9th January 2022 (cloudy, sunny, hot) 44km

During the night there was a whole range of activities. Some Maori people decided they'd start the ball rolling with some Maori music and I have to say, it wasn't too bad to listen to. However, why is it that when people play music, they play it for the whole world to listen to. Credit where its due, they did turn it down as night set in, whereas the drunks coming back from a Saturday night in Queenstown certainly didn't know when to tone it down. 

As Julia and Brody drifted off, I listened to, first of all, people on their way into town, happy to tell the world what they were going to do.  This continued until just before we woke at 5.30am, with them all rolling back from town, drunk and loud, singing and shouting. 

Compare that to the solitude of the campsite the night before and I'll take that every time. Boy Pete, welcome to old age.                          

We were out of there by 5.45am, courteously thinking about other occupiers as we moved our bikes from inside to outside and keeping our voices to a whisper. Then, we rolled down the hill, into a deserted Queenstown, apart from the street cleaners who were busy making it tidy and clean again.                                          

Brody had wanted to get up early because of the light and he was bang on. The shots we got were fantastic and it took us two hours to go from Queenstown to Frankton, a distance of 8km, such were the amount of shots taken.

 Just before 8am we pulled into "The Coffee Club" in Frankton for three very nice breakfasts. Part of the reason the "shoot " went so well, were the clouds this morning and it was nice to sit outside and watch the movement in the sky above.                     

From here we bought some fruit and muesli bars from New World and set off around the back of the airport to pick up the Gibbston Trail, to Eileen and Stu's. Got as far as where the planes first touch down when one suddenly begins its approach. So we stay to shoot it. 

Forty five minutes later and we are all competing for the best aircraft shot, but having loads of fun. Onwards. Just as we were about to cross the old Shotover Bridge, we got talking to a couple of girls out walking, who were fascinated with what we were doing. 

On the trail Brody and Julia went in for a cold dip in the river and only fifteen minutes later we found a great spot to swim with a lovely little beach area where we all went in. Had a great time there for an hour before finally setting off to get some serious cycling done for the day.                                                          

I have to say that the Gibbston Trail does have some juicy little climbs on it and the weather was getting hotter as the day wore on. 

Brody demonstrates one of the numerous perils we face on a daily basis.  And then there's the drunken ebikers,  just too dangerous to photograph. 

The closer we got to Eileen and Stu's place the more people we saw on bikes.... mainly e-bikes.... and we all know what we think of them.... They were out and about doing the wine trails. Some looked as though they'd already done too many wineries the way they were handling the bikes. 

Finally, the last 2km stretch, naturally all uphill, but as any experienced cycle tourer will tell you, that's always where the campgrounds are.                                Great to see the guys again and for the next couple of hours we chatted, we had showers and washed some clothes. 

After a lovely home cooked meal, it was more of the same. Brody tried Eileen's Shakti mat, to see if it helped his knee and back. Hit the hay around 10pm.  

Only five days remaining now. It's gone so quickly and we've settled right back into life on the road. Glad Brody decided to stick it out to the end after a rough introduction to this style of travel that we love. Although sometimes we wonder why!!