Great Southern Brevet 2021

I'd been cycling for fun since 2012 and had heard of bike-packing and brevets but never thought about actually doing one.

Then my friend and work colleague at the time, Scott was signed up with a mate to do the Great Southern Brevet but his mate had pulled out so he invited me to do it. I'd never heard of it but one look at the route on a map and my reaction was "I have to do this!". A bit more reading on the website and I realised it was 90% off road with a lot of big steep climbs yet you were supposed to do all 1100km in 8 days. That was an average of 140km a day and I'd only ever done 110km in a day off road and that was on the Otago Rail Trail (family trip). I wasn't sure if I could do big days back to back.

So in the ensuing months Scott and I were doing bigger and bigger training rides mainly in Banks Peninsula and trying out bikepacking setups with bags. A friend James took pity on me when I visited with my hard tail and offered to lend me his carbon hard tail. I would never have asked but when I tried it on training rides it was definitely a better option!

Preceding Week

The anticipation was growing and I was super excited to be doing it. My wife and kids booked flights to be away visiting grandparents while I was away, leaving before and returning after.

The night before we were to leave I woke up in the middle of the night feeling terrible: body aches, fever etc. I’d been feeling off colour all week but assumed it was the lack of sleep (nervous energy!). I realised it was actually the chesty cough I’d had must have turned into a chest infection.

If I tried to get a doctors appointment for antibiotics, the symptom list would trigger a covid test, self isolation, etc. Game over for the Brevet. Not an option! I was not going to pull out if I could help it. It was the only chance I was going to get and the only brevet I really wanted to do and I was super excited.
In the end I called Scott and we decided I would proceed but depending on how I was feeling may start later, maybe Wanaka.

Packing up

Friday morning was a matter of carrying on packing ready to go regardless of wanting to just be in bed asleep.

Early afternoon I was driving to Scott’s place where he had a go at getting my tyres tubeless (I'd had a few pinprick flats during training rides). It was an interesting lesson in all the aspects of how tubeless can go wrong and right. Despite being tubeless ready rims, they were rim taped and the rim tape had failed which took a while to discover. In the process one tyre ended up with a stretched casing (ends up looking like a buckled wheel). And the other tyre, which was not officially tubeless ready, spectacularly exploded off the rim while on the back of the car, the resulting gooey mess over everything (inflated too much for the lack of rim hooks on the tyre). In the end it was tubes both tyres and they were fine for the entire trip (albeit I put the front tyre on backwards in my haste).

Day 1 - Tekapo to Ohau

I slept better than I expected and woke up feeling good enough to go ahead with plan A.

The grand depart was gradual to begin with and I got to chat with some of the others. I remember one saying the GSB was a tough choice for a first brevet. Another told me it was their second time despite saying "never again" after their first.

The route took a left turn onto an open paddock like section with some steep pinches and rough gravel. Dave, the organiser was riding along with us for a bit on his unladen gravel bike. The racers must have disappeared on ahead about there.

Scott commented that his seat post was shifting around so he'd tightened it a few more turns (the significance of this to come later).

Eventually we hit Braemar Road and hence easy gravel all the way to Lake Pukaki, complete with tailwind for parts. I stopped for a few minutes to activate my left glute and somehow ended up near the back of the field. I didn't catch back up to Scott until the picnic table with the view to Mt Cook over Pukaki (where the Alps to Ocean single track starts).

From here to Twizel was the highlight of the day. Flowing single track. Great views.

In this bike packing thing you fill your boots when you get to a town, eating and grabbing food to eat on the go, in this case including dinner. Filling water bottles, etc. I think we were a bit more relaxed than most. Eventually we were back on the road over the canal and onto Pyramid Track which was familiar to me having done the loop as a family ride a couple of times.

Other side of the forest glade there was a loud “bang” and I said to Scott “that did not sound good” and sure enough his seat post clamp bolt had snapped. It would not come out either. I joked that he wouldn't need a seat for the bike push over Flanagan Pass! In the end Scott managed to use up all his duct tape and a number of zip ties to improvise a clamp. I was sure it wouldn’t hold yet it held (at least vertically) until the next bike shop in Wanaka, another two days riding away.

