Christmas is done ๐ and Iโm keen to be back on my stead ๐ดโโ๏ธ before the New Year. I first set about swapping my ever-faithful Schwalbe Marathon tyres for Continental Travel Contacts. These Iโve dragged all the way from the UK, so Iโm dam well going to use them! Not the best idea Iโve…
I turn northโish facing Queenstown leaving the windy Catlins behind me. The wind ๐ฌ๏ธ hasn’t abated, but does lie to my starboard flank. All I require now is to throw up a spinnaker โต and I’ll be away! 10 kms or so to Walmahaka and stopping for a bit of lunch. Once again itโs…
Iโm out the door and on the bike again. Only 12 days after arriving at The Catlins YHA. One word, chilled ๐ I abandon Craig and little Jet ๐ to their solitude. Some like it, some donโt, some just go demented with it, others find it spiritual! I head towards Balclutha. The plan is…
Leaving Middlemarch for Dunedin. Within an hour the weatherโs clocking in โ๏ธ yuck! After two monstrous descents followed by two monstrous โฐ๏ธ ascents (not in that order!), plus being a tad wet, I spot smoke ๐ signals rising out of the chimney at Clarks Junction tavern. I pop in to find the manager attempting…
The problem with chilling for a week at my brothers, enjoying reclining leather chairs, Discovery & National Geographic channels in a warm house ๐ itโs hard to get up and make a move back out again. As they say, stepping out the front door is the hardest part of any journey or something like…
The roads are well graded, but the gravel is very harsh. So look out for cuts in your tyres. Iโm running Schwalbe Marathon Plus. Which are top tyres, but are still acquiring small cuts. An inferior tyre wouldn’t last long. Most of the tar roads have at least a foot or two of hard…