Jack Daniels Remaining: 690mls
Kilometers Ridden Today: 101kmI had a lot of ideas for the title of today’s entry, because it would be the most successful day of riding for me; 100km’s including the hills in reverse from Franz Josef to Fox on our way to Haast.
Alas, the award for Captain Stupid for this trip went to
yours truly. In my haste to depart this morning and get a gap on the boys (as they
would inevitably catch me), I made one “small” oversight. About 15kms up the
road my phone was beeping and ringing. As it was a local NZ SIM, that only a
handful of people had I figured it was important. It was Shawn; “Do you have
the van key”. I was quite positive I gave it to Paul, but to be sure, I emptied
the contents of my jersey pockets on the side of the road, somewhere between
Franz Josef and Fox. No key. Phone rang again. “We found it”. And the moment
Shawn asked if I remember where I hung the key it immediately came back to me –
the rubber stopper on the tail gate of the van. Shit bloody shit shit I thought
– how did I forget that. Probably rightfully so, the boys carried and air of
distrust with them for the next few days, double checking who had the key
(looking in my direction).
Anyhow, back to the ride. Shawn and Richard passed me not
far past Fox Glacier. From there, the Km’s ticked over 40, 50, 60, 70… No van.
No Alex. I was growing a bit worried. This was a VERY isolated part of the trip
with no phone reception, towns or stops. I pulled up at a turnoff to a café,
but was torn. If I went into the café, it was likely the van (and Alex) would
pass me and not know it. The problem is, our destination (I thought) was Haast
– 140km’s from Franz Josef and a solid 30kms longer than I’d ever really ridden
in one stint before. So I was unsure whether to stop and wait or push on. This was coupled also with a repeating voice in my head about whether we had actually
agreed to re-group in a tiny village called Mahitahi (midway – which I had already
overshot). There had been discussion on this the previous evening.
I decided to push on
the Haast. About 100 metres down the road, a Magpie?! Attacked me (I didn’t
think there were any in this country!). Persistent little bugger too. He (or
she) played let’s piss off Justin for about 300 metres before realising this genuine
threat to its chicks was gone (yes I am known to climb up trees and steal magpie chicks; I’m seeking therapy for it, I swear). Ironically, not much later Alex caught
me, then then Van. Alex’s slowness was explained by a broken rear spoke (after
a Km walk a nice touring couple picked him up and got him to Fox, where he
borrowed Paul’s wheel for the rest of the journey). The van caught me at 92kms
– and I asked them to hold back so I could do 100kms (I didn’t trust myself
doing 140km’s with the van in front of me and no way of communicating with
them.
…A mere 1km downs the road, an unscheduled stop. Out of the
corner of my eye I noticed something on the side of the road. I turned round
and as I suspected, it was a tiny Robin (native one I assume). It didn’t look
right and it obviously wasn’t when I lent down and picked it up. It sat quietly on my finger. I suspected it got hit by a car (but showed no signs of
injury). I shook my finger and it flew off... but landed in the middle of the
road. This isn’t good, I thought. I quickly assessed the situation. I was miles
from anyway. I did have the van not far behind me, but I was familiar with
Haast – they are lucky to have a pub, let alone a vet of some kind. I admit, I
considered “quick end” options for the little fella (no need to elaborate).
However, I picked it up once more and gave my finger another shake to encourage
it to take off – success. It flew (fairly well it seemed) to a nearby branch.
This time out of my reach, but I was content it would be ok. I departed and a
little further down the road realised my decision was probably a good one. I was in new Zealand and with ground dwelling predators near
non-existent, it would have far longer to recover in NZ than in Australia – the
land of snakes, spiders, feral cats, foxes and just about everything else that
would choose a helpless winded creature that weighs less than a fart a suitable
meal.
Not long after the van caught me (almost exactly at the
100km mark) and the rest of the trip was
spent supporting Alex on his way to Haast.
What better way to finish a ride.. NZ West Coast and a Tui....
Haast was every bit as quiet as I remembered (I don’t think
the boys were terribly impressed). We mulled over the idea of pushing on, but
decided against as it would mean we would not get to ride up the pass tomorrow,
and arrival in Wanaka would have been rather late. It turned out to be one of
the better evenings together. We had the motel virtually to ourselves (despite
being advised it was “fishing season and expect Haast to be busy”. Two or three
of the boys chose to make this their big night and stayed up till 3am –
presumably just to given the ample supply of spirits with us a nudge…
The bang bus, waiting patiently outside the motel room while
its passengers rested...
Haast, in all its "going off" glory..
Every trip has a theme song. Ours I think was this little number from Rammstein – Du Hast (for obvious reasons). Take a moment, to get yourself a herbal tea, get on your comfy pillow and listen to its peaceful harmony…
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