After this soon followed the biggest bike push of the day up Flannagan Pass up an unmaintained grassy, often muddy 4WD track. Fortunately fantastic views up the Hopkins Valley from part way down the other side. Scott resumed his usual downhill speed passing five people (who had long passed us with the mechanical) before stopping and waiting for me to catch up. I was going even slower than normal due to being on a borrow bike.

Another mini mechanical of Scott’s leaking tubeless tyre (this didn’t completely stop until some more sealant in Alexandra; my conclusion of all this being that tubeless isn’t worth it unless on modern tubeless rims) and we swing around towards Ohau into a mild headwind and stop for the night at Ohau Lodge. On the way we again met Dave out and about on his gravel bike checking on people.

Day 1 stats: 132km 1400m 8:04 (moving) 10:52 (elapsed)

Day 2 - Ohau to Tarras

We thought our 7:15am departure was pretty good time but many others were an hour or more earlier than us. This was a lesson we eventually picked up on but today we would have ridden into the dark regardless as it turned out.

Scott made a fast start up the Alps to Ocean trail (A2O) up the Tarnbrae climb and I eventually caught up by the top of that with new friend Harry on his gravel bike. We continued on together until the gravel road and tail wind where Scott inevitably made faster progress and got started filling his boots at Omarama early. Harry and I travelled two abreast chatting for quite a while travelling at decent pace.

Arriving at Omarama, Scott sat down outside a cafe to the “big breakfast” which brought new a new level to “filling your boots”. Indeed, as every day basically, we were off before any breakfast was available where we were staying. Scott had the English breakfast which turned out to be enormous and was a lesson in how much is too much and can slow you down.

Meanwhile I slowed the departure by being a bit absent minded faffing about picking up some supplies including replacement sunglasses given we weren’t going to be in any sort of town until Wanaka.

It was a boring slog along roads until the bottom of the big hill up to "Little" Omarama Saddle. This was the alternative route we had to take due to high river levels. We met Harry at the bottom taking a break. It soon turned out to be a long 4km bike push up the saddle, about 700m, something like 16% gradient and rough stoney surface. So pedalled about 1% of it.

Looking back to where we had come from the top of the saddle to Ohau it seemed so very distant. We had felt fairly flat all morning so my ambitions of Tarras seemed a bit too much especially after I realised it was 170km for the day. I had only ever ridden 110km in a day on MTB before day one.

Down the other side of the saddle was punctuated by many stream crossings and dodging tourists on quad bikes etc. The only proper river crossing (Manuherekia) I put the bike on the downstream side as recommended but I started to lose control of it washing away from me in the swift flow. So I ended up picking it up properly and carrying it. Just as well neither it, nor the gear on it was very heavy.

Soon after this crossing we hit the open gravel and the tail winds and were soon sailing along for long periods at 40-50km/hr before a short uphill section to St Bathans. Scott was complaining about his front brake sticking but it didn’t seem to slow him down.

At St Bathans around 5pm we had a dinner of sorts at the Vulcan Hotel while I took some extra food for the road. Bob caught up with us and recommended we do as he was and find a B&B nearby as Thomson’s Gorge was a wind funnel. We figured we might carry on up and see how far we get and find somewhere to camp but Bob pointed out there were sheep. We were trying to figure out why sheep would be a problem.

Anyway we headed off and caught more tail winds so we were soon at the base of Thomson’s Gorge as the sun was going down. I had texted a reply to a non bike packing, dot watching cyclist friend at St Bathans saying we might ride for a couple more hours which he thought was funny how casual I was given how long a day already. But we were already feeling much better for the recent meal and carried on up the gorge.

At some point we decided we would go for Tarras despite needing lights, partly just for the challenge. We hadn't planned to ride at night as we primarily wanted to see the country. Reaching the highest point, in the dark about 10pm, before the downhill towards Tarras we met a man with a car, who turned out to be Dave, the GSB organiser. Scott asked him what he was doing here. He replied something like “to see what the f$%k you guys are doing up here this time of night” and also to get some reception (I think he was staying down in the valley). The map progress tracker thing (and being in the part of the pack we were in I guess) meant we ran into Dave fairly frequently.

