Crank It Cycles

During his Xmas/New Year Holiday, Phil with family and friends attempted a tour of the Rainbow to Hanmer Springs (route of the popular "Rainbow Rage" event) and Molesworth Station.

Unfortunately NZ's fickle weather had other ideas and snowfalls (on New Year's Eve!) required a change of plan. We travelled to Nelson by bus, saw in the New Year in style, did some biking and hit the beaches (yes the weather was great there) before riding over the hill to camp at the scenic Pelorus Bridge in Marlborough and on to Picton the next day.

Boxing Day and 27th December 2006

With two fully laden trailers behind our tandem and Janine's Giant Trance full suspension bike respectively, and 3 regular bikes with panniers our party (Phil, Linda, her son Jono, daughter Alex, Janine and her son Woody) rode onto the Ferry in Wellington and enjoyed a smooth journey accompanied by a few ales to Picton. Staying the night in Picton at a camper park with the grumpiest host I've struck for a while, we went to our favourite cafe in Picton, Le Cafe for the obligatory brunch.

Note Janine sporting her stylish Buff bandana bought from Crank It (fashion accessories feature on this trip.) Then it was a scenic mini bus ride up the Wairau Valley to the West Bay camping ground on the shore of Lake Rotoiti with an awesome obliging driver Brian Schwass from the Sounds Airport Shuttle who devilered us right to our campsite for the night.

It rained heavily off and on all night, but we ventured out in the plastic ponchos bought to escape a downpour while grocery shopping on Picton and Holey Sole shoes (more fashion items) to check out the source of the Buller river which runs through to the West Coast. 

28 December, 2006. West Bay, L. Rotoiti to Cold Water Creek, 50km 

The day dawned fine and we rode over the hill to the Wairau Valley to begin the journey through Rainbow Station. Ahead of us were Tresta and Bill Russell, their son Matt and Tresta's sister, brother-in-law and nephew.

A spectacular 35km journey through expansive farm land, stunning beech forest and views of craggy mountain ranges took us to our camp site for the night at Cold Water Creek. Tresta and Co were already settled in and while we pitched our tents to make a small city of 5 tents a camp fire was lit around which coffee courtesy of our constant travelling companion, a stove top espresso maker, was imbibed, camp dinner eaten and tall stories exchanged. 

29th December 2006. Cold Water Creek to Hanmer Springs, 80km 

A hearty breakfast of porridge and coffee was consumed and campsites packed up in preparation for the epic journey over Island Saddle into the Clarence River Valley (this river winds it was towards the East Coast north of Kaikoura) and Jacks Pass to Hanmer Springs. This was an eventful journey with two pinch flats and one trailer detatching itelf from its tow bike. No damage done fortuantely. When our tandem had its pinch flat, we were at the back of the group and our pump failed but fortunately we were saved by a couple who were following their teenage sons over the route in a 4WD and had a floor pump with them. The photo in the intro was the view as we departed from the Wairau valley before heading to the steep Island Saddle. It was a struggle on the tandem with panniers and a heavily laden trailer but pushing it was harder so we dug in and rode right to before collapsing for a breather. Then it was on to Hanmer Springs after 80km for the day to our respective motor camps to clean off the dust and back in to a restaurant for a hearty meal over a Monteiths ale (served everywhere in the Mainland) and home for sleep.

30th December 2006 

This was a scheduled rest day in Hanmer Springs where we cruised to meet Tresta, Bill and Matt in for a scrumptuous brunch at On 47 Cafe. The weather turned cold, so a couple of hours soaking in the hot pools was the order of the day. Then it was on to the Malabar Indian/Asian restaurant to celebrate Janine's birthday in style. It the best Indian meal I've had for a while and they had a superb selection of NZ wines to complement the their authentic cuisine.

Back to our respective camps for a bit of bike and body maintenance.

New Year's Eve, 2006 

We awoke to a chill in the air and a dusting of snow on the tops around Hanmer Springs. A call from Bill advised that the road to Molesworth was closed, which dashed our plans for the day. After a meeting over coffee and cakes at On 47 cafe we made calls and eventually chartered a bus to Nelson to stay with relations of Tresta's who hosted us for two nights. Instead of being in the middle of nowhere, we saw in the New Year next door before retiring for a soak in the spa.

New Year's Day, 2007. Nelson.

While the others went to the beach to enjoy some Nelson sun, Tresta, Bill and I went for a ride in the Trantragee Saddle area, taking in some of the gnarly tracks in the National Series course. I was able to take Janine's Trance which was just as well because it's a testing track which fully put the bike and me through our paces. Its great to see that some National level courses still test the technical skils of riders.

The day ended with a BBQ, wine and more tall tales.

2nd January, 2007. Mangatapu Saddle, 35km.

Overnight, a plan was hatched to get some hard riding in for those who were keen and particularly Phil and Janine, who are both entered in the Karapotu Classic. Tresta, Janine and Phil were to ride over the Managatapu Saddle to Pelorus Bridge. It's a huge hill, following the original coach and gold mining route from Nelson to Marlborough. It's now maintained as an access track to power pylons and telecomms towers. It's a popular route for 4WDs and we met a few, as well as another Mt Bike party coming the other way (the preferred direction, very steep on the Nelson side.)

As you can see, some bike pushing was involved but we were rewarded with great views.

After about 3 hours we reached the saddle where we had a quick snack and polished off our Peak Feul before begining the descent. Part way down is the infamous site of an early multiple murder, for the gold that was being carried, aptly named Murderer's Rock.

 An internet search for "Murderers Rock" will reveal more information. Here's the view. Perhaps the victims were distracted by it atthe time the crime was carried out. Futher descending took us to the Pelorus River valley and about an hour's ride to Pelorus Bridge where a coffee and scrumptuous pie was waiting for us, along with our tents already erected, by Bill, Linda and the teenagers who chose to drive around.

This is where Bill and Tresta departed to holiday with family in Nelson for a few days.

3rd January, 2007. Pelorus Bridge to Picton, 60km.

A leisurely drive along sealed roads via the scenic Queen Charlotte Drive was the order of the day, but not before enjoying a swim for some and sunshine for others in the idyllic and beautiful Pelorus Bridge reserve.

After less than an hour's riding we came to Canvastown, the site of a huge tent village during a gold rush in the late 19th century. There's still a pub there, the Trout Hotel, and they do $7 lunches on Wednesdays and had Monteiths on tap of course, so we didn'thave much trouble making up our mind to stop there. The pub hasn't changed much over the years - the poster declaring, "Beer, helping ugly people have sex since 1847", is still there.

Through Havelock and along the Drive, we made it to Picton and found tent accomodation for our last camp meal and night in a tent.

The next day, it was packing up, back to Le Cafe for lunch, checking out the markets on the Picton foreshore before catching the Ferry back to Wellington. We were treated to music by Celtic band "Parcel of Rogues" and "Spirit of Song", along with (of course) Monteiths.

All in all an awesome trip through great country and with great company.

Our first serious tour on the tandem, we learnt a few lessons about packing, put disc brakes on the wish list and look forward to the next tour.