Length of the South: A Nine Day Wander

LENGTH OF THE SOUTH A NINE DAY WANDER by Andrew Bichan So here’s the idea - ride my trusty old MTB from Slope Point and, avoiding asphalt as much as possible, see if I can get to Cape Stephens.

T here are a few Southern rides on my ‘bucketlist’ so I decided to join a bunch together over the Christmas break. Sally, my long standing (and suffering) support crew was keen to come for the drive so I set myself some soft brevet rules. I would be self-sufficient but free to take advantage of motels, shops, huts etc. However, whilst I may be OK sleeping under a bridge, Sally isn’t, so we agreed that provided I get to a place where I could get accommodation she can pick me up to go somewhere meeting her exacting standards (shower, roof – that sort of thing).

SLOPING OFF From Picton, regular driver swaps get us to Waikawa in under 12 hours with a short drive the next morning to 20km on is the bustling Roxborough at 7.15pm under now cloudy skies. Sally is waiting and we head back to Lawrence; it’s quite a drive as I hadn’t anticipated doing 217km. The beginning: Slope Point Slope Point for a 6:15am start.

It’s mostly good gravel travelling north through the Catlins, up the beautifully lush, bush hemmed Waikawa Valley and over a low saddle. There’s virtually no traffic for 70km. Unfortunately the historic Tuapeka mouth punt across the Clutha/Mata-au is not operating but I stop in for a look.

Lawrence is on the other side of a range of hills via ‘Breakneck Road’; a hot climb and fast descent arriving at 3pm with 155km on the clock. It’s pretty and hospitable. I’ve broken a bottle cage already but manage to find a secondhand one. An hour or so later, full of iced coffee, I’ve given a donation to use the Otago Gold Trail and set off again.

A promising looking road TRAILING ALONG THE CLUTHA The Otago Gold Trail shadows the main road from Lawrence to Beaumont (20km - a pub and little else) with a gentle 120m climb to a tunnel. There are a few cyclists at the start but soon I’m on my own. The surface is generally good as I cruise to Millers Flat (about 25km - shops, camping ground and pub); it’s a pretty ride beside the deep green river and its trees.

In the morning the clouds skulk around the hills trying to look menacing as I leave Roxborough along the last 9km of the trail. Then comes 800 vertical metres of kneecrunching grind up Knobby Range, mostly gravel but the last few kms on farm track. The rain holds off and the clouds burn away the closer I get to Alexandra.

The downhill is fast and fun and, after a final clattering descent down Graveyard Gully, at 10:45am and 36 hard kms I cruise into Alexandra for a toasty cheese.

Top of Knobby Range RIDING THE RAIL The Otago Rail Trail is more established than the Gold Trail and there are heaps more cyclists, although apparently not peak season yet. The surface is good but chunkier than the Gold Trail, the grading is gentle (of course!), but lacks the interesting twists and turns and the cooling presence of the Clutha. There are impressive bridges and tunnels and the wee towns are geared up to provide refreshments etc.

It’s hot again but the wind is helping. I stop at Lauder (1pm, 29km) after which the Trail heads up a rocky gorge through Raggedy Range and a couple of tunnels. At 58km I’m ready for another stop at Hayes Engineering Heritage Centre (Oturehua) and a little tired of long straight gravel. This is the end of the Trail for me; it curves east then south for Middlemarch, while I head north.

OMARAMA SADDLE Hawkdun Runs Road is rough on an already tender backside and the 4WD track up the Manuherikia West Branch is even rougher with a million river crossings through dramatic but not really beautiful country.

The track passes two DoC huts but I figure I can make Omarama under lights if necessary so continue for the final 250m push up to the Saddle (1250m) arriving at 7:45pm. The day is finally starting to cool and I’m wrung out.

Looking North from Omarama Saddle The descent is on a good farm track with a steep finish. Although not rushing I still lose my bottle and the new secondhand bottle cage it was in. A tail wind and the evening shadows chase me down Broken Hut Road to Omarama.

It’s almost 9pm (184km) when I arrive at the campground. A shower, plenty of water and some hot porridge go some way to restoring equilibrium before crawling into bed.

Alps to Ocean to Burkes Pass Overcast and cool: perfect for a bit of uphill on the Alps to Ocean Trail on seal, gravel, then single track to the Tarnbrae highpoint (900m).

I’m looking forward to an entertaining descent but some knee trouble slows things up so divert onto Te Araroa Trail dropping quickly to re-join the Alps Trail and a lovely stretch of single track to the lake outlet. Ben Ohau frowns down from across the water.

Taking the flood route to Twizel is a mistake: the road is in a miserable condition. Still, Lake Ruataniwha is pretty. I’m lunching in Twizel when the support crew turns up, having spent the night in Alex.

