Cabbage Tree central
BBQ
Chilly morning
Soon warmed up
Shame about the plylonsMonday 19 April 2010
Sunday 11 April 2010
Mountain Biking the Queen Charlotte
After a busy few weeks working and Tim preparing for a two week mountain guides course that finished on Easter weekend we thought we'd chase some sun up in the Sounds. Tim loaded up the bikes on the car and headed north whilst Helen jumped on the ferry to the South Island after work and we met in Picton to mountain bike the 71km 'Great Walk' The Queen Charlotte Track in a weekend! And what a stunning weekend it was!
The Wariau valley and Blenheim from Wither Hill
The boat dropped us in Ship Cove bright and early on a perfectly still blue sky morning and we cheerfully rode the pier, not knowning what was ahead!
Day 1 (actually days 1 and 2 rolled together as we only had a weekend not 3 days) involved 53km of single track riding with 1500m of height gain -not to mention steep rocky descents! From the pier we quickly resorted to pushing up the steep climb over rocky ground but the hard work paid off as we enjoyed a rapid descent into Resolution Bay.
The Wariau valley and Blenheim from Wither Hill
The boat dropped us in Ship Cove bright and early on a perfectly still blue sky morning and we cheerfully rode the pier, not knowning what was ahead!
Day 1 (actually days 1 and 2 rolled together as we only had a weekend not 3 days) involved 53km of single track riding with 1500m of height gain -not to mention steep rocky descents! From the pier we quickly resorted to pushing up the steep climb over rocky ground but the hard work paid off as we enjoyed a rapid descent into Resolution Bay.An easier climb and descent saw us in Endeavour Inlet were we enjoyed a brief restbite as the track sidled around the bays gently undulating close to the shoreline.
Attempting to cycle across a rather narrow and wobbly bridge!
Attempting to cycle across a rather narrow and wobbly bridge!A zigzagging climb brought us to the start of an undulating ridge line at the end of guidebook Day 1 at Kenepuru Saddle but lunchtime for us. From there the track followed the ridgeline and the ups and downs seemed almost pleasant against such a splendid backdrop.
Stunning views!
Perfect weather!
8 hrs of solid biking (excluding lunch!) later the track decended to Torea Saddle and we headed down the road into Portage where we picked up our packs (kindly delivered for us) and set up camp at Cowshed Bay. After as much food and water as we could manage we laid back and watched the sky fill with stars and felt our legs cease up.
Sunday was a far shorter day with the initial climb back up to the track on sealed road acting as a warm up. Back on the track we continued to climb to 428m above sea level. Our legs ached but after the up there's always down and this time we rapidly descended tight switch-backs with tricky rocky sections.
Another uphill stretch on muddy grass nicely greased up our tyres for the most technical descent yet -tight bends and bit ruts and rocky sections! I (helen) am pleased to say that I managed to stay on through every bend and bump and actually really enjoyed it -my first grade 4 descent! (well probably 3rd or something if you count the ones earlier in the ride but to me this was the one that was scariest!)
The final section of track was biking at it's best -a gentle climb followed by a fantastic stretch of downhill that wound it's way through the forest allowing a fast ride back down to the coast.
Stunning views!
Perfect weather!
8 hrs of solid biking (excluding lunch!) later the track decended to Torea Saddle and we headed down the road into Portage where we picked up our packs (kindly delivered for us) and set up camp at Cowshed Bay. After as much food and water as we could manage we laid back and watched the sky fill with stars and felt our legs cease up.
Sunday was a far shorter day with the initial climb back up to the track on sealed road acting as a warm up. Back on the track we continued to climb to 428m above sea level. Our legs ached but after the up there's always down and this time we rapidly descended tight switch-backs with tricky rocky sections.
Another uphill stretch on muddy grass nicely greased up our tyres for the most technical descent yet -tight bends and bit ruts and rocky sections! I (helen) am pleased to say that I managed to stay on through every bend and bump and actually really enjoyed it -my first grade 4 descent! (well probably 3rd or something if you count the ones earlier in the ride but to me this was the one that was scariest!)
The final section of track was biking at it's best -a gentle climb followed by a fantastic stretch of downhill that wound it's way through the forest allowing a fast ride back down to the coast.We arrived in Anakiwa at midday to find that not even the ice cream shop was open yet so were pleased to be able to hop on an early boat back to Picton for some well earned refreshments!
Back to Picton
Back to Picton
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