Thursday, April 10, 2014

Day 35: Maruia to Slab Hut Creek (Reefton)

April 6th 2014
Distance cycled: 72 km
Total distance to date: 2092 km

I packed up camp this morning after cooking the usual oatmeal and instant coffee. I was stunned to see the natural beauty of the surroundings of this unassuming schoolyard in which I had spent the night. 


You can see my bike locked up to the tennis net pole on the far left. What you can't see in the photo is the lovely cafe right behind that line of trees. Did I stop for coffee there? Right after drinking two cups of camp coffee? Why yes. Yes I did. 

The owner of the cafe was from Scotland. We chatted a bit about how she was trying to sell the place. She didn't have a buyer in me, but she had a feeling it would be someone like me... someone just passing through as a traveler who would go "Hey! I could do that!" and buy the cafe. She asked where I'd cycled from and we both chuckled when I said I'd come from the schoolyard. So... not very far, then? Yup.

Of course I got off to as late a start as always, the difference being that today was daylight savings rollback. So when I got rolling, it felt like 10am but actually was only 9am! But that extra hour doesn't mean much when you can only cycle during daylight hours anyway. 

The day was beautiful and the scenery gorgeous the first 18km into Springs Junction.



From there, I headed into Victoria Forest Park via Highway 7. My book warned me about a 9km-long climb I'd have to battle to reach the summit - Rahu Saddle, 696m above sea level. Well! I geared up and was ready for action. Put some music on my iPod, took off my cycling jersey so as not to overheat, and started up the hill. In no time at all, it was done. Really? That's all you got, Rahu Saddle? The next 35km was mostly downhill, and what a lovely stretch it was! 

By the time I got into Reefton, I was ready for a break. I'd just cycled 44km without any major breaks! It was time to take a rest. I saw the library and went to sit outside its doors so I could have wifi while I ate my lunch. The library was closed as it was Sunday but the wifi still worked so I went to town on it. 

An hour and a half later, I realized that I wasn't going to make my planned destination today. But I also had miscalculated the distance. I thought it would be 80-90km from Maruia to Lake Brunner, but it was actually over 150. So I started looking for places to camp. Reefton had a nice-looking motor camp in town by the river. But just 10km down the road was a DOC campsite (run by the government; DOC stands for Dept. of Conservation). DOC campsites are always cheap or free. So even though it meant I wouldn't be getting a shower (and when you're cycle touring, you can always use a shower, but I especially could have used one tonight), I opted for the DOC campsite. 

I'm glad I did! Even though there are lots of wasps here, they don't seem to bother anyone (unlike the sandflies that eat you alive and the bumblebees that fly right in your face). There's a stream running right next to my tent. And I met some great fellow campers, Pru and Brendan, who are both 60 and have two daughters just a few years younger than me. They are from Auckland and visit the South Island every year to explore a new corner of it. Brendan is a Kiwi version of the Dude from The Big Lebowski. Awesome. We had a few drinks together (wine and beer, sadly no White Russians), then they invited me into their camper for dinner and tea. It was a great evening with great company. They introduced me to the weka bird, yet another bird specific to New Zealand, many of which were running around our campsite. They also said I'd better come over for breakfast in the morning - baked beans and eggs. Sounds heavenly. Better go to sleep so I can get up and eat with them again!

Tomorrow I will camp at Lake Brunner, then on to Arthur's Pass Village where I have a WS host lined up. That is, if I can make it up to the 920m summit. But hey, I made Rahu Saddle today - I think I can tackle Arthur's Pass!!!

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