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| Clouds Clearing |
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| Peaceful Valley |
The ride today is 40 miles gently up 1600ft to just past St. Arnaud, and then 50 miles gently down 2100ft to Renwick. This will take me across the country in two days.
The day started with clouds low over the hills again, but these looked like fine day early morning clouds. And indeed after 20 miles cycling up the valley a couple of hundred feet under the base of the clouds, they suddenly disappeared to give a lovely blue sky.
Soon after this I turned off the main road up a beautiful valley on a road that is quiet even by NZ standards. Often I was on my own for several miles. Unfortunately there was a steady strong head wind for 70 miles! The worst part was the last few miles before the lunch stop in St. Arnaud which was uphill along a miles long straight portion of road straight into the wind! At least soon after lunch it became downhill, which compensated a little for the wind. There were some lovely spots on the route with the Wairau River and the mountains, as you can see from the pictures, but I did get very tired! I stopped for an early dinner (4 o'clock!), for more fuel and to see if the winds would drop, at a nice old pub in the only village in 70 miles, Wairau Valley. The wind didn't drop and the last 15 miles was a struggle!
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| Waruia River |
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| Vineyard, Waruia Valley |
Renwick doesn't seem to have much - not even a nice coffee shop. It advertises itself as a base for the Marlborough wine area (the lower part of the valley was mainly vineyards), and the restaurants etc. seem to be out at the wineries. The Watson's Way Backpackers comes highly rated, but doesn't seem as nice to me as the others I've stayed in, at least arriving late in the evening. So I'll do some laundry and go to bed.
The next few days are shorter rides - only about 30 miles tomorrow - I can have a well deserved rest after three long days.
