Day 27 - February 6, 2023

Day 27:  Murchison - Reefton

Good rural farming country meets native bush on lovely quiet little used roads.  We pop over Maruia Saddle at 500m, then its a lovely up and over piece of road - rich in bush and birdlife - to Reefton.

Well, that description above sounds just lovely.  But, in addition to the loveliness, I came in with two recurrent thoughts today.

1.  I would not say that I have ever loved hills, but I seem to have come to dread them.  Not sure if it's age, injuries, or the bike, but ...... ugh.......

2.  I appreciate how green the countryside has been, but I'm about done with the drizzle and rain now for a while.  On the other hand - we have been somewhat lucky.  We missed the worst of Cyclone Hale at the start of the trip.  We missed the flooding in Auckland.  The road on the west coast has apparently been closed these last few days due to "slips" and flooding.  Apparently it's all re-opened now, although part is still just one-way traffic.  

Wendy gave us a forecast this morning that didn't sound too bad, and it promised clearing later in the day.  Hmmm - then it started raining as we walked over to breakfast.  Really, though, just light drizzle most of the time.  Here was our unit from last night.  We had the three girls in the unit on the right, while Justin & Wendy and the kids (Richard & Alex) were in the unit on the left.  

A few early morning pics..............

Lots of gravel riding today; about 42 km in total.  Most of it was in pretty good shape, though.  Just a very few deeper sections where I needed to be careful.  Oh - and this.........

I may have had an unscheduled swim in one of those stream crossing.  I was too indecisive and got my wheel caught between two rocks.  Ker-plunk.  I did manage to rescue my Garmin before it escaped down stream.  Probably just as well that I was already wet from the rain so that I didn't feel a whole lot wetter after the immersion.  

Some pretty scenery through here, though.  Lots of ferns once again.

Judging by the growth on this old bridge I would say that precipitation is not an infrequent occurrence in these parts.

And finally............  the saddle...............

Downhill to a snack stop at about 41 km, and the best-ever chocolate peppermint squares.  

Sucker holes!

Along our second stretch of gravel today there were many large fields of deer penned in by high fences.  Venison was a menu choice at dinner tonight..........

It really was a pretty ride today, but it would have been amazing to see the layers of mountains behind the clouds.  

One last big climb for the day.

Then a long downhill and flat stretch (with just a few small dreaded uphill sections) for the last 30+ km in to Reefton.

Well, that was a full day!  I still don't find the mountain bike very comfortable, but I must be adjusting a bit as it wasn't as bad today as it would have been in the first week.  Staying at a former nurses' home again, although this one isn't nearly as nice as our previous experience.  Hopefully not so much wet stuff tomorrow........

Stats for the day:

Distance:  121.1 km

Elevation (Garmin):  4186' up, 4235' down.  Likely understated due to cloud cover.

Elevation (RWGPS):  6581' up, 6519' down.  Likely a bit overstated.

Weather:  12C - 18C.  Drizzle and rain almost all day.  But - brief teases of sunshine and some drier stretches.  Only put a light jacket on for the final downhill section.