After traversing some flats, the trail meanders comfortably between the ridiculously beautiful Lake Pukaki and the road but it’s not long before I leave it for a short, hot 140m climb to the Tekapo Canal. The canal road to Tekapo is closed to vehicles; it switches to gravel, and a strong head wind springs up. About 22km later, despite the views across the MacKenzie Country, I’m pretty relieved to leave the Canal and climb the rise to Tekapo. Sally has booked a unit so I pop in for a good wee break before hitting the main road.

The wind is howling from the east. A French family are huddled by the road with a couple of youngsters unable to continue on their bikes. However, they are planning to pitch camp so I leave them to it.

The evening sun strikes low under the steely clouds spilling over the ridges and from Burkes Pass. The township has accommodation options so meets my conditions for a pickup from Sally, who turns up bang on time (7:30pm and 155km).

Seal bloody seal; Canterbury Scenic Highway Let’s draw a veil over this bit as I couldn’t identify any feasible alternatives to the highway. Burkes Pass, Fairlie, Geraldine (10am) after which it’s hot and dry, with interminable busy straights.

Canterbury heat By Rakaia Gorge I’m ‘doing-it-tough’ from heat, lack of fitness and less than ideal nutrition and hydration management compounding with various physical niggles. I call it quits at Sheffield (7pm, 190km).

Off the beaten track; the Wharfdale In the morning I hook up with three bikers on the way up to the crowded Wharfdale carpark, from where the single track slips beneath the trees and upwards in the shade. After a bit of climbing (and some pushing) the track levels and drops before resuming climbing to the saddle (750m) with a few rocky, pushy bits. There’s plenty of walking tracks and a few walkers about.

There’s no views from the saddle so I don’t stop. A few washouts and creeks require a bit of bike wrestling but it’s generally good riding although you have to pay attention - just before the hut I smack my head into a fallen tree damaging my helmet then, minutes after, flip inelegantly over the bars and off the track. The hut provides a chance to regroup, swear and bleed for a bit.

Despite the mishaps I’m relishing not being on roads, the cover of the canopy, and just being surrounded by bush. One of the big things for me on this trip is how much native forest there isn’t over large tracts of our landscape.

The track soon leaves the bush, and that’s it for shade for the day. I join Lees Valley road (gravel) and head north through farmland. It’s baking again.

Lees and Okuku The road (farm track) climbs briefly to Okuku Pass (630m); then meanders up and down. Ideally you get permission to go through McDonald Downs and dramatically shorten this section. I didn’t, and face a long-cut around Mt Grey which gets even longer when I have to bail out over Okuku Saddle (600m) with both tyres delaminating. The flapping tread makes cornering on the way down quite interesting.

Tyre troubles I reach the plains way further south than planned. Sally is in Amberley and meets me a bit after 7pm (112km) at Loburn, where there are sufficient accommodation options for my rules. However, she has booked a unit in Hanmer so there’s a long commute.

Lees Valley and Okuku Pass isn’t beautiful country; it’s all forestry and farming but is off the beaten track and more interesting than the endless tarseal of yesterday but despite a ‘low K’ day I’ve not recovered appreciably.

Hanmer It’s 10am when I return to Loburn (with new tyres) and set off. Not much to say really; a bit of gravel to Amberley then main roads to Hanmer but I’m leaving Canterbury at last! A bit of wind and pretty hot again but it clouds over after Culverden to see me rolling into Hanmer for a good break at 4:40pm.

It’s a quick scoot over Jacks Pass to the bottom end of the St James and a DoC cottage I have crashed in before. At 7pm (127km) Sally does a pickup and we return to Hanmer with plenty of time to marinate in the hot pools. I’m feeling a lot better after the short day.

Taking Jack and Clarence to the Rainbow The support team drops me over Jack’s Pass and I fol- low the corrugated Tophouse Road up the Clarence River. The Molesworth presents a barren landscape with cattle on the flats and two lines of pylons dominating the valley.

The road climbs over Island Saddle and into the Wairau catchment. The final grunt is steep but short to (reportedly) the highest publicly accessed road in the country (1,347m).

Island Saddle, the high point of the trip A nice downhill follows, through Island Gully to the Wairau River and down to the edge of the flats with Lake Sedgemere somewhere ahead.

I reach the boundary between the state-owned Molesworth Station and the private Rainbow Station about 11:30am. The countryside becomes greener and rockier; beech appears and it’s dramatically different to the sterile landscapes of the Molesworth. At Coldwater Creek there is an idyllic DoC campsite set amongst trees beside a clear stream.

The Wairau; trees at last!

At 65km I stop at the old cob homestead to pay my dues ($2). I’m the sixth bike today.