Dave kindly warned us about barrelling into gates in the dark on the descent. There were quite a few of them and Scott was a paperboy as a teenager so always tried to open and close without getting off. I thought it was because he had his lights on handlebars. It turns out that lights on handlebars, being lower down vs helmet, have an advantage in showing shadows on the ground better. I went into runnels I couldn’t see a few times. Mind you I was running on my backup light which was just a generic headlamp.

Out on the back road behind Tarras some houses had amazing Christmas type lights in their back yards. I thought I saw little owl on the road.

We got to Tarras 11:45pm and, once we found our camping spot, I immediately started to pitch my tent by headlamp that I’d only pitched once before as a practice run. Scott meanwhile was trying to get his cooker going (for a hot drink) but the piezo was failing and he didn’t have matches so had to give up. I wolfed down the sausage roll I’d carried from St Bathans.

Day 2 stats: 173km 2500m 12:10 (moving) 16:30 (elapsed)

Day 3 - Tarras to Queenstown

Hope for a sleep in faded when I had to go to the toilet at 6am which involved putting on clothes and cycling shoes and riding a (now strangely) unladen bike to Tarras public loos.

We headed off without breakfast anticipating it wouldn’t take that long to get to Lake Hawea. Unfortunately this section the wind was entirely in our faces. On top of that our legs felt far from fresh, more like the previous long day continued. This section was probably the low point of the entire brevet for us and others partly because it was on familiar country with sealed road and gravel so no redeeming qualities. The original route was over Grandview however before Dave tamed it a bit!

Part of the gravel road was scraped to dirt and eventually we found the reason: a grader taking up the entire road which we managed to pass on a downhill via grassy bank. Unfortunately it eventually passed us back on a tar seal section given our slow tired pace! It was like a "sweeper" catching us riding too slowly.

We finally got our breakfast/brunch about 11am in a little known caravan cafe Scott found on Google just over the outlet dam. We were about to finish up when Dave arrived, he’d noticed we were off the route and wanted to check we knew (we did). Back on the route there was an ice cream container by a fence post marked “Southern Brevet” containing very welcome "trail fairy" fairy cakes.

We joined the Lake Wanaka outlet trail just over the bridge but there were roadworks on it. So we headed across some lawns to get back to the trail when a resident yelled out to me. I thought he might have been taking issue with us riding on his lawn but it turned out he had friends doing the brevet as well (not far away) and there was no way through the front so he invited us through past his house to the road.

Finally in Wanaka, Scott goes into first bike shop he sees to get a proper seat post clamp to replace his makeshift one. They are various sizes so it takes another visit to get one that fits.

Next stop is Cardrona Hotel where Scott orders Nachos off the “snack” menu for lunch (I didn’t realise where the hotel was so had carried a lunch) and it turns out to be enormous. We end up having a nice chat with Dave, who gives some bikepacking tips to us newbies, while Scott consumes it with a little help from me.

A roadie style ascent to the summit and then a wait for Scott. I am more of a lightweight than Scott, faster uphill but he is correspondingly faster downhill and into the wind. It might have been here that I realised that waiting for Scott at the top of the hill, and then him waiting for me at the bottom, though sociable, slows down the party overall. Better for me not to wait at the top and let him catch me on the way down.

It felt like a long end of day after Arrowtown getting to Kelvin Heights where we stayed with Scott’s friend Kerry who was the one originally meant to do the GSB with Scott. His pulling out had resulted in Scott inviting me along. Fortunately Kerry happened to have the right brake type in his mix of parts and so sorted the brakes. It was great to have fresh clean clothes as well. Probably not race legit but we were clearly not racing!

Another late night but washed clothes and comfy beds graciously lent to us by their kids was very welcome.

