11 DAYS TO GO!!!!

Hi, well with 11 days to go we have finally finished our blogs of our Molesworth/Rainbow trip which we did in March! We promise we will be better on the trip proper :-)
Well we are pretty much all organised. There are still e few wee things to sort but it is pretty much all sorted. A big push this weekend will see us READY!
Maybe we will try and do a daily post from now till we leave? Lets see how we go, no promises.
The most exciting thing that has happened today is that we received our Fridge Magnets! Yep you read that correctly, we have had fridge magnets made with our Blog address so you all remember to check it out every time you open your fridge!!!!
Ciao for now J and S

HOMEWARD BOUND

Sunday 8th March 2009

Day 8 - Lake Tennyson - Hanmer Springs

Our final breakfast of porridge was consumed early & we hit the road for a quick 40km ride heading towards Hanmer wanting to arrive at lunchtime so we had time for a soak in the hot pools.

The road was much rougher than we had anticipated as this road is obviously used a lot by cars. We still managed to make excellent time knocking the distance out in about 2 hours. The descent down the Hanmer side of Jacks Pass blew both of us away - it is a long way, no wonder we struggled up it a week earlier!

We headed straight to the Campground to find our van safe and sound.

From there we went for another pie and a custard and chocolate scroll, YUMMY. We then soaked away our aches and pains for a while before hitting the road again.

It was nice to arrive home, but we were both sad to be finished our first cycle tour together.

Technical ride details are lost, presumed dead!

CHASING THE END OF THE RAINBOW

Saturday 7th March

Day 7 - St Arnuard to Lake Tennyson

After a hearty breakfast & fond farewells to our wonderful hosts we headed down the Rainbow towards Hanmer & Lake Tennyson.
The 1st hour flew by in a blur of gravity assisted asphalt & beech forest.


Both us enjoyed having someone else to talk to to pass the time, we continued to make good time & the scenery the entire way was beautiful - such a contrast to the Molesworth.
With about 30km to go to Lake Tennyson & Island Saddle to conquer Andy decide to leave the 3 of us to bike ahead & pick up the car which was at the top of Jacks pass - drive back & pick up Andrea at Lake Tennyson.
We arrived at Lake Tennyson & set up camp - had cup of soups & waited for Andrea's ride to come along.








After waving goodbye to our day companions we cooked dinner & settled in for the night .

Technical Riding details missing as brains are still a little fuzzy from night before...

GOOD FOOD & WINE

Friday 6th March 2009

Day 6 - Kowahi Point to St Arnuard

Woke to drizzle today, packed up & had breakfast whilst dodging rain showers (& sandflies)
Easy 27km ride to St Arnuard this morning - found Andy's parents bach - No one home yet... so headed into St Arnuard village to tidy up before hopefully meeting Andy's parents later in the day, thanks to the Doc campground that has pay as you go showers.
Heard from A & A they were in Hanmer unsure at this point if the were going to make the trip as the weather at their end was looking very dodgy! So we just had to wait & pray they made it.
After lovely hot showers we went & found a cafe & had yummy pies for lunch..
Scott wanted to teach them how to make coffee as their coffee making skills were lacking - but he manged to restrain himself!
After lunch the sun came out & we managed to take over a campsite (illegally) to get the tent dry , then put all our belonging in the hand of a stranger while we went for a walk down the lake ( well she was not really a stranger as we meet her 2 hours earlier @ the showers - practically family now!)
About 4ish we decided to bike back to Andy parents bach to see if anyone had arrived yet & arrived to the smell of freshly baked Bran Muffins - thanks to Viv (Andy's mum).
Nobody knew for sure if A & A had made it through the rainbow until we made contact with Andy calling asking for a pick up? They had had a headwind the entire day & were over it! But what champions for riding so far just to spend a night with us & his parents only to ride back the next day!
The rest of the night consisted of great food & lots of wine ....
Thanks to Andy's parents for they amazing hospitality & comfortable bed.

Technical riding details lost due to copious amounts of good food & wine.

