18/3/26 – Hasst to Pleasant flat. 45.77km (2346.43km). 389m elevation.
Heavy heavy rain woke me up and as I lay in bed listening to it bucket down I was loosing motivation to ride today. Slowly everyone woke up and we all sheltered in the tent from the rather heavy downpour. As the rain eased we made a run for the kitchen to start the day. As we slowly packed the rain stopped, the clouds disappeared and by the time we were ready to ride we had a beautiful blue sky. As we rode into Haast valley the clouds continued to evaporate and the views were stunning, we passed so many waterfalls which the boys really enjoyed spotting. Riding beside the mighty Haast river was pretty amazing too, there was constantly something to point out which made the morning go very fast. After lunch we stopped at Roaring Billy for a short walk into the waterfalls. Oliver must have been a little hungry as he was in a slightly annoying mood and was having fun teasing the other two, as a little karma the poor thing fell off a bridge and really hurt his thigh. At the river Oliver had some alone time and by the time we returned to the carpark he was feeing much better and a bruise was developing on his inner thigh – ouch.
The ride continued to impress us, the great thing with riding a bike is how much more we get to see. Right beside the road we passed so many waterfalls which roared then disappear under the road to flow into Haast river. One which stood out was the Imps grotto, the waterfall roared down a deep slot canyon and shot out the other side of the road which was so cool to ride past. We arrived at Pleasant Flat campground mid afternoon which was lovely, the boys instantly went exploring and without telling us went down to the river to find some greenstone. After quite a while Rhys went looking for them, with no boys in sight he had to follow their foot prints which disappeared as they walked through the water….oblivious to scary us the boys were having a great time searching for rocks and playing some game. Poor Squirmy (the toy eel) had been left behind in the water rescued by Rhys as he finally reached Oliver, Arthur and Patrick. Squimy had apparently wanted to go for a swim as he had missed the water…. Shoes drenched, smiles on the boys faces and a rather frustrated Rhys greeted me back at camp. After a reminder of always letting us know where they are we ventured back to the river to have a quick swim while the sun was still shining. Gosh the water was COLD! but it was refreshing to have a quick dip.
While setting up the tent, Rhys started on dinner and the kids once again were off playing with sticks and continued their game. The sandflies were the worst we had experienced which upset the kids as they didn’t want to put on their wet and cold shoes and socks thus battled the attack of sandflies on their feet while we ate. During dinner a camper came over to say hello, Josh was from America and travelling NZ for a few weeks in a camper. Rhys quickly got around to asking which direction he was travelling and when the answer was over Haast pass we got a little excited. Rhys asked if Josh could take our panniers for us, Josh very happily agreed and we made rough plans about where he could leave them.
After bedtime, Rhys and I walked across the road to enjoy the setting sun over the valley and snowcapped mountains. Feeling excited about riding up Haast pass (especially now we were going to be lite) we finished our cup of peppermint tea and snuggled into bed.
19/3/26 – Pleasant flat to Lake Hawea. 65.76km (2412.19km). 983m elevation.
Blue skies greeted us for our climb up Haast pass this morning. We packed up quickly so that Josh could take our stuff up to Makarora for us, allowing us to climb the Haast pass unloaded! what a legend, Thanks Josh!
We set off and it really wasn’t long before the climbing started, a couple of step ramps led up to Thunder Creek falls which were really pretty due to the rain that had been falling in the region over the past few days. In fact as we progressed up the climb proper the amount of water that was either falling or seeping out of the cliff faces was crazy, there was just water everywhere!
After our stop we passed through the Gates of Haast bridge and immediately began to point our front wheels towards the sky. Oliver was up on his pedals, dancing like a mini Alberto Contador, I’ve taken to calling him ‘El pistolero’… The first 2kms were proper steep – sustained sections of 12-15%, on more than one occasion we thanked Josh out loud for taking our bags, it would have been a real struggle fully loaded. Where roads are steep though, altitude is gained quickly and before we know it we had already conquered the steepest section of the climb. It now flattened out an we were able to enjoy the scenery as we crept ever closer to the summit of the pass. Incredibly we made it up through the climb with no issues and reached the top in good time. We were all pretty excited and gave each other high fives before snapping a photo at the sign which stated we had reached an altitude of 564m. It’s incredible to think that this road was only completed in the mid 60’s, the distinct absence of switchbacks were probably indicative of this, this road was built for modern car travel.
