Driving rain, wild weather, mountain passes and dangerous ducks and an almighty hangover weren’t going to stop me from my goal of getting to Mount Cook.

The night before I had camped at the bottom of Dansey’s Pass after spending the afternoon enjoying a few beers and a bacon buttie in the pub, Dansey’s Pass Coach Inn, which lay about 1km away from where I had camped the night.

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I had camped on a grassy area that lay next to the track and was surrounded on one side by thick pine forest and on the other by a bubbling stream which ran down the valley.

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As I had slept just below Dansey’s Pass I was at about 700m elevation and so the morning air had a distinct chill to it.  Instead of venturing out of my tent I decided to have breakfast in bed and placed the cooker just outside the tent flaps and boiled up a bowl of porridge which I washed down with a piping hot cup of coffee.

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Once the sun was up and over the hill in front of me the temperature warmed and as I hadn’t washed the night before I needed to get a quick wash before heading off.  I could of jumped in the stream but that was not going to happen.  Instead, I boiled up a pan of water and had a quick wash next to my tent.

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One I had packed up the tent it was time to cycle out of the pine forest and rejoin the main track which would take me over the saddle and into the next valley.

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There was a warning sign by the side of the track which kind of showed me what was to come over the next couple of hoursdscn5185

The track continued to follow the river that I had been following yesterday and as I cycled up the valley the river turned into a stream which got smaller and smaller.

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The cycle up the valley was probably one of the most frustrating mountain passes that I have cycled over in New Zealand because the road was like a roller coaster, one minute I would be grinding my way around the valley side only to descend back down to the stream and then have to grind my way back up.  On a map the elevation gain that I would climb to get to the saddle didn’t look too bad but the way that they had cut the track would mean that I would at least double this by the time I reached the top.

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The valley narrowed significantly after about 10km and this is when the climbing really began.

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The saddle was now in sight and I pushed on to the top without stopping as it was bitterly cold towards the top even though the sun was now shining.
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Once I had reached the top I stopped to enjoy the view in the valley on the other side as it was pretty special from my vantage point and I was now literally touching the clouds above me.

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Even as I was stood there the clouds descended to meet me and all too soon it was time to get back on the bike and head down into the valley in front of me.
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The next 5km would speed past as the road descended rapidly at first and then seemed to travere its way through a series of different valleys, each of which were prettier than the last.

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The view on this side of the pass was much nicer than the one that I had ridden through to get to the top of the pass.  The one consistent factor, after the initial descent, was that the track turned into a roller coaster ride as it kept climbing back up.

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At the top of one of the climbs the weather seemed to take a turn for the worse and I wasn’t sure if a fine drizzle had began to fall or whether I was back engulfed in the clouds.

dscn5235 As I once again descended through the valley in front of me it became clear that the rain was setting in for the day as what began as light rain turned into a torrential downpour.dscn5233

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I was now completely soaked and freezing cold but there was nowhere to shelter in the valley that I was cycling through and so had to just get on with it.

I was now descending down to a river which lay a good couple of hundred metres below over a vertical cliff.  The cold was really getting to me now and I had even put my full gloves on as I could no longer feel my fingers to pull on the breaks which was not the greatest timing given the drop off to my right.

It was another 30 minutes before I passed a sign for a camp ground and I pulled in hoping that there was somewhere nice and warm that I could take refuge in.  The campsite seemed deserted and as I could not find anybody I just made the use of the lounge area to strip off and put on a warm set of clothes to try and warm up.

I hung my wet clothes over my bike and headed off in search of a kitchen to make a pan of steaming hot coffee.

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While the kettle was boiling the owner of the campsite drove in and came in to the kitchen to see what I was up to.  It turns out that he is also a keen cyclist and didn’t mind me using the facilities while I waited for the rain to stop.  Without me asking he even put my wet clothes in the tumble dryer to dry them out.

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After an hour or so the rain had stopped and the sun even put in an appearance.  My knew motto for this part of the world is four seasons in one day as the weather seems to switch so fast.   I had by now put back on my dry cycling clothes and was ready to head back out and complete the journey down the valley to Kurow.  As I set off the owner came out to wave me off.

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Once I was back on the main road the track that I had been following turned to tar seal, and then at Duntroon this joined the main highway that ran next to the Waitaki River.  A quick check of the map showed me that I could follow one of the National Cycle paths – The Alps to Ocean or A-2-O – as far as Kurow and so headed for this.

