An even more leisurely day was in store for us as we decamped from beside South Mavora Lake after another good sleep. Only fifty-odd kilometres of easy gravel road riding and five hours in which to do it before the TSS Earnslaw arrived to ferry us across Wakatipu to Queenstown – where we’d probably call it a day in anticipation of the incoming bad weather.
Back out to Mt Nicholas Road, we were soon in the station of the same name. It is one long farm, thirty or so kilometres the gravel just kept going through it. First, gently climbing for most of an hour to the watershed and the provincial border.
A little bit of valley to go.
The slightest of northerlies, and Andy kindly again did any work there was into the wind if Rachel and I tired of the slowing breeze in our faces.
Easy morning riding, fun times.
Rachel’s photo.
Into the Von River catchment and back in Otago, the minor lumps beckoned us to the high point of the day before the long descent to Lake Wakatipu.
Nice to have the time to finally stop and nosey around this old cottage. In remarkably good repair, it looks as though it’s used for occasional dinner functions. Probably in pre-pandemic tourist times.
The roll down the valley continued easily and we were soon out of Mt Nicholas Station. The next section around the lake to Walter Peak Station and the wharf is far easier in this direction – those little bits of gradient far less noticeable when you start a hundred metres above the lake.
Walter Peak towards the right of that ridge.
We arrived lakeside with plenty of time to poke around a bit, which makes a nice change to riding off straight after disembarking.
We managed to get a late morning tea here while the smells of openly slow-cooked barbecued meat wafted through the restaurant. Pity we’d not booked lunch and a later sailing!
A short walk to check out the Beach Point campsite (it’s really nice and far enough away from the main complex) was perhaps a little late in starting, there was a bit of a jog back to meet the Earnslaw as it steamed in.
Always an enjoyable passage, I seem to only do it on excellent bikepacking trips. After wandering around the floating history and checking out the engine room, watching the stokers shovel coal, it was time for a sit down. I was more than surprised to recognise a face down the length of the cabin. One of my fellow supervisors from the Melters at NZ Steel thirteen years ago, surely not?! Sure enough, a brief catch-up on where life had taken us both since making molten iron ensued before docking at Queenstown.
The day clouding over further we found some simple accommodation and did our bit to help the struggling eating establishments of the resort town. I’ll not turn this into a food blog with some of the many photos we collected of the various amazing meals we had. True to form, we also visited every outdoor and bike shop we could find as we wandered around in the drizzle. The heavy rain forecast was a bit of a damp squib, but a nice afternoon off around town meant that we’d get to stay in a good hut in the hills the following night.