We got enjoy an awesome downhill section and arrived in Makarora in good time. As promised Josh had left our stuff on the balcony of the hotel at Makarora and we repacked our bikes before heading in for some lunch. As we were standing in line one of the cyclists that passed us on the road, shortly before makarora, got talking with Oliver and was surprised to learn that he had ridden the entirety of the TA by himself. He was so impressed that he shouted Oliver a pie! Oliver was a bit knackered an wasn’t too sure how to react…he said a coy thank you then chose his pie. We ended up sitting with the other riders and Oliver warmed up a bit after he got some food and chai latte in him!
The next section of riding was possibly up there with some of the best riding of the trip. We had a slight tail wind, cloudless blue skies, and were riding beside the incredible Lake wanaka with the backdrop of the ranges behind it. The roads were quiet and we were able to enjoy the scenery while we clocked up the kms. It was an absolutely incredible afternoon on the bikes.
Finally we climbed up and over ‘the neck’ the pass between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. It was interesting to se the two lakes from this vantage point as Hawea sits higher than Wanaka which is visible from the road. With tired legs we turned off the main road to work our way into Kidds bush reserve camping area on the northern edge of Lake Hawea. unfortunately we had to negotiate a relatively steep gravel climb to get over to the campsite. Once there though we were thankful we had made the effort. We jumped of our bikes and walked into the crystal clear blue waters of Lake Hawea for a swim. Much to the boys delight the edges of Lake Hawea was home to a plethora of choice skimming stones…for the next 2 hours the boys literally stood on the edge of the lake and skimmed stone after stone. Great fun!
As we all got ready for bed we found out that squirmy, who had been stopped onto Oliver rear pannier had somehow worked his way free – possibly wanting to go for a swim in the lake himself – Oliver was devastated in losing him. Through photos, we traced Squirmy’s possible location to the gravel road leading into the campsite. Raelene managed to hitch a ride with a fellow camper (Lily) in her car to head out and look for him but had no luck! Poor Old Squirmy would be spending the night by himself, Patrick and Arthur were very generous and each gave Oliver a teddy of theirs to snuggle until we could set out to find Squirmy in the morning….
20/3/26 – Lake Hawea to Wanaka. 50.91km (2463.1km). 590m elevation.
As soon as Oliver and Arthur were awake they were dressed and asking to go to the lake, Patrick went down a little later and they all spent the morning skimming stones until breakfast was ready. Oliver, Arthur and I rode away before Rhys and Patrick in search of squirmy. It was cute riding listening to Oliver and Arthur try to work out where he would have fallen off as they relived the road from last night. About 1.5km from the main road I saw squirmy on the side of the road, very excited to actually find him Arthurr raced up to pick him up and give him to Oliver. There were cheers all round and it was adorable how happy Arthur was for Oliver and how they both cuddled squirmy. We waited for Patrick and Rhys to join us at the main road. Before we left Lily drove past and was very happy to see we had found the toy eel.
Riding alongside Lake Hawea was lovely but had lots of hills which we all found a little tiring after our big day yesterday. Both Rhys and I were glad we had not pushed onto Lake Hawea last night. At one stage Arthur told me his right arm was a little sore and he thinks it is from all the stone skimming he did last night. As we were climbing the hill to the lookout more TA riders met us and chatted, we stopped at the lookout for rest and had more for a catch up. The world is large but sometimes it feels very small as one of the riders knew Finn and was happy to hear we had met up with him. We were lucky enough to be given a few Tour Aoteoroa 2026 stickers for our bikes (now we must make it to Bluff in April….). Conscious of the time we got back on the road and continued towards Granny and Grandad. Rhys started to bonk and needed to have another stop to quickly eat a peanut butter wrap however Oliver was too excited to stop so Arthur and I stayed with Oliver and slowly pedalled on.
As we approached Lake Hawea we could see a little island in the lake, Arthur yelled with so much excitement it gave me a fright – he had just seen Granny waving….next thing Patrick and Rhys were zooming past us with Patrick yelling he had seen Granny. We then all raced around the corner and up the road to the island where Granny and Grandad were waiting for us. It was the most beautiful reunion, with everyone quickly getting off their bikes and running up for cuddles. Owen and Barbara were also with Granny and Grandad so it was lovely to see them as well. After all the excitement a plan was made, Owen and Barbara were driving back to Wanaka then would ride up the trail to meet up. The rest of us made our way to the pub for a well deserved lunch and catch up.