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On the other side of the Waitaki River that I was now following was the next mountain range that I would need to cross in a couple of days time.  As I cycled down the A-2-O cycle trail the mountain slowly disappeared as the rain once again began to fall around me.

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I had by now had enough of the cold weather and rain and so cut back towards the main road for the last 15km that I still had to pedal to get to Kurow as this road would get me there much faster.

Here is a video I shot along the way:

On the outskirts of Kurow I passed the winery that I would be visiting the following day.

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Once I was in Kurow I asked at the 4 Square supermarket what my options were in terms of camping in the town and the lady pointed me towards a campsite that was another 2km down the road.  As I had had such a cold and wet day I didn’t fancy cooking so on my way to find the campsite I called in to the chipper and picked up a scoop of chips to take with me.

The campsite was next to the Waitaki River that I had been following on my way into Kurow.  When I walked into the campsite office the owner, Diane, was sat behind the desk.  She said that it was 17 NZD to pitch a tent or as the weather was so bad she would charge me 20 NZD for a room in a 6 bed dorm.  In my youth I used to love dorm rooms as they are great places to find people to hit the town with when travelling but when cycling I prefer to avoid them if possible to get a decent nights sleep.  Diane said that nobody else was staying in the dorm so I took it as I was not looking forward to setting my tent up in the rain as I was once again cold and wet.

The dorm rooms were off the main lounge and kitchen area for the campsite and when I cycled down to the building there were two people sat in front of a roaring fire.

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After a long wet day on the bike this was the best welcome that I could have hoped for and Ali and Sarah instantly my  two new best friends in the world.

The ladies moved over and I sat in front of the fire eating my chips. They were an elderly mother and daughter from Christchurch who were taking a caravan down to Alexandra for their youngest to use over the Christmas break.  The daughter was a teacher and she had been thinking of moving to Vietnam for work and so we had a good chat about life and work in Vietnam.

Later on we were joined by two fishermen from New Zealand who were on their annual 10 day expedition.  It seemed that they were trying to fish all of the trout rivers in the South Island and had been ticking them off each year for the last 15 years.  They arrived with a bottle of wine and a bottle of whisky and were not going to go to bed until we had all helped them to finish the bottles.  It was a great night of banter and story telling.

At 11pm I decided to call it a night and went off to my warm dry dorm room and left the rest around the fire.

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In the morning it was still raining and I lit the fire while my porridge was cooking on the stove.  My plan for the day was to cycle out to the winery that I had past the on my way into Kurow around lunchtime to do some wine tasting and enjoy a bottle of something with a bite to eat.

This left the morning free and I love the days when I don’t have to get out on the road and can just laze about.  As it was raining I spent most of the morning catching up on my blog in front of a roaring fire.

During the morning the owner came in to clean the lounge and kitchen area and sat down for a chat.  He and his wife used to run a sawmill but had recently given that up and bought the campsite.  He told me what there was to do in the town which seemed to be surmount to either kayaking on the river or climbing a hill to see the view of the town.  I said I was fine in front of the fire.

At lunchtime the rain eased and I got my stuff together and headed off to the winery.  To get there I had to backtrack into town across the Waitaki River that I had been following the day before. It looked much prettier in dry weather than it did in the pouring rain.

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I thought that the winery was just on the edge of town but I ended cycling nearly 5km back towards Duntroon so I was pretty hot in my wet weather gear by the time I pulled into the car park.

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I stripped off and left my bike in the car park and headed into the shop to try the wines.

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When I entered Jackie was really helpful in helping me choose the wines to taste and really knew her wines.  The cost of wine tasting was 6 NZD for 3 wines or 10 NZD for 5 wines.  If you buy a bottle then they don’t charge you for the wine tasting which seemed a good deal as I was going to be buying a bottle anyway.

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I could describe the wine tasting but I think that it is easier if I just show you and Jackie was a great sport for letting me film it:

I asked Jackie to put the wine on ice for me and while it was chilling I went to have a look at the vines outside.

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As it is spring in New Zealand it is still very early in the growing season and so there were no grapes on the vines.  Walking around the fields brought back memories of when I used to work in the wineries in Barossa Valley in SouthAustralia.  It was a great way to spend a few months.

This winery is much smaller than the ones that you get towards the top of the South Island and in the North Island.  It is owned by an Italian guy called Antonio Pasquale who moved to New Zealand in 2004. (click here)

After a quick walk around the fields it was time to go back to the shop to get a bite to eat and open the bottle of Riesling that should by now have been nicely chilled.

