Starting on January 15, 57 days ago, we took a bus from Auckland to Kaitaia and cycled to Ahipara, where we would start this adventure. For these 2,700km (1,680 miles) climbing about 30,000 meters (97,000 feet), we’ve been aiming ourselves to Bluff.
Along the way, we’ve seen many sides of NZ, much of it that most NZ’ers themselves never get or take the opportumity to see. It’s been a marvel, really. We loved so much of it. We took 12 rest days, some of it waiting out Cyclone Gabrielle, torrential rains or just giving ourselves some time to rest and explore. We rode the rest of the 45 days, slowly making progress towards one destination after another. Until today, when we arrived at our final destination of Bluff, the southern-most point of South Island.
Last night, we stayed overnight in Invercargill, leaving the last 21 miles for the morning. Then, riding unladen bikes for the first time in months, we rode mostly bike paths down to Bluff, passing a few TA hikers along the way, also on their final stretch. They have walked from North Island!
Bluff by itself is not a super destination, part industrial port and part interesting old town. We could see Bluff getting closer as we rode. Arriving to the signpost that is the end finally, there was a crowd of people and vehicles, of people waiting for their traveler to arrive, or just tourists wanting to visit the site, or single riders arriving on their own. It was no problem finding someone to take our pictures, and we obliged for others too! It was quite festive!
We talked to a rider that had gotten injured early during his ride from North Island, having suffered a severe concussion and broken shoulder. He was still wearing an arm sling, and had spent 2 weeks in hospital on the North Island before being transferred down to where he lives on South Island. His original riding partner was arriving soon, having continued after taking care of his friend following whatever accident had happened. No one knows exactly how the fall happened, since the man who fell has no memory of it. It was nice to see him smiling and mostly recovered, as we had heard the story of his injury from our landlady at the motel, a friend of his friend.
A storm was coming soon, and we could feel the wind rising, but we enjoyed a coffee at a restaurant above the point, and savored the moment. And then it was time to ride back.
The ride back was mostly against a gusty headwind, but we’ve grown pretty strong these past months, and so it didn’t bother us too much. Part of our strength is physical, and part is mental. We developed both on this ride!
We stopped along the way to admire some black swans that we had seen a number of times before. They are cool. Rain was beginning to spit from the sky, and so we stopped at a bottle shop and got ourselves inside.
And then, it was time for some celebratory libations. First there was some wine, then some bubbly…or was it the other way around or both?
Our friend Jay arrived and we all went to dinner in the pouring rain, but via a taxi! We drank and ate our fill, visiting with other TA riders at the adjoining table that we had met a couple days previously. New friends that we hope to see again someplace…we have their contact information.
And so, this chapter of this section of the adventure is over, and so we scheduled a call with our friend Dieter who is living in Hanoi for the following day, and began our planning for the next big chapter in Vietnam. There’s still more adventures in NZ that we’ll have, starting tomorrow, and we’re looking forward to our remaining days here too.
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