Day 39 of TA - You have reached your destination!!
Wednesday 19th November
Distance: 33 km
Elevation gain: 93 metres
From Invercargill to Bluff
About 2 hrs elapsed from 7 am to 9 am.
It was another night of tossing and turning. The excitement of finishing this epic trip had me filled with mixed emotions. The routine of getting up, packing my panniers and cycling is so ingrained that I've felt a little lost without my gear on the bike these past few days. They had become a security blanket that I needed to feel complete. Maybe everyone that's been on a long trip, living out of a suitcase, feels the same when you get home?
The alarm went off at 6am, just a little sleep-in. Rob and I had a quick bite to eat - coffee and pizza scroll (left over from yesterday). I missed my regular iced coffee and Rob missed his iced chocolate. But we survived. We got away at 7 am and started our ride like the last day of the Tour de France around Paris, except we were in Invercargill. There was a roundabout that we rode around just for kicks, but there were no crowds cheering us on, or Arc de Triomphe.
We left the urban streets and rejoined the cycle trail that would take us all the way to Bluff, and Sterling Point. It was perfect cycling weather - cool and calm. It was a great trail along the estuary and then beside Bluff Highway 1. It kept us off the roads, with the Bluff Highway being particularly busy for 8am on Wednesday. But then we worked out it is the main road into / out of the busy Bluff Port. After just a few hours of lazy cycling we rolled past the Bluff township and down the final hill to Sterling Point, our destination.
The family was there waiting - with champagne to help us celebrate! It was a very very emotional end. I didn't realise I would be so choked up. It was an ugly scene and I'm glad Mel and family were around to help me at the end. Completing the North Island solo was tough, and having Rob as company for the South Island was awesome.
It's been 50 days since Mark and I were at Cape Reinga watching the sunrise on the 1st of October. Since then I've cycled 39 days with my purple Karate Monkey. I have cycled more than 3,000km and climbed over 32,000m of elevation. A daily average of more than 75km and 800m elevation gain. Crickey !!! I will publish a separate post with charts and more stats soon.
Today's theme song is by Vance Joy - We're Going Home
Under the surface you don't know what you'll find / No second chances but all we can do is try
And try I did!!! It has been an odyssey but after reaching Bluff and looking out towards Antarctica it is time to go home and return to my regular life. Thank-you to everyone that has taken the time to follow my journey, post comments, and send messages. It helped me to know there was a team behind the scenes. You can listen to the daily theme songs on Spotify. Thanks to Sean for creating the playlist.
Getting away, for the last time, at Invercargill. Just another 7am start to the day.
Distance: 33 km
Elevation gain: 93 metres
From Invercargill to Bluff
About 2 hrs elapsed from 7 am to 9 am.
It was another night of tossing and turning. The excitement of finishing this epic trip had me filled with mixed emotions. The routine of getting up, packing my panniers and cycling is so ingrained that I've felt a little lost without my gear on the bike these past few days. They had become a security blanket that I needed to feel complete. Maybe everyone that's been on a long trip, living out of a suitcase, feels the same when you get home?
The alarm went off at 6am, just a little sleep-in. Rob and I had a quick bite to eat - coffee and pizza scroll (left over from yesterday). I missed my regular iced coffee and Rob missed his iced chocolate. But we survived. We got away at 7 am and started our ride like the last day of the Tour de France around Paris, except we were in Invercargill. There was a roundabout that we rode around just for kicks, but there were no crowds cheering us on, or Arc de Triomphe.
We left the urban streets and rejoined the cycle trail that would take us all the way to Bluff, and Sterling Point. It was perfect cycling weather - cool and calm. It was a great trail along the estuary and then beside Bluff Highway 1. It kept us off the roads, with the Bluff Highway being particularly busy for 8am on Wednesday. But then we worked out it is the main road into / out of the busy Bluff Port. After just a few hours of lazy cycling we rolled past the Bluff township and down the final hill to Sterling Point, our destination.
The family was there waiting - with champagne to help us celebrate! It was a very very emotional end. I didn't realise I would be so choked up. It was an ugly scene and I'm glad Mel and family were around to help me at the end. Completing the North Island solo was tough, and having Rob as company for the South Island was awesome.
It's been 50 days since Mark and I were at Cape Reinga watching the sunrise on the 1st of October. Since then I've cycled 39 days with my purple Karate Monkey. I have cycled more than 3,000km and climbed over 32,000m of elevation. A daily average of more than 75km and 800m elevation gain. Crickey !!! I will publish a separate post with charts and more stats soon.
Today's theme song is by Vance Joy - We're Going Home
Under the surface you don't know what you'll find / No second chances but all we can do is try
And try I did!!! It has been an odyssey but after reaching Bluff and looking out towards Antarctica it is time to go home and return to my regular life. Thank-you to everyone that has taken the time to follow my journey, post comments, and send messages. It helped me to know there was a team behind the scenes. You can listen to the daily theme songs on Spotify. Thanks to Sean for creating the playlist.
Getting away, for the last time, at Invercargill. Just another 7am start to the day.
Bluff - it's where we are headed.
The folks handing out champagne at the finish line.
Photo control point 30 - Stirling Point, Bluff signpost.
We made it. As the crow flies, distance from Wellington is 784km and Cape Reinga is 1,403km
Me and Mel, my amazing wife, who helped me so much to reach this point.
Good job Anthony! Congratulations! 👍 W
ReplyDeleteWhat an epic odyssey to attempt and crush!
ReplyDeleteWell done getting through many challenging days, and to continually string them together.
So wonderful to have followed along. Brilliant that the bubbles were on hand!
I look forward to seeing your bakery treats of NZ coffee table book.
Enjoy the sleep in tomorrow.
What a privilege to be there to cheer you home. Such an epic trip. Well done.
ReplyDeleteWhat a trip Anthony !! Well done - enjoy some long overdue days of walking !
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely fantastic! What an epic ride, especially the North Island and tackling the tracks, trails, highways and some pretty dreadful weather on your own! Great that you had Rob for company in the South Island, especially for those more remote areas. You will both have some great memories to take home with you! Awesome that the last few days you had backup and support from Melinda and your parents! Great they had bubbles to celebrate the end of this epic ride! Thanks for sharing the blog, really enjoyed reading about your daily grind as it brought back many memories of places we have walked, biked or driven in the comfort of a vehicle! Safe travels and reflect on a job well done when you get home!
ReplyDeleteMagnificent acheivement Anthony - well done! Looking forward to hearing some yarns about it soon. CHeers
ReplyDeleteCongrats Gilly - love your work and really glad to see you get there in 1 piece :)
ReplyDeleteIncredible effort guys. Congratulations!
ReplyDelete