The food on offer was either an antipasti or pizza so I opted for the pizza as I was fairy hungry.  I then settled down in a corner of the restaurant and while I waited for the pizza to arrive I edited the footage that I had just made of the wine tasting as Jackie had asked if she could have a copy of it.

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After making the video and eating my late lunch I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on my blog and between customers chatting with Jackie and Eimear who is the other girl who works in the shop.

The winery closes at 5pm and so with a cheery smile on my face I donned all my warm and wet weather gear and headed out into the freezing cold to pedal back to Kurow.  I had arranged to phone Deirbhle at 6.30 and so called into one of the pubs in the centre to see if they had wifi and to have another pint.

By the time that I had finished on the phone it was gone 8pm and it was time to head back to the campsite.  I called into the supermarket to get some food to cook for dinner.  As I got back onto my bike I heard somebody shout Stewart and it was Eimear who was sat outside the other pub in the village.  She was enjoying a Saturday night out with her boyfriend Tom and so I joined them for a quick beer and a game of pool.

The quick beer turned into a fair few more and it was last orders by the time we eventually left the pub and went our separate ways.  It had been a great day off the bike and I had shared it with a great bunch of people.  If you are passing through Kurow I would definitely recommend a visit to the winery and if you do say hi to Jackie and Eimear for me (just say cyclingstew sent you)

The next morning I was not up bright and early and it was gone midday by the time I had gotten breakfast and my stuff together ready to hit the road.  My plan that day was to continue my off road cycle towards Mount Cook by riding down Hakataramea Valley, over the pass and then winding my way to Mount Cook National Park. The total distance was about 130km which was just about manageable in one day had I left in the morning but as it was now early afternoon I would camp somewhere along the track on the way.

As I cycled out of Kurow a long line of vintage cars pulled up so I too pulled over to take a look at the cars and have a chat with the owners.

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It seems that Sundays and Wednesdays there are vintage car runs organized around various parts of the South Island and that is what these people were doing.

By the time I finally got on the road out of Kurow I very nearly turned around and headed back to the campsite as it was now getting towards 2 pm and my hangover was kicking in.  Definitely not a good idea to stay out drinking until the early hours when you have to cycle the next day.  As it was not raining I decided that I would take the opportunity whilst I could and got my head down and pushed on.

At the start of Hakamaramea Valley Road there is a fairly steep climb which gives you a good view over the town and down the river valley that I had ridden to get to Kurow

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The first 30km of Hakamaramea Valley Road are tar sealed and the gradient is gentle as the road follows the Hakamaramea River.  Worryingly, I could see the rain clouds starting to gather in front of me.

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Once the tar seal ends it was time to bounce along on the gravel which was doing nothing to help with the hangover that was now setting in.  The skies decided to give me another reason to feel sorry for myself as they poured rain on me.

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I didn’t want to be back to being cold and wet and so pulled over into a farmers yard to take shelter from the rain.

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I had been told that now I had crossed into Otago that the rain would be behind me but everyday for the last week it had rained for a few hours at some point during the day.  As I stood sheltering in the farmers barn I watched the clouds slowly descend over the mountains in front of me.

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It was now getting fairly late and so I had a decision to make, either to set up camp for the night or push on to the pass.  I decided that I wanted to at least get to the base of the pass which was still another 20km down the road and so pushed on through the rain.

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I passed a sign which signaled that I would soon be starting the climb to the saddle of the pass and thankfully the rain had now stopped

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I was back by the river and saw a couple of guys who were fly fishing and as these were the first people that I had seen all day I pulled over for a chat.

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They were trout fishing and had been having a great days fishing as the stream was full of rainbow and brown trout.  I cheekily asked them if I could have one to take with me but they said that they didn’t keep any as they had been fishing catch and release.

The road now started to climb which in some ways was good as it meant that I would have to work hard which always warmed me up.

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The rain had returned as it tried to do its best to ruin my day.

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The higher I went the colder it got and for a brief while the rain turned to hailstones which kind of stung as they whipped down the valley.

I had originally planned to camp before heading over the pass but as I was now in the mist of the clouds everything would have been wet so decided to press on over the pass and to hopefully get out of the weather in the valley on the other side.

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It was still raining as I came to the summit of the saddle and by now I was wet and freezing cold

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In front of me I could see the Ben Ohau Mountain Range which forms part of Mount Cook National Park.

