Once I got outside it was quite windy, creating quite some surf on the pristine blue lake. However, the wind seemed to be in the right direction :-) So no complaints from my side.
After getting some breakfast at the four square I got going, making my way to lake Pukaki. A bit before the lake I took a right, leading me onto a gravel road along a canal, also containing crazy blue water. It became very clear that I was going to hit bad weather very soon, as the sky turned ominously black. And besides that the wind turned up a notch, almost blowing me of the road :-)
As the first drops began to fall I got out my rain gear, because I really wanted to complete the day and preferably without getting completely cold and miserabel :-) But even though the sky was really dark, it didn’t give the immense shower I was expecting just yet.
A bit further down the road I overtook a guy who had just rented a bike at Tekapo and who had no clue that bad weather was predicted. He didn’t have any rain clothing, or a jacket, his phone was out of reach and he was struggling with the wind. Utterly unprepared, and I was already quite daunted by the looks of the sky. The only thing I really could do for him was to urge him to take care of himself...
I took off, the wind turned into my back again, and I rode in the rain for about an hour, and then the sky broke open again and the wind died down a bit. From the shore of the lake I could see the the bad weather float away beautifully, getting stuck at the peaks of and around mount cook. And after that the weather stayed really nice for the rest of the day :-)
I had lunch at Twizel, where it was busy with hikers who were waiting out the bad weather. After that I made my way to Omaroma, where I got around 130. I considered pushing through for the day, but the next 30k would be uphill and temperatures were rising. So I figured that another lazy afternoon in a town with nice facilities wouldn’t hurt, although I start to feel that the abundance of available food is remitting all my sporty efforts :-(
Nice easy day today. Tomorrow seems to be a bit more strenuous. 2 days left till Queenstown!
Rainbow!
Another one! Or just the other end... anywayzzz, bad weather comming...
Where I came from it’s all oke...
I like rainbows. I like crazy blue water as well...
That’s a pretty dark sky though..
I’m riding in the rain! Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiding in the rain!
And just like that the rain stopped....
It left a muddy track though...
Very nice to see the weather reside like that...
Where did that dark sky go?
It’s always concerning when they start signposting your final destination... means you’re getting close... it’s even worse when they start counting down the distance...
My little brother (who’s 10c taller and ?k heavier than I am) worked and lived here! Didn’t really feel like riding against the wind for 25k though...
Weather stayed great throughout the day :-)
