New Zealand
Being the first country I ever travelled around by bicycle, New Zealand holds many fond memories for me and many first experiences; my first time camping whilst touring, of being completely disorientated, afraid and lost on my own in crazy conditions, of encountering heartfelt hospitality. It is a country and a land I will never forget.
Whilst living in Auckland for six months, it became apparent to me that travelling around this beautiful country would not be as easy as I had somehow imagined it would be. Having realised that the rail infrastructure was practically non-existent and without a drivers license, I was left with three viable options; hitchhiking, backpacker buses and local bus services, none of which really appealed to my desire for a rewarding experience.
It was during this time that I realised there was a fourth option however. How had I not realised this earlier! Yes, I had found my transport at last but there was but one problem: I hadn’t ridden a bicycle since childhood…
I had other questions too: was it even feasible to use a bicycle to travel around an entire country? How would I fix it if it broke? What kind of bike would I even need?
All of these questions were answered however upon visiting the local internet cafe (it was 2010). Not only was it possible to use a bicycle to travel around a country but I realised with great awe that people were riding bicycles across entire continents. I couldn’t believe it.
I quickly set about buying a cheap bike from a sports shop in Auckland. Onto that, I fitted a rear rack and with two rear pannier bags and a handlebar bag, I was ready to go.
After spending a night at Nelson Lakes National Park, decided to a local if there was another way which would take me west and onto the town of Murchinson. This would enable me to cycle the same 10km’s back to rejoin the highway.
He promptly told me there was a track that led over the hills but that it was only really suitable to 4×4’s. I took it anyway.
I had noticed that my rack was scraping on top of my back wheel and then after a few more noises, the bike shook and I heard a loud cracking sound.
I was almost at the top of the crest I had been going up and my rack had snapped under the weight of the luggage. The road I had been travelling on probably didn’t help either.
There was nothing I could do to fix the problem as the entire left hand side had snapped in half. I was in the middle of nowhere and hadn’t seen a soul all afternoon. This was a problem.
About half an hour passed by when I overheard a car in the distance. As it drew nearer, I stood up to flag it down and once they saw me, they promptly stopped and asked if I needed some help.
Tho two men offered to take me the rest of the way to Murchinson, thus I ended up giving them all my gear. I said I had wanted to at least cycle down the other side so they told me to meet them at the red farmhouse at the bottom.
It felt exhilarating to be able to cycle down the other side with zero weight on the bike. True enough, I saw their jeep outside the farmhouse when I got to the bottom twenty minutes later.
They took me all the way into Murchinson where I stayed for the next two days until I could find someone to weld my rack until I could buy a new one when I got to Westport.
Turns out they were gold-miners and I met them again the next evening at the local pub.
Whilst cycling down the west coast a few days later, I experienced the first rain of the trip so far, and within no time at all it started to pummel me. I was only wearing cotton clothes thus this wasn’t the weather to be cycling in. Pretty soon, my extremities were becoming bone achingly cold and I knew I had to find some form of shelter.
With the wind battering myself and my bike, I eventually found a track leading up to a house in the bush. I pushed my bike under the porch and breathed a sigh of relief. After a couple of minutes, a man came out of his shed and enquired if everything was okay, at which point I asked him if I could stay there until the rain abated.
Upon asking him this, he told me to come inside and preceded to feed me sandwiches and cups of tea, insisting on drying my clothes by his fire. He also gave me some information about the history of the area and then told me there was an abandoned beach hut by the sea a few km’s down the road.
He decided to give me a lift to the hut and supplied me with some firewood and even a mattress to sleep on. I was overwhelmed by his generosity and couldn’t believe how the worst of situations can sometimes turn into the best. It got a little windy in the hut but once I had gotten a fire going I was quite warm and slept with a great view of the ocean. The man even came back a couple of hours later with a carton of milk. I could have got used to this.
North of Queenstown, at the top of Lake Wakatipu, there lies a small township called Glenorchy surrounded by stunning views of the South Island. A part of the area is aptly named, Paradise. It was here I rode to next.
Having stayed up in Paradise for two days and seen some Lord of The Rings filming locations, (geeky I know) I headed back down to Queenstown. I picked up a ticket for the ferry that would take me across Lake Wakatipu and onto Walter Peak; a quite desolate area of the country I was led to believe.
There was another reason I chose this route. It was either a 200+km ride on the highway to Te Anau or a 110km ride through the Mavora Lakes region, albeit mostly on gravel. I chose the latter.
Having disembarked, I began cycling immediately uphill. I had the entire area to myself; mile after mile of untouched natural beauty, and made the most of it by choosing an amazing place to camp overlooking the lake.
The day started off quite well with only a few clouds in sight. After breakfast and having collected fresh water from the lake, I made my way inland along the gravel tracks. It was a steady climb up to around 700 m passing desolate scrub and plains with almost no treas or foliage in sight.
Around 20km’s further on, the track became a lot steeper and the sky began to turn a dark grey colour. The wind picked up almost immediately too. I spoke to another cyclist who was coming back from the way I was going and he told me it probably wasn’t a good idea to carry on. Once the weather turns up here, he continued, there’s nowhere to take shelter from the elements and you’re just far too exposed.
I decided he was being melodramatic, and continued on my way.
As I began to ascend the plateau, the wind really began to inhibit my progress and the temperature began to drop significantly. The area looked desolate, but I continued on, determined to reach Mavora Lake by the days end.
After a few more km’s, I did begin to wonder whether or not this was such a good idea.
By now I was cycling at a snails pace. The wind was pushing me back every inch of the way and on top of that, the rain chugged down my back and pummelled my face into submission. My entire body was drenched from head to toe, my hands were freezing, beginning to go numb and my feet felt like blocks of ice too. Blocks of ice that I somehow needed to pedal with.
A few minutes later, I saw a lone tree off to the side of the road and headed there. It was the only bit of shelter I. could see.
I had lost all sense of feeling in my feet by this time, and just tried my best to change my socks and waterproof my other trainers as best I could.
Having somehow used my back as a shelter against the rain and changed some clothing, I pushed my bike back to the road. At that point the wind blew it over and my panniers came loose.
It was here that I began to panic. I couldn’t fit my bags back on as my hands were too numb. I began to breath slowly and told myself to calm down.
Eventually, after much cursing, I was slowly on my way again. I knew these were the types of conditions where hypothermia can set in and so tried to relax and focused on the task ahead.
I tried to stop every 2 minutes or so in order to get some feeling into my extremities.
Half an hour later, I actually began to ride downhill and was so overjoyed that I began to cycle harder.
Another ten minutes passed, and eventually in the distance, below deep blue skies, stood the forests and Lakes of the Mavora region. I thanked someone up there for my safe passage.
I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It felt like I had come through the end of the world and yet on the other side, I was greeted to great weather, shimmering lakes and endless forest. It was magnificent.
Eventually, after much cursing, I was slowly on my way again. I knew these were the types of conditions where hypothermia can set in and so tried to relax and focused on the task ahead.
I tried to stop every 2 minutes or so in order to get some feeling into my extremities.
Half an hour later, I actually began to ride downhill and was so overjoyed that I began to cycle harder.
Another ten minutes passed, and eventually in the distance, below deep blue skies, stood the forests and Lakes of the Mavora region. I thanked someone up there for my safe passage.
I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It felt like I had come through the end of the world and yet on the other side, I was greeted to great weather, shimmering lakes and endless forest. It was magnificent.