A little later a dip and a bite at Hamilton River before continuing, very much revived, across fords, through trees and along grassy flats. Eventually (75km) the road crosses Six Mile Creek and joins the sealed Rainbow Skifield road. From here it is a comfortable ride following the pylon corridor down valley.

Hamilton River The road joins SH 63 part way up Top House Saddle. With 92km down it’s 3:20pm and, with a firm tail wind I turn towards Blenheim.

About 8km later I meet a tramper with pack biking to St Arnaud – he’s done in after a strong headwind most of the way from Blenheim but now has less than 20km to go. I’m looking forward to assistance from the wind he has been up against. Wrong. Within 10 km it switches.

Eventually I decide to pack it in at Wairau Valley Township (155km); there’s accommodation available and a friend in Blenheim pops up to meet me. The support crew meantime is slumming it at the lovely St Arnaud Alpine lodge.

Pushing it on the Nydia The plan was to cross the Richmond Range via the Wakamarina Track to Canvastown. Suffice to say 30 wasted kilometres later I discover access is closed for logging so it’s the main road to Havelock. From there it’s Kaiuma Bay Road around the water’s edge to the Nydia track.

The Nydia is highly rated for MTBing, I’m going against the normal flow but don’t see that it makes much difference. There are three climbs; two to get to the Kaiuma Saddle (387m), and then to the Ny- Home sweet home dia Saddle (370m). I push most of the uphills and a fair amount of bike wrangling is required through the hillside creek cuttings and around stumps and rocks (I wouldn’t do it with panniers!). But if you just knuckle down it’s not so bad. Anyway, you forget it pretty quickly on the downhills and flats which offer some wonderful riding. It would be treacherous in the wet though and the beech roots after Nydia Saddle and around the coast get a bit irritating.

It’s 3pm when I start and just after 8pm when I finish without seeing a soul. I keep a reasonable pace as I reckon I should be able to finish tomorrow but the track definitely deserves a more leisurely approach with a swim and picnic in the middle.

After all the farms, commercial forests and barren landscapes over the last week it is so nice to be in gorgeous bush. A tree at the Harvey Bay DoC Campsite provides shelter for the night with morepork and weka calling in the dark.

A shot at Archers It’s a cool grey day as I head west for Archer’s Track about 7km away.

The track is about 8km with a bit of up and down, a few rooty bits and dismounts required, but nothing dramatic. It passes through some nice bush, a secluded wee bay and some not-so-nice recovering forestry land, ending with a section of 4WD track, before popping out in someone’s driveway.

From there it’s a short climb to the French Pass Road in what is shaping up to be another hot sunny day. The gravel road follows the backbone of the peninsula before a ripping good downhill into Elmslie Bay arriving around midday at French Pass (Anaru).

There’s a shop with fuel, a DoC campground and a Archer’s Track backpackers. I track down Craig Aston the boat operator. He and his wife Christine live on the island but the trip across is so short it’s a matter of minutes for him to scoot over and do a pick up. He quoted $75 each way for me and bike. They also have a house on the island for rent.

French Pass and D’Urville Island Doing D’Urville Craig drops me at Kapowai Bay Wharf and I start a steady climb on the good gravel road. There’s plenty of shade from the bush so it’s not too bad in the heat. The climb tops-out after 8-9km at 570m (Attempt Hill). At 12.5km is the Community Hall; a large log building which can be booked for accommodation.

The bush becomes low scrub as the road sidles around Mt Ears then bare farmland. At 28km I leave the road to follow the ridge for the last 7km to the Cape (access pre-arranged). Eventually a lone cabbage tree comes into sight, and it suddenly dawns: I’ve run out of island.

It’s 4:25pm on Wednesday 14 January. The odo stands at 1,340km and, like much of the trip, the day is a scorcher.

The Bishop’s Cauldron and the Sisters Islands are below and Stephen’s Island away to the northeast. 100km due east is the Kapiti Coast just south of Levin, 107km west is the coast south of Collingwood and Blenheim 91km south.

The End – The Sisters

And time for lunch It’s not the northernmost point of the South Island but it is where I was aiming and I’m chuffed to have made it. Celebration is somewhat muted though as the prospect of making the return trip in time to get off the Island weighs on my mind. But it’s not so bad as the day cools, the only item of note is the traffic - one car. At 8pm Craig responds to my call immediately when I ring from the Stripping down for the last time wharf.

As we zip across the still waters, the hazy air in Tasman Bay is bright with golden evening light through the passage to the southwest. To the east and behind, the Sounds and D’Urville Island dim into evening. I wrestle the bike up the wharf steps, pay the ferryman and find Sally, who has entirely missed the triumphant return.