6th January 2022 (showers and cold) 0km

 We'd read a story from the owners of the camp about hearing kittens screeching when they first moved down here and how they had to help those poor kittens. Turns out, it wasn't kittens but European Little Owls.            

This morning we heard the same sounds, but didn't jump up to see where they were because the temperature this morning is nine degrees.  Great to know they're having a good summer down here.

 After a really nice shower we donned our wet weather gear as it had already been threatening and cycled the four kms into Mossburn for breakfast. It had obviously been raining overnight as the road was wet and you had to keep your distance from the spray off the tyres in front. 

Today is a rest day for Brody's knee, so I will be posting something that came to mind while we were sweating it out on the Dunstan trail.

E-bike snobs

  We love to go a cycling.                         We cycle near and far                          And while we choose to go by bike           Others drive by car                                     

But what we have seen lately                   Much to our dislike                                    Is people riding swiftly by                  On their flashy, new e-bikes                    

We're e-bike snobs                                   Not that it matters to me                    But I can see between your legs You're packing a rather large battery     

Whilst cycling up a massive hill              A woman flashes by                          I yell " You know you're cheating"    Her middle finger meets my eyes          

In a cycling world of toil and grind   They don't appreciate the struggling                                          just slipping it into sports mode         meanwhile our knees are buckling                  

We're e-bike snobs and see your game                                               you're not pedalling you're gliding     making out you're working when      really there's no disguising                                  

Climbing yet another hill                          An e-biker cruises by                                   But just around the corner                       His battery starts to die                            

We smile ever so smugly                          As we leave you in our dust                     And just to really rub it in                        We sing, because we must                          

We're e-bike snobs                          Get off the road ya loser             Smilin right back at ya                Cause ya battery's blown a fuse a ha ha ha!


But then we get to talking 

About what our next bikes might be

This brand or that, we don't care

As long as it has a battery !!                


Should have gone to specsavers Pete.  So keen to tuck into his big breakfast, he didn't care what end of the knife he was cutting with.

After spending a couple of hours in the cafe and a lot of money, we purchased some food for the rest of the day. Julia asked if they could sell us about five tea bags. "No, sorry we can't sell you tea bags".  Disappointing.... to say the least. We had no room for a full box. Julia had asked the cafe next door yesterday for three teabags and they charged her $1 each. Looks like they're more precious than gold down here. So Julia popped across to the garage to buy me a peanut slab and asked if they sold teabags and they gave her four.


Back at camp we spent the afternoon talking, not just to each other but to the camp owners, Stuart and Colleen with their dog, Charlotte, a beautiful six month old Labrador. 


Our cabin on the right.

Also, to James, who loaned me a hose to wash the bikes. Julia's gears were playing up, so I firstly tried to fix them myself.... Didn't work. 


Mossburn country park is a beautiful campground. A great place to spend recovering on a balmy summers day of 13C!

Then cycled to the local garage, where I'd been told a guy might be able to help. He was just going out on a job and told me to come back in an hour. Four kms back to camp, where we discussed tomorrow's options. 

At 4pm, back to the garage, where the guy spent nearly an hour, only to improve the problem slightly. While I was away, Julia and Brody had altered the plans for tomorrow back to our original version. Eating dinner at 6.30pm and hopefully looking at some warmer weather tomorrow, after a freezing day, today. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

COUNTDOWN!

Image
In two days time we go on our first bike tour for three and a half years!  Like a lot of people, we had big travel plans for 2020, but of course with the emergence of Covid, that didn't happen.  Pete and I had always thought we'd travel overseas until we were too old and then we would start exploring more of New Zealand.  But with options so limited now and NZ being a relatively safe place to be, we have decided to close the business for a month and go explore the cycle trails of the South Island. Many of our friends have already done a number of these trails and come back home raving about the Alps to Ocean, the Otago Rail Trail and the Dunstan Trail, and keen cyclists that we are, it seems crazy we haven't done any of them.  So we're going to do all of them.  Well, all of the ones in the lower South Island as we've only got a month, and it is supposed to be a holiday, not a mission!   So we are flying into Christchurch on Saturday morning and will sp...
Read more

14th January 2022 (sunny and warm) 0km

Image
Woke this morning in Waihola, or as it has come to be known, Whatahola.  Like an Amazonian tribe, undiscovered since time began, so in a way do the inhabitants of this dreary lakeside village exist. Happy, in their own way, pottering in their gardens, counting flies on the wall, pulling out the cutlery drawer and replacing the knives where the spoons used to be.                       Literally used as a transport stop between Dunedin and Invercargill, stock drivers named "Trevor", complete with stubbies and work boots, enter the confines of the roadside cafe, for a triple shot coffee and a "Jimmy's" pie.     Mid morning we left the cell-like features of our holiday park cabin, complete with two, middle of the night freight trains, rolling on endlessly into a parallel universe. Our move took us directly across the highway to a motel, booked well before we knew, that suicide was a preferable option than stayin...
Read more

10th January 2022 (sunny and hot) 43 km

Image
Awake at 5. 45 am and finished off last nights blog. The day had dawned slightly overcast and a little cool, but looked as though it would burn off. After Eileen had taken care of the horses we all sat down for some toast and marmalade, which was yummy. Unloaded some fresh hay off the trailer and then loaded the bikes. It was lovely to catch up with Eileen and Stu again and have the luxury of a bed.       Eileen was driving us to Clyde, so that we didn't have to cycle through kawarau gorge, which is also a busy highway. Forty five minutes later she plonked us down in Clyde, where we cycled 8km to Alexandra to begin the Roxburgh Gorge trail.                                                                 Ju and Brody visited the supermarket to grab some lunch, while outside, looking after the bikes, I met...
Read more