26th December 2021 (warm, sunny, breezy, mostly tailwind!) 60km

Woke early with no wind to a lovely morning. I dived out the tent and took some awesome shots.  You'd be hard pressed to take a bad shot in these parts.

Ju had brewed up a cuppa and once that was finished, we packed up and set off about 7.15am. 

Sorry about the amount of photos,  but so seriously beautiful round here, it's hard to do it justice. 

Julia had found a shortcut to pick up the trail, without having to cycle the 7kms to Ohau Lodge. Turned left onto a small track and our first obstacle was a mid shin high Ford which we got through with a light soaking. Rode slowly up a single track until we came to a hill, which we had to take the bikes up, one at a time. At the top we could see the track in the distance but with a forest of burnt shrubbery blocking the way.  To the left was another steep uphill goat track which we carried our bikes up one at a time.

New Zealand's most scenic telephone pole.

The top of hill number two.

At the top of this I saw a tiny tramper in the distance, heading for a forest. Traipsed across the grassland to where he entered and we were on our way. The track was a mixture of good size gravel and rocks. Unfortunately the rocks won out big time. The scenery was fantastic and we were stopping regularly to take spectacular vistas. The ride for me however was taken up spending my time concentrating on trying to avoid the biggest rocks. Just after we'd entered the Bush, at the 6km mark, we stopped for breakfast at the only bench on the track. 

Here we met up with Andrei and Anna, the two Russian cyclists  we'd met yesterday. We were just leaving when who should walk up the track but Dennis and Barry!!

Introduced them to Andrei and Anna and took some photos of everyone, before the Dennis and Barry took off. After having two days off in Tekapo,  they were champing at the bit to get moving again.  Their track diverged uphill shortly after that point so we were very lucky to have met up with them with taking our "shortcut" as we'd only been on the proper trail for 1km at that stage.

That was the last time we saw the Russians all day as we climbed to the high point of 900m.  The downhill was too rocky to really let fly, but on the smoother parts, it was a blast. A shame it wasn't like that all the way down as our gear was getting shaken to bits and some of the velcro attachments didn't survive the journey. 

We'd built up quite a sweat on the climb up so it was great to have the wind rushing past and cooling us down, and especially great to feel the tailwind on our hot backs.

Hit gravel upon completion of the track and this was much better and we were able to pick up some speed. Had a spell on some tar seal before turning onto Henburn Rd, a rough gravel road 7kms up to Clay Cliffs. 

Now, for anybody who hasn't been to Bryce Canyon or Prachov Rocks  in Czech, this rock formation might be worth a visit, however 14kms of rough gravel and cars creating massive dust clouds isn't my idea of fun. Go in a four wheel drive and don't wash it before you go. 

Pete was in such a rush to see the Clay Cliffs that he suddenly took off in a burst of speed.  Ironically,  he had his head down and was pedalling so hard, I think he missed seeing the first view of the Cliffs.

Again, we'd worked up quite a sweat so went and sat in the only shade of a scrubby bush next to a couple with an awesome 4wd wagon with tent on top and fridge on one side.

We drank the last of our water and shared our last peanut slab.  I asked the couple next to us how far to Omarama as we were wondering if we should break out our last muesli bar.  They said, forget that, have some of grandma's fudge, baked fresh yesterday.   That was THE BEST FUDGE I've ever tasted in my life. Made all the better because it was cool and not warm and slimy like our unappealing muesli bar.

The best thing about the side trip for me was getting that home made fudge off the guy from Tauranga. Delicious.                                 

Arrived in Omarama at 2.30pm and called into the local pub for a shandy each. After my ride today I asked for mine shaken and stirred. Called Georgina for a chat as she was the only one we hadn't spoken to over Xmas. Dot happened to be staying at the Top Ten, across the road, so we rocked on up, pitched tent, washed laundry, showered and about 6pm, shot over to the pub for a meal and drink with Dot.  The meals were delicious and just what the doctor ordered. 

Back to camp, washing dry, wrote days entry and off to bed.