Day 35 of TA - Keep eating!

Thursday 13 November
Distance:  77 km
Elevation gain:  794 metres
From Makarora Wonderland Lodge and Campground to Wanaka
About 8 hrs elapsed from 7:30am to 3:30pm.

We got away early today by packing up the tents when they were still quite wet, instead of waiting for them to dry.  I'm also more practiced at packing up the tent and camping gear.   It was the coldest start for some time and I even thought about using my winter ski gloves that haven't been used all trip.  But they were at the bottom of my kitchen bag so it was too much effort to bother with.

Our first leg was 51 km from Makorora to the township of Lake Hawea.  We expected this to be a relatively flat route along the shorelines of Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea.  How wrong we were! The road doesn't follow the shoreline all the time, and instead goes up and down, over and around in a random fashion.  Add to that a strong headwind and we had very challenging conditions.  It was almost more difficult than yesterday's climb up to the Haast Pass.

We took a lot of breaks - at the lookouts and passing lanes when there was space to rest.  At the township of Lake Hawea we had lunch inside a warm cafe.  I had a steak pie, not because I was overly hungry but instead to refuel.  I'm just eating so much !

The second and final leg was a 25km cycle trail from Lake Hawea to Wanaka.  This was total bliss.  Away from wind and finally off Highway 6 (and the cars, trucks and motorbikes).  We have been on highways pretty much since Greymouth, more than 400km.  Being able to relax on a cycle trail was a real game changer - I just felt so chill and relaxed.  The cycle trail was slower than the highway and this last 25 km took over 3 hours.  But it was still so enjoyable.  Looking out over Lake Wanaka I took the time to enjoy my first Bounty chocolate bar of the TA trip.  It's an under-rated chocolate in my opinion. 

We are staying at the Wyndham Hotel in Wanaka.  It is about 2km out of town.  After we checked into our room we got cleaned up and walked downtown for dinner.  I polished off a large pizza and beer.  Rob had a pizza and two beers.  I'm not the only one carb-loading.  I did a grocery shop at the New World after dinner, which was a good idea because I was definitely not hungry.  On the shopping list were supplies for the next cycle leg  - 2 Mars bars, 2 gels, 2 oat bars and a packet of mint-slice biscuits (the biscuits were for tonight when we got back to the unit after all this walking).  All the food groups covered!  To be fair I wanted to buy some bananas but they were too green.

Friday (tomorrow) is a rest day in Wanaka.  I hope for a sleep-in and then to enjoy a buffet breakfast at the hotel.  At some stage I'll get in the sauna and spa to help with the aches and pains.  And hopefully catch up for dinner with some fellow Bris-vegas mates.  

Today's theme song is by Thirsty Merc - In the Summertime
Take me back to the sweet times /  The hot nights /  Everything is gonna be alright / In the summertime
It was a cold and windy day and I'm nearly ready to go home.  Please, take me back to the Queensland summer…

Early morning departure at Makarora.  I certainly don't want anything lodged in my bottom!  There is too much cycling to do.

Man shouts at tree, throws rocks at tree, tries to climb tree and finally pokes tree with a big stick. For more on this very entertaining story refer to Rob's blog.

Early morning photo of Lake Wanaka with snow covered mountains in the background.  There was beautiful scenery all day today.



Photo control point 26 - Hawea River Bridge.  This was about halfway along the cycle trail between Lake Hawea to Wanaka.   Big smiles all along the trail.



That Wanaka Tree - crowds were on the lakefront for their photos.  The tree is still there and looks to be quite healthy.

Absolutely stunning weather in the evening as we walked home after dinner.  There was no wind but it didn't stop the sailing boats on Lake Wanaka.