Day: March 17, 2025

Riding Stats

Accommodations

Route Tracker

We have been planning indoor stays because of the weather forecasts for big rain and to be honest, the sand flies here are horrendous. They bite and they are everywhere.

Not mad about these indoor stays – every one of them have been 💯 with flushers, bed sheets, towels, potable water, wifi – well the amenities are endless. We do miss our tent though.

Today was hands down going to be awful. LOTs of rain forecasted but… also an unbelievable tail wind was forecasted. We planned on camping 46 miles down the road since indoor stays weren’t available.

Tail winds came and blew us right by Lakes Wanaka and Hawea but the rains never came. In fact it was difficult to control the bikes when we veered from the southerlies pushing our bikes and the sun came out!

Every day Tom says, “this might be my favorite day of riding” and he said it again today.

But before we began cycling, we went to the community kitchen to make coffee where we formerly met Chris posted up at a table drawing. The night before Tom saw him there heads down writing. He wasn’t a guest but he was staying there.

We had a lovely chat with him, did a currency exchange for him (somehow he ended up with American dollars and needed a few Kiwi dollars) and he sketched a waterfall for us. He left us with this quote: “When people help you, you give them the best you got.” Godspeed Chris, to wherever you’re headed.

With such favorable winds we were able to extend our ride past Wanaka and on to Cardrona where we had a lovely indoor stay at a historic inn. It’s definitely a lifetime top ten stay for us.

Today really might have been my favorite day of riding as well. The lakes, the trails, Wanaka, the whole shibang!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!🍀

Click on the link below for today’s video.

Riding Stats

Accommodations

Route Tracker

This route just keeps throwing us ringers everyday. Today we cycled through Mount Aspiring National Park and though the day began cloudy, it put a mystical feel on the ride.

We rode past so many waterfalls, some marked, most unmarked. That’s the beauty of bike travel… we could hear them before we could see them. While many in cars pass them because they aren’t marked, we saw so many.

Of course travelers in cars don’t need to hump their gear up and over the passes, but there is even joy in that (once it’s over).🤣

On the climb up Haast, I stopped to take a pic of a waterfall, mostly because it was well… powerful and noisy which meant big in terms of waterfalls, plus there was a guardrail on which to lean my bike.

It was an unmarked waterfall, but dang if as soon as I was ready to take the photo, a big ole tour bus pulled up and blocked my entire view. Really? You had to stop here. In front of me? 🤷🏼‍♀️

I looked up at the bus and who was waving like crazy at me from inside the bus? Our good buddy Durell from South Carolina whom we cycled with for five or so days! He and his bike were on a bus to Queenstown and here he was again. He keeps popping in and out of our lives. I call that a God wink.😉

Durell sent me the video he took looking out the bus window and the moment I recognized him is pretty special.

Just before we started climbing up to Haast Pass we stopped for a snack and brief rest. We saw a young couple obviously doing the same so of course we said “hello”.

Turns out Ulys and Virginia just posted in the TA Facebook group about riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (south to north) on their way home to Quebec. They were asking about how alike and different the TA and GDMBR are. When I saw the post I thought “are they cray cray?”

And now here they were. No! This ambitious couple is going to do it! They are the sweetest pair and this is Virginia’s first bike tour. Just like our other Canadian friends Amelia and Sarah , their first bike tour too, and they are stomping on it!

Just going to put this out there – I’ve never met an unkind Canadian. They are all so nice. Am I right, eh? 🇨🇦

But now back to the National Park.

It. Was. Stellar.

Below are a few pics but today’s vid will give you a better idea of just how remarkable it was.

Click on the image below to view today’s video.