After lunch we joined the river trail to Wanaka with Granny and Grandad riding with us. It was great and the trial was gorgeous as it weaved through the bush alongside the river. We stopped at the wave in the river to watch someone attempt to surf the wave. Not too long later Owen and Barbara met us and we continued down the path. The autumn colours were gorgeous in contrast to the glacier blue colour of the river, it truly was a gorgeous ride. As we got closer to Wanaka we changed direction slightly and started to ride beside the mighty Clutha river, the trail became single trail and a little more tricky which slowed some of us down a little but Oliver and Grandad were loving it out in front. At the mouth of the Clutha we all rejoined and some of us enjoyed a refreshing dip. While warming up in the sun the kids had fun burying each other in the stones before we continued along the path to Owen and Barbara’s house.
Nearly embarrassingly so the boys made themselves very comfortable in the playroom with the lego and train set which Owen helped them set up, while the adults enjoyed the sun on the deck. The evening disappeared with great conversation, dinner and a few drinks, the perfect ending to once again another great day.
21/3/26 – Wanaka. Rest day
Rest day in Wanaka, what a place to hang out! Barbara and Owen were very accomodating and it was lovely to spend time with them and with Granny and Grandad of course! The boys spent most of the day in the playroom, Building lego and playing endlessly with a Thomas the tank engine train set that you could control with levers.
Owen and Barbara had a 50 odd year old Oak tree in their backyard that they needed to chop down. With Grant and myself here for the next 2 days we suggested to Owen that we could get it done! With that we began chopping it down and tidying up the boughs. We had quite a production line going and we got a huge amount of the tree done! Hopefully we can knock it off tomorrow.
While I attacked the tree, Raelene took the boys down to the park and they bought themselves a big ice cream! Once back at the house they headed straight back into the playroom, quite cute.
To close out the afternoon Raelene headed down to the lakefront and enjoyed a run and a swim in the lake, the weather has been perfect this last few days so we’ve gotta make the most of it!
22/3/26 – Wanaka. Rest day
Waking up to another stunning day which motivated everyone to finish chopping down the tree. Owen’s balance and percision cutting was great to watch as the rest of us held on to ropes to help guide down the large branches being chopped. It didn’t take too long for the job to be done, it was great having the kids help with moving the greenery into piles. Mum and I snuck away to get lunch supplies however got a little side tracked with a great little makers market, we wondered around stalls impressed by so many talented people. Getting back on track for the day we grabbed lunch supplies and returned home. After a quick lunch it was time to finally get to Puzzling world, I remember this place from my childhood so I was quite excited to do the maze with Oliver, Arthur and Patrick. We all split up in our groups and off we went, the boys were so excited and ran off immediately in a different direction to us. For the next hour we all enjoyed the maze. We occasionally passed each other, heard lots of laughing, enjoyed watching from the bridge as Granny and Grandad walked around with the boys. Rhys and I were on a mission to get to all four corners first then sneak away for an iced coffee in the garden. We achieved our goal however not as quickly as we had hoped, just as we sat down Oliver, Arthur and Patrick ran into the garden super proud with themselves as they had conquered the maze. Granny and Grandad were the last to join us but still had smiles on their faces, I am sure the maze bought back memories of when they came here years ago when we were little girls.
Drawing the kids away from the shop we entered the illusion section which was ok, some of the illusions were a bit too complicated for the boys which made them loose interest a little and all they wanted to do was go back to the shop to spend some of their spending money. Puzzles purchased we drove to the lake for an ice-cream before meeting Barbara and Owen again to join them at their local club for live music and Thai food.
23/3/26. Wanaka to Arrowtown. 53.89km (2516.99km). 924 elevation.
This day had been on our radar since we had started this trip back in January. The climb over the crown range….the highest sealed road in NZ at a height of 1076m above sea level. It had almost acquired a persona of its own, this mythical climb that we were to tackle and that every other climb was measured against over the last 10 weeks… statements such as “that was big but not as big as the crown range” were common from the kids.
We had the weather in our favour, slight tailwind forecast with clear blue skies. it was going to be incredible. We also had the advantage of Grant and Susan being able to take our bags up to the top of the climb for us and also to meet us for lunch. Finally, that morning Owen also informed us that he was going to ride up with us, being that he had never done the full climb before. Everything was set for a successful day.
