Alps to Ocean the Final Day

On to the Pacific

Kurow to Duntroon 23 km in 46 minutes, I went up hill quicker than I went down hill yesterday, with a full head wind fixed firmly behind me I was flying ✈ but I knew it couldn’t last as at Duntroon I had to do a “Right turn Clyde”.

That put me head on to the wind and back to reality of 5 Kph and walking up Hills again, the day that just got longer than expected.
If the shortest route is a straight line then the run in to Oamaru is the futherest thing from that and the map I have I had to give up on as it was not possible to follow the route due to the maps scale and the fact that the trial is not marked as it has be made through farm land.

The route was made harder as in places as this is a new route which is still being developed and the surfaces in parts are still settling in so are very soft in places so sometimes it’s like riding through sand so quite tough going.

However they have managed to send you through some pretty special country on your way to the Ocean so hats of to the team which have developed this ride.
half way through the day you have to go through a tunnel it’s not so long but it’s not straight and you do need light’s to get through as it is totally black inside.
Ha! Got this one covered it is part of the reason I haul the extra weight of a hub dynamo so I have a super bright head light 💡 So I stopped just short of the tunnel turn on the light and ride in with supreme confidence that I have no problem.

Wrong, almost instantly the world went black and I was plunged in to darkness, must be a problem with my lights so I stopped to check it out, and out went my lights now I am in total darkness as the stand light on my light had not had time to be charged as I had only switched it on a few moments earlier, it was quite funny scary to watch the last remaining light in my world go out and be totally consumed by the dark. Luckily I knew my head torch🔦was in my bar bag so I had to fumble through the accumulated crap in my bag to find it. Happy 🙂 to have light again I peddled on realising that my eyes had started to adjust and there was light at the end of the tunnel, guess my lights were working fine just my eyes could not  keep up with the transition from light to dark so quick.

Really strange day windy as hell but super sunny but stormy too. I thought I had seen all the weather had to offer today but I was wrong it delivered a final offering of hail just for good measure, but I didn’t care as I was 20 km from Oamaru and closing at a snails pace 🐌 due to the wind. The final ride in takes you on an old railway line and on to the towns parks and gardens, then through the old and some what quirky town of Oak before presenting you the finish line of the Pacific Ocean and the end of the ride and of the roads, next land from here would be Antarctica and Scott base. Great ride 300 km in 5 days Alps to Ocean completed. 🙂

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Dams Busted

Onward and upward over the hills and far away, but very very slowly head wind all day blowing through the valley and no getting away from it all day. Up hill battered by the wind bad enough but come on no fair on the way down I am sure that I went up some hills faster than I came down 🙂 I lie anyone who knows me knows I am Mr slow going up hills.
The guide book says that you might walk up to the top of the dam count me on that one, not long just very steep but from an engineering point of view they are quite something, and it is one of the main reasons that New Zealand is able to provide mostly clean power, with just wind and one coal burning plant on the north Island so pretty good over all.
Down side is that these beautiful lakes came at a price, some of the best rivers in NZ swollowed up at the cost of power.
Sadest thing I saw all day though was all the dead Wallabies along the road I think they must be coming down to the lakes to drink and get creamed by the cars for there trouble, could not always see them but you could smell them rotting yuck.
So dry, hot and sunny all day today and a lot of time on the roads glad I am down here mid-week as I think from what I know and can see there is a lot more poeple at the weekends, and more people more cars.
So I finally crawled into Kurow feeling completely drained but feeling happy. The campsite is nice and currently for sale, its clean and well kept but could do with a little updating in parts but its nice.
All is good in my world and I am a happy Teddy.

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Carradice Re-proof

Well the girls are working hard in the garden making honey, however my Carradice Super C saddle bag needs a reproof before I head off this week so here we go.

Like a lot of things in New Zealand there’s the expensive way to do things and the Kiwi way. So this is the how I re-proofed my Carradice Super C Saddle Bag.

Two things here I have bees and I Ski, and am lucky enough to know how to service my own skis, I therefore have to types of wax on hand at all times.

Ingredients and tools:

• 60% Ski Wax (paraffin wax really).
• 40% Bee’s Wax ( Free from my bees 🙂 )
• Linseed oil (about 1% of the total amount so just a few drops really)

• Paint brush
• Pot
• Hair dryer or hot air gun

I know you can’t have 101% but 59.5% and 39.5% is just far to accurate for this job, and if you have slightly more of one wax than the other no worries. Just keep the oil to a low-level and to be honest I am not sure it is required but I had some in the shed so in to the mix it went.

How I did it:

***** Safety First****** Caution the melting points of wax is quite low, however it does not take much heating to reach its flash point and care should be taken not to over heat the wax, as soon as the wax melts remove from the heat, reheat as required.*****

1. Make sure the bag is clean
2. Melt the wax and oil together in a pot you will not be using for dinner (any container will do.
3. Apply to all of the outside of the bag
4. The bag may well look like a mess, Do not worry its fine
5. Once coated all over gently heat with heat gun

All done easy as, and looks fab, the bag will be stiffer for a while but this is normal much the same as when new 🙂

 

 

 

 

Shake Down

Well just a few days now and I’m off to give everything one last check before the big off 🙂

Wallace loaded and ready for a quick 5 or 6 days away over kill for such a short ride but time to test it all together on a modified Alps to Ocean Route