Day 3 stats: 149km 1930m 10:15 (moving) 14:25 (elapsed)

Day 4 - Queenstown to Athol

A late start due to limited sailings to Walter Peak. Earnslaw didn’t run till 12:00 and the smaller Explorer boat 9:30 sailing was full. Scott rang and found there was only one slot left on the 10:30 so decided to shoot down and see if we could get spots by turning up in person (we could). 40 minutes cycle ride and we were in.

While waiting Scott went off to the shops, send me a picture of an alpaca soft toy. I thought he was joking but when he turned up it was strapped onto his camelbak. I did a quick FaceTime to my wife and kids and almost forgot about getting supplies What I did get was meagre; should have stopped in Frankton.

Boat ride was uneventful, smooth. Scott enjoyed a drink at Walter Peak before we headed off while the rest of the riders had left 10 minutes or so earlier. Great views up the Wakitipu to familiar mountains like Earnslaw.

Rounding the corner we expected to pick up the tail wind but there was a then a decent hill to get up before it really got going. We met a lone cycle tourer coming the other way plowing into a head wind. Little did we know at that point how far he must have come battling into that. At the top of that hill we caught up with the others on the boat with us having their lunch stop.

Then it was on with the 40-50km/hr tail wind punctuated with ups and downs, mountains all around us. Scott kept cruising ahead and eventually I was just playing catch up, passing many of the others.

Despite this I still failed to get within 15 minutes of Scott’s arrival at Mossburn. For Scott’s part he bought a very welcome pile of food for me at the (about to close) cafe which I wolfed down on the spot. Basically every form of cheese roll you can imagine. I was pretty tired from playing catch up and it was taking time for the food to take effect. But Scott was on a tear and keen to get to Garston, another 50km he thought (actually more like 60km). Dave had been here socialising and I think was on his way to Garston Ski Hut that night. It was the last we'd see of him until near the end of the final day.

I somewhat reluctantly agreed. Progress is good and plenty of daylight. It seemed like everyone else decided to stay at the Mossburn Hotel. We took advantage of the tail wind all the way to the corner near Lumsden and then it was a headwind. Still tired I slotted in behind Scott’s wheel for about 10km and then we settled down and cruised the rest of the way enjoying the evening light, the contented sheep in the lush paddocks, forest glades with seats (which we stopped and sat on). This was unexpectedly a more enjoyable part of the Round the Mountain trail for me.

Just about on dark we arrived at Athol where we’d found a self service campsite. It was empty apart from us but had reasonable facilities, great in fact for $10/pp. We pitched our tents in the shelter of a fur tree and had a nice hot drink using Scott’s cooker given he was able to borrow some matches!

About 2:30am we were woken with a loud rooster 2 metres from the tents. I got up and tried to chase it away, but opening up the fur tree I found roosting it a whole family including several hens and chicks with the cockerel and they weren’t budging! Fortunately they settled down and we did too until the wind changed direction and started gusting so I was kept awake worrying about my untested ultralight tent holding up.

Day 4 stats: 165km 1151m 8:40 (moving) 12:30 (elapsed)

Day 5: Athol to Alexandra

Picking up food supplies on the go rather than carrying is one of the features of bikepacking but it requires some knowledge and forward planning in terms of where and timing things being open. We hadn't stocked up enough in Queenstown and Mossburn didn't have much (at least not after 5:30pm).

Anyway at least I needed more stuff when we were at Athol and the only place we could be sure of getting food before the long ride through the Nevis. The issue is that then we had to wait until Athol cafe opened at 8am before we could properly get going. This was a lesson learned repeatedly that getting away at dawn was a major way to avoid late night riding and to do this you need to be organised re food.

Over breakfast I could see, on the tracker map, our fellow travellers from yesterday already making great progress from Mossburn. We found out later they were battling into headwinds, vindicating our decision to carry on last night.

The journey to Garston was along more pleasant Round the Mountain trail until we had to jump on a bit of road right after Garston. We heard a noisy clanging of a vehicle behind which turned out to be a four wheel trailer behind a car missing a tyre the bare wheel sparking off the road. The driver must have had their music up very loud!

