Not the TT2000 Part Five

 After our night in Rangiora it was time to make our way back to our base in Wanaka.  But first there was more gravel to ride...

Our first stop for the day was in Darfield were the horses were watered and we went in search for a pie.  We found some but the one I got was not good and I paid for it later.  Nevermind, Fairly was just up the road so we got to have a decent pie at the Fairlie Bakehouse...

A memorable pie...

Pied up, it was time for some serious riding.  First up was the magnificent McKenzie and it was a great intro to some superb, fast gravel.  We did stop at the monument though - as you do.

Gotta love that sky!

Google doing some editing of my pics

After a short stretch of Haldon Road we turned off again to take in the Hakataramea Pass through to Kurow.  Once again this was superb, fast gravel with only a little water in the fords.  Another stop at the famous road sign for photos but unfortunately a bit windy to put the drone up.

A bit hazy today, but this is usually an awesome view back to the Alps

In Kurow, we had another stop for fuel and to say goodbye to that Darfield pie before peddling off to Duntroon and then onto another favourite - Danseys Pass.  Hitting the gravel through here I discovered it was pretty damn dusty so I let Colin get a fair way ahead of me and then had the misfortune to catch a car on a steep, windy downhill where I couldn't get past - lungs, who needs them?

This time around we didn't stop at the pub but carried on through to Naseby and had a potter around checking out some of the old buildings.

Colin demonstrating "pottering"

Gravel done and dusted, we cruised on through to Alexandra where we located some dinner before carrying on back to Wanaka.  A reasonable long day but one that definitely included some great gravel riding and awesome scenery.  I need to go back already...

Not the TT2000 Part Four

After the seal only adventure of the previous day, now it was time to go in search of gravel...

Tuesday started fairly leisurely for us.  After leaving the motel we fuelled up the bikes and then crossed the road to Nana Ni's for a hot meat filled pastry product.

Worms satiated, it was on the bikes and East to Spring Creek before our first little taste of gravel on the Western side of the Maruia River so that we could visit an old friend from a previous TT.

Popping back out onto the seal for a wee while, we rode North towards Murchison before turning off  to the East to take in the Maruia Saddle.  This is a neat, if a bit slow (except for the great gravel into Murch after crossing the saddle) ride through some nice bush with just a few small fords to cross.

On this day it was also a lot busier than last time with a group of 4WD's and some cyclists coming the other way.

Once off the saddle the road opens out a lot more and a very nice pace can be set.  It was fairly dusty though and I had to let Colin get quite a fair way ahead of to keep out of his dust.

In Murchison it was time for another wee stop to check out a cafe and its inhabitants.

Leaving Murch, we were soon off the main road again and in search of gravel.  The Braeburn Track provided this and after a pretty quick trip across it we were soon lakefront at Lake Rotoroa and sandfly heaven.

And it was time to break out the new toy.

It got a bit hard to concentrate on flying the thing towards the end as I was getting eaten alive...

Leaving the lake, we made our way back to the main road and then down to St Arnaud for fuel and an unpleasant discovery.

Somewhere after Reefton (possibly on the Braeburn) the steering stem nut on the S10 had disappeared!  To say that it gave me a scare is an understatement - I thought the ride was all over.  Luckily I had a Colin with me and even luckier the servo had some Knead It on the shelf.  Colin sorted out the repair and we decided to ride up the road a little to see if it would hold - plans of crossing The Rainbow going on hold for a bit.

We rode up to the Rainbow turn-off and all seemed well, so we started on the first part of the Rainbow to the Doc gate where you hand over ya access money, crossing a few streams along the way and determined that the repair was handling it so handed over our cash and carried on.

Feeling a little better about the repair (but still attempting to avoid the worst of the bumps) we carried on and got stuck into enjoying a superb ride.

We even stopped to try out the follow-me feature of the drone...and failed miserably...

Further up the road we turned off the Rainbow to go and check out Lake Tennyson.

Back onto the Rainbow, we were onto some faster gravel and enjoyed a nice run through to Hanmer where it was time for a pretty late lunch and to search for some accomodation somewhere down the road.

We eventually booked some in Rangiora and had a pretty sedate cruise down there followed by a nice chat with a couple of (bike riders not on their bike) lawyers staying at the same motel.  A great day on the bikes taking in some great gravel and outstanding scenery!