UP HILL ALL THE WAY

Thursday 5th March 2009

Day 5: Blenheim to Kowhai Point

After a very well deserved sleep in this morning (8am) we woke - jumped on our bikes & headed into Blenheim for breakfast (Mc Donald's) & to restock the food supplies.
Arrived back a camp & spent 1 1/2 hours sorting & repacking the panniers.
Thanks to Chile (the hostest with the mostest) for giving us a late check out we did not feel like we had to rush to much..
Once on the road we headed out of Blenheim toward St Arnard.
The road was sealed the majority of the way with vineyards as far as the eye could see.
The entire ride today was a gradual climb making us just have to put in that extra effort the entire way.
Both of our behinds were aching today - even 2 pairs of bike short gave no relief to the situation.
We arrived at Kowhai Point to rain, found the doc camp & set up camp for the night.
Dinner tonight consisted of filled pasta & sauce, once we had eaten & cleaned up we settled into the tent & listened to the rain.
Tomorrow we have a 27km ride to St Arnard where we are hoping to meet our good friends Andy & Andrea who (weather permitting) will be riding up the Rainbow to meet us...
If Andy & Andrea make the trip we will be staying in style tomorrow night @ Andy parents Bach (& hopefully a home cooked meal?)

RIDE TIME: 4:21.09
DISTANCE: 80.3km
AVERAGE SPEED: 18.4km
TOTAL TIME FROM A TO B: 5 hours

DAY OFF

Wednesday 4th March 2009

Day 4: Taylors Pass to Blenheim

We were up & away early today, both slept ok - noisy night of bird scarers going off all around us it felt like we were in the middle of a war zone at times!
Only a 30km ride in front of us today which turned out to be a really nice cruisy ride..
Only 1 biggish hill climb & the rest us a undulating road to Blenheim.
Arrived at the Blenheim Top 10 Campground at about 10am & were greeted by Chile who gave us hot drinks & home maid biscuits.
We found our campsite next to the river, had showers did laundry & just chilled out lying in the sun before heading into town to do some chores & have a bite to eat.
Subway & KFC Chips were on the menu for lunch today - The weather in Blenheim is amazing sunny blue sky so sitting in the sun eating lunch was just perfect.
It is nice to be having a day off just chilling out.
Dinner was a pizza & beers at a nice we pizza restaurant in town..
Hot spa was also on the menu for later that night.

RIDE TIME:1.57
DISTANCE: 33.48km
AVERAGE SPEED:17.1km
TOTAL TIME FROM A TO B:2.30hours

A DAY OF TWO HALVES

Tuesday 3rd March 2009

Day 3: Cob Cottage to Blenheim

Well the Doc Ranger told us it was only 100km to Blenheim - HE WAS WRONG!
The day started well - nice rolling down- dulating riding. (just as riding should be)
When we reached our 1st biggish hill climb we were greeted by some real life cowboys (Molesworth musterers) on horses & lots of dogs in tow... I found this extremely exciting given my love for anything cowboy!
After 50km into the ride & alot of up & down hills we had 20kms left before we hit sealed road, & as luck would have it we were lucky enough to come around a corner to find that the last 2okm of road had just been laid with fresh shingle! You have to be joking!
The going was very slow & very hard especially on the up hills & extremely dangerous on the downs...
The single was freshly graded & had not yet been packed down by cars so our wheel were sinking into it.
At the 70km point of the journey & an extremely long hill climb we finally reached sealed road - ahhhhhh ... what a treat!
The day was getting late & we were both starting to feel very tired by this stage but we though the turn off for Taylor's pass must be close so we headed down the lovely flat road passing rows & rows of newly develop vineyards.
Now 89km into the ride & there were the 1st tears of the trip (day3 - Not bad?) The tears were from me (not Scott in case you were wondering?) , they were tears of exhaustion & hunger - my world was closing in very black all around me!
We finally reached Taylor's Pass Road (95km) to fins the sign post telling us it was another 26km to Blenheim (26km on a loaded mtn bike is actually quite a long way when you are exhausted!)
We decided we were both to knackered to carry on as we were unaware of just how bigger pass Taylor's pass was so we decided to turn back & ride the 4km back to a reserve we had passed earlier & called the reserve home for the night.
Dinner was Rice Risotto tonight & we only just had enough gas in the cooker to cook tea - no hot drinks tonight! It was touch & go there for a while!

RIDE TIME: 5:45 hours
DISTANCE: 99km
AVERAGE SPEED:17.1km/ hours
TOTAL TIME FROM A TO B: 8.15
TOTAL ASCENT: 1145mtrs