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Perhaps more importantly though I could see blue sky and so after a brief stop to take a photo I didn’t hang around to enjoy the view and headed down to try and warm up.

As I was now over the pass I contemplated carrying on for the final 37km to Lake Tekopa but this would mean arriving in the dark and so after descending a couple of hundred meters I headed off the track and cycled towards a tree that I could see across rocky ground hoping that this is where the river was.  Sure enough after a couple of minutes the river came into sight and I could now see a patch of grass next to a clump of bushes that I could see growing on the river bank.  This would be my home for the night.

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As I finished setting up my tent it was like I was on a different planet as the sky was blue and the sun was shining.  I was so glad that I had decided to push on as if I had camped below the pass I would have had a cold, wet and miserable night’s sleep.

There was just enough time to get a wash and dinner on before the sun descended over the mountains behind the stream

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The final job of the day before heading to bed was to hang up my wet clothes hoping that it would be a dry night so that they had a chance to dry out before I had to put them on the next morning.

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The hangover that I had that day had made it a long long day on the bike and I was so glad to be horizontal that I was soon fast asleep.

Here is a video of my day on the pass:

The next morning when I woke it was cold but dry which was a blessing and was able to eat breakfast outside of the tent and enjoy the view of the mountains that seemed to envelop me.

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Over breakfast I looked at the map to sort out a route for the day and it looked like I could save half a days riding by taking a short cut track directly west to a town called Twizel and miss out having to loop north to Lake Tekapo and then South West to Twizel.  This would save me at least 50km and was worth a try.

After packing up the tent I headed back to the gravel track that I had used to descend from Hakataramea Pass and continued down the valley.

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As I descended the sun came out to greet me and it was nice to be warm, and dry, for once on my trip through the mountains.  My view of the snow capped Ben Ohau Mountain Range looked even more impressive than it had in the fading light the night before.

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After 5km I came to a T-junction and the left turn was for the short cut to Omarama and the right turn was for lake Tekapo.  Worryingly though the sign pointing left said no exit even though my mapping app was telling me that there was a route through.  This has happened before and what the no exit normally refers to is cars and trucks rather than bikes.  I decided that I would cycle down the track anyway and hopefully before too long I would find a farmer to ask.

I cycled  for 20 minutes before I came to the first farmhouse and rode down the drive to see if I could find anybody.  As I entered the farm yard I caught site of a Rottweiler that was fast asleep next to the gate to the house.  I had no ide if it was tied up or not and as I hadn’t woken it I turned around and cycled back down the drive as quietly as I could.  I would go and find another house to ask.

As I got back to the end of the drive I saw two pick ups that were driving through a field away to my right and looked like they were heading for the track that I had just ridden down.  I headed back down the track hoping to intercept them and made it to the gate just as the second pick up came through it.

The driver told me that there was a track through to Omarama but that I would need to ford three rivers along the way.  He said that all three were hydro rivers (they are gated higher up towards the mountain to produce hydroelectricity) and if they were releasing water it would be too dangerous to cross by foot as the current was too strong.  The other issue I had was perhaps the first two weren’t in action when I crossed them but the third one was then I would have to turn back, and potentially, one of the other river gates could then have been opened and then I would be stuck.

I didn’t fancy taking the chance and so dedcided that it wasn’t worth the risk and pedaled 20 minutes back to the T-junction that I had been at earlier.  It looked like I would instead have to take the longer route via Lake Tekapo.

I was now heading due North and the wind was barreling down the valley straight at me.  Even though the gravel track ended after a couple of kilometres I was having real difficulty trying to make headway into this wind.  I checked the map and it looked like I would have this wind for the next 45 km all the way to the lake. Oh what joy !!!!

45km would normally take me around 3 hours to cycle but with this headwind it was nearer 4 by the time I saw the sign which signaled my arrival.

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I needed to get petrol as I had forgot to fill up my cooker in Kurow and I was now nearly out of fuel.  Luckily as I cycled into the town there was a petrol station and I topped up the tank which cost me all of 80 cents.

I then went in search of a supermarket to buy bread and ham and a chip shop for a scoop of chips as it was lunchtime and I thought that I deserved a reward for battling the headwind for the last 4 hours.

Once purchased I cycled to the lake to enjoy the view while I made ham and chip butties.

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I was joined for lunch by two friendly and very fat ducks that had worked out that it was easier to get their food off tourists than it was by any other means.

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One of them flew up onto the table to try and nick my chips out of the packet and when I shooed it off they then sat by my feet until I eventually gave in and gave them a chip.

