Today is Saturday 13th December, and the routing is going to take in some of my favorites plus add some new trails that I haven’t explored yet. Initially the route is the same as a few of the days, but deviates in attempting an Advanced trail and doing the Countryside trail in reverse, over to Arrowtown for lunch and then back on the Arrow River Bridges trail and Twin Rivers trail.
Even with good maps and signage it’s still possible to get turned-around and several directions appear to be the right way to go. There is normally a helpful local nearby to lend a hand and get the visitors on the right trail, like this guy!
This junction was where I turned left to follow the river to the Advanced (grade 4) trail, toward Arthur’s point. I didn’t get more than a KM before it became obvious that the trail wasn’t being well-maintained and was overgrown, plus the terrain was becoming “advanced” and a proper MTN bike would be required. I turned around and ultimately went the same way as the guy above, up an extremely steep hill that exceeded 16% on loose gravel. I struggled up the hill before loosing all forward speed and had to walk the remainder of the hill. On a good note, I did get to ride down this hill later in the ride.
The weather was cooperating again with clear blue skies! I was on the Countryside trail and the gently rolling hills were a delight, once you had climbed up from the river level. Somewhere on this trail was were I meet the Norwegians, riding self-powered MTN bikes. They are also locals to New Zealand now and had great things to say about their life choice to move to NZ from their homeland. The guy was full of useful information for my ride that day and was the 2nd local that day to point me in the right direction. Very helpful these Kiwi’s…
Soon after leaving the Norwegians I arrived in Arrowtown for lunch. There are several places to eat in the village but I re-visited the Fork & Tap as they had an addictive Ginger Beer on tap – it complements ANY lunch really well and is a good thirst quencher to clear the dust from the trails. They have a lovely beer garden out the back with plenty of shade. All the restaurants will bring you “tap water” for no charge which is a good way to re-hydrate – especially after consuming the alcoholic ginger beer!
After lunch I continued down the Arrow River Bridges trail and soon came across several dogs and owners. Both dogs were following the owners off leash and one was on a MTN bike (the owner not the dog!). I slowly weaved my way through the bodies to continue at a leisurely pace down the trail.
A few KM down the trail I reached the Southern Discoveries Bridge. I’ve been over this one several times before and its not too scary as its not as long as Edgar and not as high either.
At KM 21 I turned west and exited the Arrow River Bridges trail and headed toward Hayes Lake for the first time. The route was along busy highway 6 so not ideal, but the vehicles were considerate of the lone cyclist riding the verge. It wasn’t long before I took a side road which lead to the trail around Hayes lake. This trail was not flat either, preferring to go up and down, sometimes significantly. I exited Hayes Lake at its northern end before rejoining the Countryside trail and heading south to return to Queenstown. Hayes lake on a zero wind day is a mirror lake.
I met up with a couple of equestrian women who were resting their horses and letting them chow down on the grass before continuing down the steep hill – the same one I had to ride/walk up on the outbound leg. They warned me about the steep gradient which was nice of them – I should have informed them it wasn’t my first rodeo but I kept my mouth shut :). Going down the hill was a blast as the brakes didn’t really work on the loose gravel at these gradients. I pictured the horses literally sliding down the hill after me and having as much fun too!
A bit earlier in the ride, there was a field full of horses in separate paddocks and this one was interested in all those that pass by her fence line. I might turn in my gravel bike for this lovely upgrade 🙂
The rest of the ride was uneventful, just a joy to ride in the fantastic weather on well maintained trails. At the Queensland marina I stopped for what was advertised to be the best pizza in town, made by real Italians! They call their restaurant “Italian Way”. It was thin crust, baked in a wood-fired pizza oven, with fresh ingredients and a flavorful tomato base. Very good taste and quality… I will be back for sure!
The final challenge for the day was ascending the Middleton Rd switch-backs and then enjoying a night off, just relaxing and watching the aircraft fly in and out of Queenstown airport.
Gallery