The first climb out of the valley into the Nevis was gentle and with help of a strong tailwind on rightward switchbacks. The leftward switchbacks were more of a cross wind. Could hardly ask for more! My new policy of keeping going at my own pace paid off as I got to the top much faster than Scott but he soon caught me in the rough country heading down valley; no need for waiting.

The journey down the Nevis, both upper and lower was enjoyable but slow going for me, not so much for Scott. I felt constantly buffeted by the cross wind bouncing around like a rag doll and progress was never easy for long with all the stream crossings, rough surfaces and steep pinches. It was a good atmosphere with great views though.

Because we were constantly crossing the same stream we weren't keen on using it for drinking water. Eventually we found a side stream coming down from the mountains which we filled up on but foolishly I only filled my bottles, not my bladder.

Just as we started the climb the dark clouds coming from the west started to drop a bit of precipitation. The "hand of god" wind pushing us up the climb to Duffers Saddle started a bit of "light sneezing". I got well ahead of Scott happily spinning my way up. I was glad to be back in control of my movement unlike with all the side winds down the valley.

On the other side of Duffers Saddle it was a lot calmer and there was a massive rainbow. The darker in colour from the different basins (not sure which) made it look like there was ocean on different sides.

During the descent we could see Cromwell and then Clyde. They looked so close from above such that I thought it wouldn't be long until Clyde. At the bottom of the flowing descent it was back in farmland and a right turn away from the road to Bannockburn and Cromwell. Little did I know how annoyingly long and up and down this next section would be.

During one of the two descents on this "pylon road" I met Dave King coming the other way in his little car. He warned me there was another climb coming to the pylons. Again maybe I was too optimistic but there were several smaller climbs before the big one to the pylon. I think I may have missed some water fill up opportunities along there and ran out completely.

Eventually got down to Clyde and crossed over into town to look for food and water. The Four Square had just closed. There was one pub but it looked busy and Scott was a while off (checking the map). So I rang my aunt who lived 100m from that and she said "come here" so I ended up filling my bottles and body with water there. She told me my cousin Claude had done something similar in 2012, biking from Omarama avoiding roads.

By the time Scott arrived (I may have been a bit slow to text him as he was closer than I thought) it was getting late but we were hungry so had a meal in the local pub and then headed to Alexandra in the dark. The Millenium Track is quite close to the river and I kept imagining messing up in the reduced light and ending up in the river. Scott's front light failed (I didn't realise until I was already in Alex) so his imagining of the same was rather more acute!

We got to the open house (a participant lived in Alex opened up his house to others to comply with brevet etiquette) but everyone was already in bed. We got a spot on the deck which was fine. Just a few mozzies to (barely) affect my sleep.

Day 5 stats: 123km 2600m 9:50 (moving) 15:00 (elapsed)

Day 6: Alexandra to Roxburgh

Scott's bottom bracket needed a look at so we were not off at dawn like the others staying at this house. We needed to wait until a bike shop opened which might not be until 9am.

We got into town to the New World at around 8am and there was a bike shop across the road. The owner opened about 8 and got to work on the bike while we stocked up on supplies. Unfortunately the issue was not the BB but the fixing of it to the frame so not a quick fix. Scott decided to run with it and see how it went. Meanwhile I took out my rear brake pads which were worn out and the shop owner sold me a new identical set for $25 which I think must have been cost price.

I had not had enough breakfast and wanted to lose the weight of the muesli so I swallowed my pride, bought some flavoured milk from a little shop and sat outside at a table and chairs pouring it on cereal in my collapsible bowl off my bike. I rinsed off the bowl and spoon in a garden nearby. Truly felt like a vagrant.

We headed off out of town up the Knobblies and soon the bike pushing began.I remember the smell of the wild lavender and the views back over Alex and towards Clyde Dam.

Along the higher reaches the southerly got colder and stronger and we had patches of sleet.

My aunt in Clyde, having looked at the route, commented that I was going through ancestral lands. Gordon Road was named after some of them, they had farmed here in the 1800s and some stone ruins were up that road. I only had time for a photo stop.

