Wilderness Trail – Kumara to Greymouth – 19 January 2021

 

The weather forecast was for rain and wind.  When we set off for our final leg it was overcast and threatening to rain.  The forecast wind was nowhere in sight.  The first ten kilometres of what was to be an easy flat ride were benign.  The rain started to fall after a couple of kilometres but it was nothing we had not experienced a couple of days previously.  The track took us through some regenerating bush making for a rather picturesque ride.

 

All ready to go

The Chasm

The wind is yet to hit us

The strong  wind and rain then hit us as we got onto what we found was rather exposed track.  It felt like we were being water blasted.  The wind had us down to 6kph at times and the rain on our faces felt like needles being thrown into the skin.  For nearly two hours we battled the elements to get to our destination.  Rarely was there a let up from the wind.  In some places we were able to move at around 12 kph, but those moments were rare and usually stopped when we hit an open spot, especially near the ocean.  Progress seemed very slow.  Then suddenly we were by the Grey River mouth where we turned east and had the wind more or less at our backs.  It was such a relief.  Finally we arrived at our destination, sodden, tired but surprisingly elated.  We then had to find Monteith’s, our rendezvous point.  After a local gave us directions, two sodden and somewhat tired people walked through the doors into welcoming warmth.  It was a very nice feeling.

The finish - sodden but exhilarated

 

I got there too!

Our shuttle driver had apparently rung us to see if we would like him to pick us up along the way, but I had not heard the phone over the roar of wind and waves. We would have declined the offer regardless as we didn’t want to miss the satisfaction of completing the ride.

 

On the way back to the Cycle Journey’s depot, our shuttle driver, Mike, regaled us with some of the history of Hokitika and surrounds.  It was fascinating as he had obviously spent time reading the history.  In a past life he had worked as PR person for the local council so knew some of the politics.  (He also relayed more interesting stories about our host at Cowboy Paradise filling in a few gaps about this colourful character)

 

It was still raining heavily when we got to Hokitika  but fortunately we could load the bikes onto the car inside the huge garage at the depot. Then it was just a short drive to our accommodation.  A long hot shower warmed us up before we headed out for yet another large pub meal.  Both of us were very tired by the time we got back to the motel and sleep beckoned despite the thunder and heavy rain.

 

Distance covered 30 kms  Cycling time 2h 16m