lines from my jersey and shorts, the rest of my body looks questionably of albinism. I didn’t want to turn into a lobster. I am just beginning to peel from my very first day on this bike trip, so soon I will be fully pale again.

From Curio Bay I was back on pavement and as I headed toward Waikawa, I saw a lone penguin standing up on a rock in the water, arms spread, obviously dreaming about what it would be like to fly. I could understand the desire.

I next stopped in the tint settlement of Niagara for two reasons. The first being the Niagara Falls Cafe, and it did not disappoint. It was the exact quiet and lovely place I wanted to be. I sat in a warm sunny spot by the window overlooking a thriving garden. The cafe used to be the Niagara Falls schoolhouse, built in 1893, before it shut down in 1972 when the mill shut down. Niagara Falls is named in jest after the North American Niagara Falls, for the tiny waterfall at the river where settlers would take their wool to send down river to Wiakawa where it was shipped off. The sign advertises for the world’s smallest waterfall. I love the humor.

From Niagara I continued all the way to Catlins Kiwi Holiday Park where I am camped out tonight. It is the only camping point since I left Waikawa, so you can imagine that the whole place is booked out. But they let people put tents wherever they find a spot, so I was ok. The reason I wanted to stop here was to have supper at the Whistling Frog Cafe and Bar and to catch an evening view of the McLean Falls, New Zealand’s tallest falls at 22 meters. I have been searching for a milkshake and the cafe had them! I cannot describe how delighted I was to finally have a milkshake. In that food venture, I forgot about the 3km walk just to get to the falls car park on top of the 40 min round trip walk. I arrived at the falls after sunset, too dark to snap twilight lighting. It was still a neat sight. No glowworms came out though. I hoped I might at least see then on the walk back. It was probably slightly too light out for them yet. The worst of both ends of the stick. A nice part was that some German guys who were also still down there gave me a ride back to the campground.

Noisy campground, but off the bed!

12/29/2016
Leaving Stewart Island

I slept well! I woke up feeling happy. I finished gathering my things and packed them onto my bike, ready for my departure whenever necessary. I went to the South Sea restaurant for breaky and sat around a long while staring out the window. The weather is finally calm today. Though there were occasional rain showers. I have a hotel in Invercargill booked for tonight, my ferry ticket paid for, and a shuttle to return my bike and me to the city. I even have the bus from Oamaru to Christchurch settled and my route back tallied. The remaining days are few.

For my last adventure on Stewart Island I decided to take a scenic boat ride across the Paterson Inlet and up Fresh River. I left from Golden Bay and got to see more of the island interior along the fresh water river. My skipper, Chris, took me around the little islands and pointed out the various bays as we rode over. He told me about the town and some of the island history. It was nice to have a conversation with a local. He pointed out a lot of birds to me, and I saw a little Blue Penguin. It was heaps of fun on the narrow river, too. The water is often less than a meter deep, so they have to drive the boat relatively fast and make sharper turns. This caused the boat to turn significantly to the side the boat was turning on. I almost felt like I could reach out and touch the water. It was a pleasant out and back. I was the only passenger, but we picked up a full boat of people at the Freshwater Hut. Normally they don’t let passengers leave the boat, but Chris let me walk about while he loaded the others. There is a neat bridge walkway that I crossed over to the hut. I realized that I never took any photos of Bungaree Hut, so this was a nice opportunity. Plus the walkway was fun. Simple wirelines holding up a thin plank walkway, swaying quite lively as I walked across.

I was on the afternoon ferry back, so I had just enough time to grab a snack before waiting around the wharf. It was a full boat back. The weather was great though, no crazy rocking this time.

I am staying at the Kelvin Hotel again. I liked them so much the first round. Plus the hostel was booked out. I had a quiet birthday in the hotel. A nice supper at the restaurant and big dessert. I watched a movie from the quiet of my room. And I relaxed in preparation for the next several days jammed full of big miles and new adventures.

Happy 28th birthday to me.