I was pretty tired when I reached Roxburgh Dam where the Cluth Gold Trail section began.I met some clearly infrequent cyclists with backpacks along here stopping to read a panel.But I was going so slowly they eventually passed me and I didn't pass them back.

Arriving in Roxburgh I went straight to Jimmy's Pies and Scott soon joined me for a second pie having not known there was a factory outlet shop.

It was still raining and seating was only outside with little shelter when Scott said "I'm quite concerned about my bottom bracket". It was wobbling around so much the chain was popping off the front rings. I was relieved as we'd only done 40km and yet I was feeling a sloppy, presumably from lack of sleep for so long. I was keen to stop here somewhere comfortable and try and catch up.

Scott rang the bike shop and arranged a rental bike and then we rode around looking for a motel. Everything was booked up we could find. Same online. There were places another 8km ride away--not so appealing. I checked Airbnb and found one in town and booked it so Scott parked his bike outside before heading off to hitch a ride to the bike shop (he only got there just before closing and fortunately got a lift back rather than riding).

Scott left his number with the booked up motel and we got Pascal and Matt joining us later that night. They had cycled all the way from Garston Ski Hut having cut short the previous day due to unfavourable winds. We all helped ourselves to the Airbnb freebies including delicious local honey on toast for breakfast. I got to bed sometime after 8pm which was huge for me.

Scott didn't get much of a rest, e.g. it took over an hour to swap the gear between bikes including the all important seat and pedals. The hire bike was a heavy aluminium beast. Strong enough to take the punishment Scott tended to dish out though!

Given we were leaving Scott's bike here (with a neighbour) we both decided to ditch some gear we knew by now was non-essential. We weighed this gear after we got home--mine was 1.4kg and Scott's (with cooker etc) 2kg. Unfortunately for Scott that weight loss was probably more than made up by the heavier rental bike.

Day 6 stats: 47km 1060m 4:40 (moving) 6:00 (elapsed)

Day 7: Roxburgh to Dansey's Pass Hotel

All four of us were out the door soon after six but we'd already seen several brevet riders go past in the semi-darkness. The climb to Lake Onslow started fairly promptly and I was soon creeping ahead and catching up to other riders. Was nice to catch up in the other sense (i.e. chat) riding two abreast with those I'd ridden with a few days prior.

I had my sweater on under my rain jacket and thought I'd be taking it off with the heat of climbing. Other riders had much more warm gear on and I certainly wasn't feeling hot. The higher we got the colder it got until just coming around Lake Onslow the sleet started to hit and I stopped to get out gloves and shoe covers for my easily numb feet. I didn't feel the need for anything over my legs though.
At the top felt fairly undulating with several gates and one deep ford which I felt in my head would probably be the only one of the day. So my wet feet were again cold and getting numb again until we descended.

Scott caught up as usual not long after things flattened off and soon we were joined by Pascal and Matt our house mates the previous night. Matt on what looked like a Giant Trance (not that comfortable for long days I reckon but ok) and Pascal on an ancient 26" aluminium hard tail. Both with flat pedals. They kept a consistent pace despite the big day prior and continued all the way to Duntroon today; impressive.

Lots of long straight gravel roads until almost at Ranfurly where a left turn onto the tar seal for the (short) home straight. I think this was the first time I properly got use out of my cheap and nasty (and not very securely fastened) aero bars and sped away from Scott (he had left his doctored ones at Kerry's).

Up until now my aero bars had served a useful purpose holding my handlebar roll above the front tyre. The front of my borrowed XC bike was quite low and made even lower by a flipped stem. I was running the fork at 120psi and installed a mud guard to prevent the handlebar bag scraping on the front wheel on compression.

In Ranfurly we descended on the cafe as usual but funnily they were not selling coffee due to the boil water notice (from the recent heavy rain). I headed off to Naseby before Scott who got distracted by the ice cream shop... I booked our accommodation for Tekapo while simultaneously Scott booked Dansey's Pass Hotel for tonight. He was quite pleased as he'd been there before on his motorbike and had been talking about staying there well before the trip. This was while the borders were closed due to COVID so you could get away without booking much in advance.

