A chilly start at only 3 degrees Barry, Owen and myself Catherine, set off from the Stour River car park, along the track heading to Lake Emily 15km away. The track was frosted initially so easy biking as it was firm. Soon we were following the Stour River and viewing some stunning open country with the snow capped Arrowsmiths and Taylor range in the back ground.
We stopped off at the 3 min detour to “The Dell”. This was a lovely wee pocket of native bush with a pretty wee water fall, grotto and bell birds singing away merrily.
Back on our bikes, we followed the track . As the sun come out, parts of the track started to get softer and muddier!. The last 2 km to Lake Emily were harder going due to the soft track and mud. The bikes were caked in mud by the time we got to Lake Emily.
It was lovely to sit and relax, looking down on the lake and the stunning views in the back ground.
We came across a few people walking along the Te Arora trail, a guy on a motorbike and a couple of girls on horses so obviously it is well used for a variety of different modes of transport and leisure.
Time to head back towards the car park. It had taken us about 2 and half hours to bike up there. It was 15 km each way. The track was a gradual ascending ride up to Lake Emily. So we were looking forward to the downhill run back.
Unfortunately the first couple of kms were slow as the mud soon clogged up our wheels and we had to stop a few times to de clog them. It was lovely to stop in the Stour River crossing several times to de clog the mud. This made biking easier.
Soon we were back on gravel and some firmer ground which was still frosted at 2pm!. The down hill was faster and we were back at the car in 2 hours after a thrilling and enjoyable ride.
Oh, so good to be able to get out there again after covid lock down!
