Finale

The trip south was great.  The weather was really cool when we set off for Queenstown on Friday.  It was heavily overcast and this did not disappear until we crested Burkes Pass.  The Mackenzie Country looked wonderful, only to be spoiled by the green irrigated areas for dairying – not suited to this part of the country (as it is normally dry and brown with grasses and animals well adapted to the arid and extreme environment).  Going through the Lindis Pass was a treat as the hills were seemingly etched into the sky.  It would have made a wonderful photograph.

 

We managed to get the car back to the rental company only an hour late.    I then went and picked up our car from the repairers and was told it was fine and safe to drive but added that the engine was running a bit rough and there was a rattle which they thought should be not be there.  When I drove it I was surprised with how rough it was  which of course caused me some concern. 

 

As it was such nice day, we decided to go into town and people watch while having a drink on a permanently moored launch called Percy’s.  They serve drinks only, but you can bring your own food. 

 

It was wonderful sitting there looking out at the people and also the magnificent scenery. 

We returned to Remarkables Park where we were staying and had another nice meal in the local Italian Restaurant, Giovis, which we have recently discovered does very good food.

The next day was clear and crisp  and we  started it with a cooked breakfast at the hotel restaurant.  Across the road from the hotel was the Remarkables Market buzzing with people.  We detoured there to look at the offerings.  The vegetables looked fresh and tempting to purchase, but as we were heading north, with nothing to keep them cool, we decided not to.

 

The car still sounded like a tractor and was running quite rough continuting to cause a little concern. My constant thought was whether we would get to Christchurch.   We detoured through Arrowtown so Bev could get the best cheese and  date scones that we have had on our trip, then we were on our way to Christchurch.  The plan was to retrace our steps through the Lindis Pass, Burkes Pass and Geraldine through to Christchurch. 

The car seemed to be going ok as we drove down the Gibbston Valley and then skirted the northern part of Lake Dunstan on our way to the Lindis Pass.  The climb is a steady one until about 10 kilometres from the summit.  The car didn’t seem to be pulling like it usually does as the road got steeper.  Then, suddenly, about three kilometres from the top the car lost power altogether and a flashing orange light came on, indicating once again, an engine management system problem.  This was not a good place to have car problems! I was able to pull over safely,  turn the engine off and wait for few minutes before starting it again. 

Fortunately, the yellow light had extinguished and I was able to slowly go up the rest of the hill to the summit. At least I thought we could coast down the other side until we got some cell phone coverage.  My love affair with the Golf was being put under severe stress.

 

I had wanted to stop and take some photos of the landscape but I was reluctant to turn off the engine while it was still running.  Fortunately the car kept going and we got to Omarama where we planned to pick up a coffee, but it was so busy we bypassed it. 

 

I was still concerned about the health of the car and decided I didn’t want to risk testing out its ability to climb steep hills, so we elected to go an alternative route with fewer hills - down the Waitaki Valley and then along State Highway 1 to Christchurch. 

 

We called into a small coffee cart in Otemamata for a takeaway coffee and whilst there I had a chat to retired mechanic who was cycling a part of the A2O.  He said he had retired  in part because electronics were now such an integral part of a car requiring specialist expertise which he no longer had.  He was also a keen mountain biker who had done the Old Ghost Trail a couple of years ago.  In deference to his wife who had an e-bike, he too had purchased one and now chose to ride that most of the time. 

 

We had an uneventful trip to Christchurch with the Golf seeming to run as it had done prior to the initial failure at Haast. 

 

We were due to travel to Picton the next day but overnight I began to worry about travelling over the Hundalees, a range of hills that needed to be traversed to get to our destination, (or any other other steepish hills). Potentially, it could be quite a problem,  especially if we were out of cell phone coverage.  I decided that it would be foolhardy to continue on and that the best option was to book the car into the local VW agent in Christchurch and get them to look at it.  Our friends were happy to drive it to the garage on the coming Tuesday (Monday being a public holiday). I then made flight bookings for the next day and before we knew it we were winging our way back to Wellington. 

 

It was not quite the end to the holiday I expected.  We now have another trip back to Christchurch to recover the car. 

 

Travel is nearly always about the unexpected and we certainly managed to have that happen.  Despite the setbacks and changes to plans however, we had a superb holiday.  At first I was unsure about having an extended stay in Queenstown but we managed to do quite a bit of cycling and got to enjoy the place without hordes of tourists.  It was like seeing the place afresh.  I am sure that for the Queenstown people whose businesses are under stress, it is not good, but on the other hand perhaps it has helped reduce rents and costs all round. 

 

We loved the Great Taste Trail. It had both challenges and some very easy riding.   The weather was perfect for our trip - not too hot and never too cold.  I got to see places I would never have seen in a car. I liked the Wilderness Trail as well and it was a good way to start our riding with the short legs that we rode allowing us to build up our fitness. 

Now we look forward to the next adventure.