Getting away from Timaru on Friday night took longer than normal. Seven bikes had to be loaded onto vehicle bike racks, which in practice was quite a slow process. Then a drive to Twizel and Alpine Energy’s cottage where we based ourselves for the weekend.
Saturday morning and with poor weather, so what to do? We drove to Lake Ohau with the bikes, unloaded them, and with weather still deteriorating, pedalled up to the Lodge for a cup of coffee. The weather outlook was still not encouraging, so back on the bikes and we headed back to Twizel via the lake edge, over the weir, then along the canal road back to our accommodation, 40km in all.
Fortunately Sunday dawned, clear and sunny. So we drove back to Ohau lodge, unloaded the bikes and with a bit of shuttling of vehicles, we were ready to go. The track was well graded the although track surface was noticeably rough especially for those without mountain bikes. But great conditions and wonderful views otherwise and a tail wind pushed us southwards. 20 km to Quailburn woodshed where we had a lunch snack, then a downhill glide of 20 km to Omarama. Most of the party carried on cycling to Sailors Cutting, another 17 km. Special thanks to John for sacrificing his biking for vehicle shuttling, it made things a lot easier. Those participating Colin, Judy, Barry, Owen, Catherine, John and Rob