Day 11
arrived in a terrific mood. We had another night of a hostel all alone to
ourselves. I awoke to Brian doing yet another one of his signature snapchats,
this time of me sleeping. I sometimes wonder how many times I have had to do
something for a snapchat over and over again just to get the right take. But
it’s for the fame of it all isn’t it. Nevertheless, as with every morning on
this journey, there is riding to do. This morning I was treated to two lovely
bowls of Coco Pops, basically Rice Krispies but with chocolate for those who
don’ know; it probably wasn’t the best breakfast so I decided to offset it with
a frozen microwave pie… As we yet another day of hard and long riding ahead of
us, we packed our bikes and set off for our overnight stay in St. Arnaud.
The
ride to St. Arnaud today would take us 77km and uphill 750m through to the
Nelson Lakes Nation Park. Although the route today had a substantial climb, our
research had told us that the average grade would be less than 1%, not so bad
considering some of our climbs have had hills with gradients of 30%. Our first
part of the journey was fairly easy going as we crossed through more of the New
Zealand farmland; though unlike most of this countries pastures being filled
with sheep or cows, these particular fields were filled with deer. New Zealand
has become yet another country to join the venison market to meet the worlds
growing demands. With yet another snapchat from Brian we were back to the
bikes, the herds of deer opposite the fence chasing us on. Winding through the
valley up and down the hills, Brian led the day seemingly hell bent on St.
Arnaud. After finally convincing him to pullover for a quick snack and break, I
learned that our almost unbelievable pace was on the account Sandflies. As a
little precursor, the sandflies had been getting progressively worse as we
headed more north up the island and apparently Brian is one of their favorite
meals. So as I slowly snacked on a granola bar and tried to rest my legs, Brian
was pacing back and forth to not give any moment for the sandflies to take a
chomp. Shorter than I would have liked we were back on the road and climbing up
hills and rolling around bends, only to find another climb. One more stop and
another few rolling hills and the valley finally gave way to a massive plateau
stretching as far as my eyes could see. We pushed along the plateau ever weary
of the coming clouds and our tiring legs.
St.
Arnaud had proved to be a very elusive town, every turn or small decline
seeming to send us down into the town only to have us continue you on. When we
finally rolled into town, the rain had finally let loose and was beginning to
drizzle. We decided to take refuge in a nearby café so we could figure out what
we could do for an overnight stay. Our initial plan of cycling another 10km
towards our next destination and a department of conservation (doc) campsite;
though now the rain and Brian’s supreme discomfort with sandflies had pushed us
to look for new options. A little research later, Brian found a motel with
backpackers like attachment just a little ways up the road. So here you find me
resting my aching muscles in a comfy bed, watching the rain and wind preform a
wonderful duet out the window. Here’s hoping they finish up tonight as tomorrow
we have another triple digit day into the coastal town of Blenheim. Day 11,
77km and sitting.
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