The view of the lake was beautiful and they had planted flowers around the edge of it to make it into a kind of garden area.

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The mountains that encompassed the lake on both sides looked pretty impressive and I was glad that I didn’t have to cross them.

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BY the time that I had finished my lunch the mountains at the for end of the lake had disappeared from view

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Obviously it was now raining over there and as the wind was blowing across the lake the rain would be coming towards the town of Takepo where I was now sat.  I quickly ate another sandwich before giving the last of them to the ducks and getting on my bike to try to out run the rain.

The road out of town took me due west and so the wind that had been in my face was now more manageable. As I left Tekapo there was a steepish climb out from the lake and I felt a few spots of rain begin to fall as I came to the top of the climb. The hill that I had just ridden over seemed to contain the rain in the Lake Tekapo valley as when I descended past the airport the rain stopped although I could clearly see that it was now raining in Tekapo behind me.

I had now been on tar sealed roads for most of the day and although they are easier they are not the reason why I came cycling in New Zealand.  I was after off road adventure and away to my right I saw a gravel track heading off into the distance.  I checked the map and it looked like the gravel track would eventually lead me to Lake Pukaki where I could then link back up with the tar sealed road that I was now on.  It would be around a 50 km detour and would mean camping by the lake for the night but that was why I was here so off I went.

I had been on the track for around an hour when the rain that I had out run after lunch caught me up.

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As I was now cycling over moorland there was now where to hide from the rain and it was now lashing down.  The storm just grew stronger and I was once again drenched through even though I had put on my wet weather gear.  In the distance I could see a tin shack and when I cycled up to it there was a plaque on the front door which read Irishman Creek Roadman’s Hut 1916 approx.

I opened the door and inside was two bunk beds and a fireplace.  Under the beds was firewood and a pile of dry straw to light it with. Luckily for me I had stumbled across one of the mountain huts that the D.O.C. maintain for trampers ( a New Zealand term for mountain walkers).  They are placed throughout the many mountain ranges of New Zealand and in some bunks can be booked in advance online while others are offered on a first come first served basis.  Hopefully this one had not been booked by anybody else.

I brought my bike into the hut to get changed into dry clothes and lit the fire to try and dry out my wet ones.

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The rain continued to hammer on the tin sheeting of the hut and I was just glad that I had found this place when I had.  Camping out in this weather would have been no fun.

I ate my dinner that night by the light from the fire as there was no electricity or candles in the hut so when it went dark it was pitch black.  Thankfully, nobody else turned up looking for a bed and after eating dinner it was time for an early night.

Here is a video to show you about my journey that day:

At about 1 am I was woken by the sound of somebody hammering on the door – not really just kidding.  I was woken up though by the sound of rain lashing on the roof and thunder rolling through the valleys around me. I could see lightening flashing under the door, one of which must have flashed directly overhead as when the thunder clap broke the noise was so loud that the whole hut shook.

The storm lasted for a good hour and it was gone 2am by the time it was quiet enough to get back to sleep.

The morning came too soon for my liking and I was woken by the sound of voices outside the hut.  I checked the time and it was just after 7am and when I poked my head out of the door there were workmen setting up roadwork signs.  The workmen were surprised to see me and said that they hoped the storm had not been too bad up here as back in Tekopo it had caused flooding.  I said that I was fine and they then left to start digging a trench further down the track.

The morning was beautiful and the sky was blue

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I could now see the hut properly and it really was just a tin shack in the middle of nowhere.

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In winter the area that I had slept gets snow for a couple of months each year and the simple shack really can be a life saver f you are caught in the middle of a white out.

After breakfast it was time to go and see Mount Cook.  I had spent nearly a week cycling over mountain passes to get to this point and today was the day that I would get to see it in all its glory.

The night before I had been so close as there was just one more hill that I had to cycle over:

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From the top of the hill I could see just how big the mountains in front of me now were and I was glad that there was no cycle path over them otherwise I would just have had to ride it:

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I descended off the hill down to the shore of Lake Pukaki where I had planned on sleeping the night before

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Once I was at the shoreline the majesty and magnificence of the mountains really showed as they towered over the lakedscn5369

It is difficult to capture the size of the mountains in a picture so here is a short video:

It had taken me nearly a week of cycling over mountains to get here and there was only one thing to do and that was to get the kettle on and sit down and enjoy the view.

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The road to Mount Cook (NZ)
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