Day 14: Queenstown-Te Anau
There's two options for today: the State Highway and I'm obviously taking the other one. It's a ferry over to Walter's Peak, then 9.5 hours of riding. Most is gravel road, with a bit of regular road at the end. There's a 730am ferry, I'd booked it about two months ago because I was worried it’d get booked out in the tourist season.
I was staying about an hour away which meant getting on the road at 6, which is not something I wish to make a habit of. The nice gravel path that ran scenically beside the water seemed like a liability in the half-light in a rush so I went on the road instead. Saw maybe two cars. Steamed across town to arrive slightly before 7, since I'd been asked to be there 20 minutes early. Two other cyclists were there too. But the ticket office was closed with nobody inside, the ferry was roped off and getting cleaned. Feels begin a few hours early...
Which was not wrong. It turns out the 730 ferry I was booked on was actually the staff ferry over to Walter's Peak. So we joined the chefs, dishwashers and servers for whom this was basically a commute; they snoozed or doomscrolled or shared a cup of Mate.
From left to right: turns out coffee cups fit into the drinks holder. Selfie on the commuter boat. Bouncy photo of the view through the window. Our baggage on the boat. Alpaca. Comprehensive warning sign.
Walter's Peak looks like a cafe/restaurant for tourists coming over by ferry for a day out. The only other way to get there is an unglamorous but reliable gravel access road. That's the one I'm taking. The forecast is for rain later, but for now the sky isa deep blue and the sun is bright. The road follows a valley, with some epic views over Lake Wakatipu, with the mountains on either side. Peak NZ views. There were many photos stops...
There's two river crossings along the way. Normally not a problem but there's been quite a bit of rain recently and there's a worry that they'll be too high to cross. Was weighing things up at the first one when a big truck-trailer rolled through; the water didn't quite reach the axles so it's going to be OK.
Unfortunately the postcard-quality weather doesn't stay long. The clouds close in, the sun fades, wind rises, temperature drops. It's a steep climb up to the pass, but the slope is consistent and the curves are gradual, built with the big trucks in mind. This is today's big climb, and a bit of cold air goes nicely with it.
A clutch of mountain bikers pass me going downhill. They are upbeat and cheery and given how far this is from anywhere, they must have come in by bus. If'd they started riding at 3am to get here, they wouldn't be so pleased about anything.
On the climb I'd been hearing voices and shouting and whistling, I'd seen two people on horseback. At the top we crossed paths, when the flock of sheep they were driving overran the road. They had about ten dogs, and were controlling them just by whistling which was pretty impressive to see in person. The flock sloshes as it moves, swirls form and start to separate and the dogs work constantly to keep them together. I stayed a safe distance back, because the mood is feisty. It's exciting and new and then it's only interesting and then it's just slow and I'm starting to get cold. They take the flock off the road, perhaps so I can get past, and I push into a high gear to warm up.
From left to right: Nicely sunlit scenery, all together to keep it simple. Book swap, and honey for sale. More hazards going into the back country. The road ahead. Stuck behind some slow traffic.
The gravel road is heading down another valley, but instead of lush green it's brown grasses. There's now a headwind, but it's not strong and the surface is pretty good so I'm making good time. I get overtaken by some truck-trailers (getting them over the pass must have been a challenge) but the lowlight is a noxious gate.
There's two options to get through. One is a cattlestop filled with brown water, and it's not dirt-colored. It's probably ridable but the cattlestop looks treacherous. And if I fell over, I think I'd use Google to find the nearest river and drive myself and the whole bike into it to get clean. The other option is a gate, and I'll urbanely describe the road through it as "dung-covered". Safer. Getting it open involves untwisting a wire pair, lifting the gate off the ground where it's wedged, then putting it all back afterwards. Then cycling away carefully and slowly so I don't get too much effluent sprayed on my bike or me. Glad there was only one such delay. I stop at the next piece of clear grass to wipe my shoes and wheels off. And for the first time ever on a bike trip, I'd like it to rain please.
I've hit the peak and the whole afternoon was a gradual downslope. Not really steep enough to be obvious, but enough to be noticeably faster. By now I was in my raincoat because the rain was persistent. The road is now lower, it's greener, and farms are starting to appear.
From left to right: The road ahead. Nice to know I’m in Southland District now, but I do wonder why this sign was put up. I just rode 40km of this gravel and I am this happy. I have another 40km of gravel ahead and you can guess how happy I am. This bridge marks the transition back into farmland. Finally in Te Anau - this is an above average size for the road shoulder; note the car generously going wide. Sunset inscattering from fog.
The final section to Te Anau is State Highway 94. Like the other State Highways I've been on it doesn't have a reliable road shoulder for cyclists. Rough and broken asphalt edges make it unsafe to use. There's often a gravel embankment beyond that. I stay as far left as I can.
But the transition from solid asphalt to gravel is hard to read - I've even taken my sunglasses off so I can see better. Once I go just a little too far over and the front wheel loses traction. Things change in a moment from relaxed ride to full-clench on the handlebar. I'm on the precipice, and do not want the bike to go down the embankment: I can probably keep it safely upright on the way down but I can suddenly see a lot of ways things could go really bad. Freewheel and settle the bike, pull a slight turn to head back towards safety, hold it straight and smooth, then it's back on a good surface and I can straighten up. Stay away from the uncertain gravel in future.
There's quite a lot of traffic and it's not fun. I stop before all the sections with guardrails, to wait for the traffic to clear. When cars pass next to me, give them all the space I can.
Arrive in Te Anau about about 4, which is more than an hour ahead of the estimate! I'm here for a week, and the idea of not cycling sounds really good right now. Especially not cycling on a State Highway.