We started off at a cracking pace out of Wanaka, in around 2 hours we had reached the charming Cardrona Hotel where we stopped for a coffee and a banana before continuing our pursuit of the summit! from wanaka to Cardrona we had already climbed 300m in elevation however over a distance of 25km it had hardly been noticeable.
After Cardrona the road began to creep upwards and increased in steepness. We found ourselves in an alpine environment, thankful for the fine weather! We were fortunate to have Grant and Susan catch us before the last steep push, instilling some excitement in the kids and an enthusiasm that we would be able to reach the top of the climb that had occupied part of our minds for the last 10 weeks!
Oliver shot out after our stop and absolutely crushed the next steep section of road riding, he simply couldn’t be caught, it was incredible to see, and his rhythm of climbing in and out of his saddle was akin to how a natural climber would negotiate a mountain pass. Arthur was also putting in a huge effort on the back of Trunky, his little legs assisting Raelene on every pedal stroke, what a trooper. Patrick on the other hand was more interested in spotting the birds and I don’t think he pedalled up the climb at all!!! Finally, The traffic on the route was minimal and very considerate of us on our bikes, I would recommend anyone to do this route, it was great.
A quick breather with the summit in sight and a realisation that we were going to do it! We then all continued as a bunch towards the summit of the crown range, rolling into the carpark soon after…..we had made it! the relief and excitement was palpable, Oliver even said “that was easy’! Grant and Susan got out our lunch and we sat in the sun on the summit and soaked in the view of Queenstown, complete with planes regularly flying through the mountain pass to line up their approach at Queenstown airport.
We loaded our panniers back on the bikes and headed down the other side, Oliver even catching up to the back of cars as he whistled down the other side. Our route then took us on a gravel road around the back Arrowtown, before dropping down an insanely steep track that made out fingers and forearms weak with the strain of applying the brakes!
We checking into our holiday park and sorted out what to do for dinner, as it turned out the kids were pretty knackered so we engaged in some high level parenting and put a movie on for them while Raelene and I put the seats up on Trunky and pedalled into town for a quick celebratory beer and to obtain supplies for dinner. The overall mood was a real contrast between the elation of making it over the crown range while also realising that this would be the final day on our bikes together for the next 3 weeks….a strange feeling for sure.
24/3/26. Arrowtown to Queenstown.
We met Susan and Grant in Arrowtown this morning and enjoyed a wander around the old part of town. Incredible the amount of people around, so many tourists! From Arrowtown We rode our bikes to Ian and Ros’ place – a couple who had responded to our request to help store our bikes in the Queenstown area while we are away for the next 3 weeks. This period of no riding is due to our cairns trip for Rhys’ Graduation and then easter/Nicolas birthday hike at the start of April. The ride was impressive with the route taking us through an area where ‘the other half live’. It was like an elite, posh country club complete with golf course and paths that were built for golf buggies to ferry people around…a real contrast to the old mountains and natural scenery surrounding the area…
We arrived at the house and met Ros who turned out to be an absolute legend! we had a great half an hour of chatting and organising our stuff before figuring out that a bus was leaving in 17mins that could take us to Arrowtown while the boys travelled in the car with granny and grandad. Ros was kind enough to drop us up to the bus stop and even participated in a bit of ‘road kill collection’ with Raelene collecting a Duck that Arthur had seen before so we could grab a few colourful wing feathers! Classic!
While Raelene and I got the bus into Queenstown, the boys and Granny and Grandad went via the Kawarau bridge bungy jumping to check it out. The kids saw 2 people jump off the bridge and thought it was pretty cool! We checked into our place for the night then all reunited before wandering back into town for the afternoon/evening. On our way down our road we bumped into an old cycling friend Finn! Finn accompanied us over a pass a few weeks ago and the last we saw of him was in Greymouth. The boys were stoked to see him and we offer for him to sleep on the floor of our apartment which he was thankful for!
The rest of the afternoon was spent on the KJet Jet boat! it was an hour ride up the Shooter and Kawarau rivers with plenty of spins and tight turns through ankle deep water. The boys absolutely loved it and I must admit it was incredible to see how shallow these boats can operate in, at times you could even hear rocks scraping along the hull as we got a little too shallow!
We finished the day with Dinner on the foreshore. It was really nice to be in Queenstown again, Raelene and I had a few great memories from our times here over the years and in all honesty the place hadn’t changed.
Off to Christchurch tomorrow….it feels strange to leave the bikes and tent behind, however we can’t wait to come back and finish off the TA route mid April!
