CHAPTER 7
Biking New Zealand Day 8: Wine tour around Queenstown
Daily distance: 61 km
Total distance: 480 km
Once we got the new tire for my bike, we were eager to stretch our legs, as it were, and get back in the saddle. It’s surprising how habituated your body becomes to the physical toil of riding- after only a few short days without wheels in Queenstown our muscles were twitchy and restless, seemingly more impatient than our minds to start riding again. A nice loop through the Gibbston Valley east of Queenstown making a tour of the handful of vineyards, world renowned for their Pinot Noir, would satisfy both our legs and our minds.
Biking New Zealand Day 9: Queenstown to Cromwell
Daily distance: 63 km
Total distance: 543 km
Having warmed up the day before, we were ready to take on the next leg of our journey. The road from Queenstown to Cromwell winds through 50 km of narrow canyon, more suited for white water rafting and kayaking than for road biking. The shoulder was anything if non-existent, and the combination of steep hills, blind corners, and speeding vehicles made for a harrowing ride. The most terrifying was when the occasional semi truck would blow past, its bulk causing a tumultuous pressure wave that threatened to whip us off the road like a flimsy scrap of paper blowing in the wind. Only the eddy of low pressure in the truck’s wake was able to save us, sucking us back onto the road at the last instant. It made us feel understandable helpless, but all you could do was hold on tight, and hope for a soft landing if it came to that. For all that, the ride was glorious in its views of the canyon, and the raging waters of the turquoise river flowing below.
Finally emerging on the far side, we found ourselves riding on flat straight roads traversing a fertile valley of fruit orchards and more vineyards. The surrounding hills were dry, dotted with pine trees, and the irrigated rows of apples and cherries distinctly reminded me of the fruit growing regions of eastern Washington state. Take away the local’s accent, and have them drive on the right side of the road, and I think you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two areas.
Biking New Zealand Day 10: Wine tour around Cromwell
Daily distance: 26 km
Total distance: 569 km
The region around Cromwell is so cluttered with vineyards we couldn’t help ourselves to take another day and sample the local varieties. This time the weather was overcast and cool, which worked in our favor because of the number of steep hills we would be faced with. The one problem with combining an energetic and sweat inducing activity like biking, with the refined and genteel atmosphere of wine tasting is that the usually undertoned snobbery of such establishments tends to be rather more pronounced when they see a couple of perspiring travelers walk through their door. Throw in our age and the fact that they know we won’t be indulging in a case or two of wine to take home with us, it’s not surprising we usually receive a rather measured welcome. So, though we truly appreciate nice weather, especially when we are traveling on two wheels, sometimes a cloudy day is a welcome event.
Four more wineries under our belt and the day would have ended happily enough, but there happened to be a little side trip along our route that proved worthwhile. Just like Washington, before there were orchards and vineyards taking advantage of the fertile valley encompassing Cromwell, another type of wealth claimed from the gravely soil… Gold.
Huge amounts of gold were removed from the ground at the height of the Central Otago Gold Rush. It wasn’t quite on the scale of the California or Australian gold rushes, but it still drew a lot of fortune seekers, and even made a few of them rich. In the area around Cromwell, the majority of gold was in the form of fine dust, carried down into the valley by ancient rivers and glaciers, mixed together with the gravely till that makes up the surrounding hills. The main way of extracting the gold from the hills was by sluicing. The gravel cliffs were washed away by huge water works, the sludge flowing down troughs to sluice boxes, where the heavier gold dust settled to the bottom and the muddy water continued on into the river. When Kacey and I arrived, all that remained of this strip mining technique were huge mounds of football sized stones too large to be washed down the troughs, and a winding labyrinth of crumbling cliffs showing where the miner’s progress had stopped. There were also a few rudimentary tunnels dug into the cliff face at the base of the glacial till layer where a high density of the gold was found. Amazingly, the authorities had not gated up these tunnels, as is usually the case with old mines and caves, and I was excited to do a little exploring. Kacey’s willingness to crawl around in some old mines was wanting, but she indulged my ambitions after a little prodding and the promise of back rub when we got home.
Biking New Zealand Day 11: Cromwell to Clyde
Daily distance: 28 km
Total distance: 597 km
Sometimes we surprise ourselves with our own stupidity. Of all the days we had been in New Zealand, this was the rainiest one yet. Of all the days we had woken up to a slight drizzle or chilling wind, and contemplated staying in our tent, this was the day we should have done so. The rain was coming down in sheets. The sky was bleak and foreboding. Every ounce of our good judgment should have been dissuading us from leaving, but for some reason it didn’t and we did. Two minutes after donning all of our waterproof gear and stepping out into the down pour we had an inkling that this was the wrong decision. Twenty minutes of not so much riding, but sloshing through the relentless rain, we knew it was the wrong decision. Luckily it was supposed to be a short, easy day’s ride, but by the time we reached the small town of Clyde only 28 km away, we were soaked through. All that expensive waterproof gear- jacket, pants, booties? Ya, not that waterproof. The only thing we could do to lift our spirits was to treat ourselves to a warm, dry hotel room, a few jugs of beer at the pub downstairs, and a takeaway pizza for dinner.
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