The route at Naseby had us turn left to find the water race and follow it all the way along wiggling around and opening gates. My work colleague Michael was staying on the road to Dansey's Pass and him and extended family and others gave me, then Scott a few minutes later, a rousing welcome.

After a bit of a chat we headed off for the last 15-20km to Dansey's Pass Hotel. We met up with many of our fellow Roxburgh departees there. Some were saying the next day to finish should be straightforward and some were sleeping in a bit and leaving at seven! Another decent early night I think around 8:30 for me.

Day 7 stats: 152km 2500m 9:50 (moving) 12:50 (elapsed)

Day 8: Dansey's Hotel to Tekapo

Another 6ish start, finally getting the idea now, straight into the climb to the pass in the morning light. I don't remember it being hard or long but I guess fresh legs makes a difference.

An extended stop at a cafe in Kurow after riding straight past Duntroon. I did my text-in "On a mission to Tekapo". I really wanted to do the Dog Kennel Corner highway section in daylight. So I headed off before Scott.

Across the two big bridges over the Waitaki, a left turn and up a little hill and then away on the long straights up the Hakataramea Valley. Back on the aero bars on such a quiet road not that much to see and a lot of distance to cover. I was glad I brought my earphones to plug into my phone. I had got them out this morning for the first time all trip and this was the just the day for them.

Scott had texted me proposing I go for it as he wanted to cruise. A little while later he sent me a picture of Shania (the name of the alpaca soft toy) sitting on a bee hive. Clearly not in a hurry and, I found out later that came with three bee stings!

I stopped at a bridge to wolf down my afternoon tea of the "breakfast wrap" I had picked up on Scott's recommendation at the cafe in Ranfurly. It was enormous and full of all sorts of protein. Soon after the road got narrower and turned to gravel but stayed pretty flat for along time until the final climb towards the pass.

Rounding a corner there was a familiar green car (Dave King's) and the brevet pair who we met at Kurow having an ice block. Dave offered me the ice block or a beer, I accepted the former but it took a little time to consume. I suggested Scott might be keen on the beer but he was a ways off. Dave left a couple of bottles at the pass but Scott wasn't sure they were his. I would have texted if I'd realised there was reception there

Such great views across the Mackenzie basin to the familiar big mountains on the other side. I had long wondered what it looked like from that side as we always travel down the western side where the highway goes.

After another rapid descent it was a hard right onto tar seal but, more pertinently into a stiff head and cross wind. Much slower progress than up valley. My shonky aero bars too unstable for strong winds, especially swirling. Just had to grind it out. Fortunately there were turns in the road to ease it off for periods.

Just coming towards Dog Kennel Corner I remember a solid head wind suddenly disappearing and wondering why. Turns out those rows of trees really do work as a wind break and cover quite a distance.

Left turn onto the state highway in daylight (still turning on the flashy lights on both helmet and bike) and launch off with the tail wind. Wasn't long before I arrived in Tekapo about 6:15 very happy to still manage the eight days we'd planned despite all the delays from poor planning, mechanicals, mistakes. Dave was there to greet me and offer the beer again (this time I accepted) and take a photo.

I asked about 2012 and mentioned my cousin. He asked his name. I started to say "Claude" and then he interrupted "Dabaliz" and I said "yes". He told me yes he was on 2012 and was quite a character. He didn't know Claude had passed away.
Scott was still a ways off so I went off and got the car and came back to wait for him. Dave got there in time to greet and photograph us both.

After unpacking and showering we met up with the others at the Mackenzie Bar. Rob who I'd been following up the Hakataramea at a distance (in the pair) was from Auckland and knew Claude. Wondered why he hadn't been turning up at Rogaine events. Said he was "tough" (as in put up suffering when necessary).

Next morning Scott and I said hi and bye to the others outside the cafe and headed off down to Roxburgh to pick up his bike and our gear.

On our way back north we spotted (and waved to) Dave waiting for a few of the late stragglers coming down the highway towards Tekapo including Bob, our sheep wary acquaintance from back in St Bathans.

Day 8 stats: 181km 2100m 10:15 (moving) 12:10 (elapsed)