lake paringa to wanaka
a very long day on the bike today
laying in the tent after about 2 hours sleep and not be able to get back to sleep i start working out a time to leave for the days ride as i want to get past haast (town) before they close the road at haast for the day - the road over the haast pass is open from around 7am to around 6 pm each day because of a big slip on the road . by 1 am i decide to just pack up the tent and go as it's a good night for a bike ride. with only 1-2 cars on the road it's a nice ride with the road though the west coast bush heading over a few hills and passing lake moeraki before heading out to the (west )coast one last time at kight’s point where i stop for a 5 min break to warm up a bit. after the hills around knights point the road flattens out to haast junction. getting into haast town around 5: 30 am i spend some time looking at the info about the slip and chatting to a few people at the road close sign - i find out 2 things the slip is around 50 km up the road and some people who live/work before the site of the slip are going past the road close sign - it's a pares that they close the road at haast so people don't drive all the way up to the slip site only to find they have to turn around so after some thought knowing i will take at less 2-3 hours to get the where the slip is and there is a doc camp site at pleasant flat i head pass the road close sign (theres no one around beside the odd passing car at this time of the day) and up the valley towards the haast pass stoping at a few of the water falls - at one point i see some one else on a touring bike - talking to him i find out he has been on the road about 20 years? so we have a good chat about what its like to have spending years on the road (i been about 8 years full time on the road by now : ) and about riding in other places out side nz back on the road i see a few others on touring bikes some stop for a chat others keep riding. the road climbs around 100 m over the 50 km from haast to pleasant flat with a few side rivers (and many little streams ) running into the haast river the hills on each side of the river are steep and very high. at pleasant flat doc site i stop for a bit and end up caching up with a bike tourer i had met back in the north island a few weeks before? back on the road the road gets a lot steeper as it goes thought the gates of haast (where i stop at a rest area for photos and end up chatting to some people about my trip and also about head injury suff - most comming questing i get is how many km i ride a day - for me its any where between 5 km to 190 km thought most days its around 50-80 km a day. putting the bike into low gear i start the climb up to the top of the pass passing the site of the big slip then a few km latter i get to the top of the pass where i stop for some photos before riding down the wanaka side of the pass with a fun down hill ride passing a few doc camp sites to makarora (this is the other side of where they close the road over the pass each night ) stoping for an ice cream then its back on the road riding rolling hills beside lake wanaka and lake hawea then onto Albert town to a friends place where i head for the night sitting up my tent next to the river
a very long day on the bike today
laying in the tent after about 2 hours sleep and not be able to get back to sleep i start working out a time to leave for the days ride as i want to get past haast (town) before they close the road at haast for the day - the road over the haast pass is open from around 7am to around 6 pm each day because of a big slip on the road . by 1 am i decide to just pack up the tent and go as it's a good night for a bike ride. with only 1-2 cars on the road it's a nice ride with the road though the west coast bush heading over a few hills and passing lake moeraki before heading out to the (west )coast one last time at kight’s point where i stop for a 5 min break to warm up a bit. after the hills around knights point the road flattens out to haast junction. getting into haast town around 5: 30 am i spend some time looking at the info about the slip and chatting to a few people at the road close sign - i find out 2 things the slip is around 50 km up the road and some people who live/work before the site of the slip are going past the road close sign - it's a pares that they close the road at haast so people don't drive all the way up to the slip site only to find they have to turn around so after some thought knowing i will take at less 2-3 hours to get the where the slip is and there is a doc camp site at pleasant flat i head pass the road close sign (theres no one around beside the odd passing car at this time of the day) and up the valley towards the haast pass stoping at a few of the water falls - at one point i see some one else on a touring bike - talking to him i find out he has been on the road about 20 years? so we have a good chat about what its like to have spending years on the road (i been about 8 years full time on the road by now : ) and about riding in other places out side nz back on the road i see a few others on touring bikes some stop for a chat others keep riding. the road climbs around 100 m over the 50 km from haast to pleasant flat with a few side rivers (and many little streams ) running into the haast river the hills on each side of the river are steep and very high. at pleasant flat doc site i stop for a bit and end up caching up with a bike tourer i had met back in the north island a few weeks before? back on the road the road gets a lot steeper as it goes thought the gates of haast (where i stop at a rest area for photos and end up chatting to some people about my trip and also about head injury suff - most comming questing i get is how many km i ride a day - for me its any where between 5 km to 190 km thought most days its around 50-80 km a day. putting the bike into low gear i start the climb up to the top of the pass passing the site of the big slip then a few km latter i get to the top of the pass where i stop for some photos before riding down the wanaka side of the pass with a fun down hill ride passing a few doc camp sites to makarora (this is the other side of where they close the road over the pass each night ) stoping for an ice cream then its back on the road riding rolling hills beside lake wanaka and lake hawea then onto Albert town to a friends place where i head for the night sitting up my tent next to the river
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