Omakou 9th Mar

Wednesday 9th March: Brilliant sunshine, sunny but very cold, 4°C to 20°C

Cromwell to Omakau: Dep Cromwell 9.15am, arrived Omakau 4.15: 66k, 7hrs

Looking back over Cromwell and Clyde Dam

Jenny dodging cars on State Hway 8

The deep man-made Lake Jackson

Sunny skies at the Clyde Dam

Rolling down into Historic Clyde

Donna and Milton on a Seafood diet

Our new motto

Hot Cafe Latte after a 4°C ride

Clyde and beginning of Rail Trail

Starting off on Otago Rail Trail

Today we cycled all day on the Otago Central Rail Trail in near perfect weather - very cold early this morning, warm and dusty after lunch. And Jenny left us today after lunch to catch a bus to Dunedin, to fly home in time for her niece's wedding.

It's really cold this morning when we stream into the kitchen at 8am to have breakfast. Sue, our host tells us that they bought the building and converted it from a medical centre to a backpackers hostel- and it's proven to be very popular with almost full occupancy since it was opened. t's just so perfect and really suits our style of hiking/biking with big bed, clean showers (even if they're up the hallway) and a kitchen to self-cater for dinner and breakfast. Sue explains how the whole town of Cromwell was shifted/rebuilt in the 80's so that the Clyde Dam could be built and as a bonus the town received millions in new sporting facilities and infrastructure. The old town is well below the water level and so is the last section of the Otago railway from Clyde to Cromwell

It's brilliant sunshine as we meet in the car park (4 of us have been staying up the road at a motel), looking for a sunny spot and donning jackets before leaving at 9.15am. Once across the bridge, its 23k down the State Highway No 8 - very busy with 100kph traffic, as the Old rail trail on this section is buried deep under water. We all hug the tiny shoulder as we zoom along, freezing in the early morning shadows in the valley. It's almost 2 hrs when we reach the turn off to Clyde past the dam wall and into the pretty rail head village to the closest coffee shop. Donna and Milton relish the home made cakes to have with their latte's.

It's midday when we leave to follow the signs to the Otago rail trail, about 1k through the town. The dirt trail is smooth shingle, and just a but bumpy but not too bad - you wouldn't want to do it on a road bike, even a touring road bike. About 8k down the track at Alexandra, Jenny turns off to go to the town centre to catch a bus back to Dunedin so she can fly home for her niece's wedding. The rest of us keep going and soon we're stripping off our jackets as the day warms up. At 1.30, we find a spot under a shady tree for lunch.

For the next 2hrs it's a long dusty trail, slightly uphill - a gradient you can't see but just feel in your legs. The valley trail is like the train at Disneyland passing around rocky outcrops and through mid-western USA country side.

It's barren with a few lone trees perched on the hill tops. I read that 800 years ago it was estimated that about 80% of New Zealand was covered by forest. Within 200 years of the Maori arriving in the 13th and 14th century, they had burnt almost half of the vegetation, for tribal warfare purposes and cultivation. Some commentators were dumbfounded that so much destruction could be caused by so few people in so little time. The Europeans arrived in the late 1700's and continued with the deforestation for agricultural purposes and in another 200 years, they had destroyed half of what was left, leaving just 20% of New Zealand covered. Today that has slowly increased to just 25% with better forestation practices. Is it any wonder all the birds have gone!

Finally we cycle under a road overpass and it's downhill at last into Omakau where we zoom though the fifties style town centred around a hotel, service station and produce store, and cycle 2k down a side road to the historic town of Ophir and the Blacks Hotel. It's a welcome sight and the first thing we do is have a cold beer in the bar, courtesy of Graham following Jeny's instructions. We watch as he chats with the manageress over the cash - probably some Vietnamese coins he's brought back with him. The beer is sooo nice and icy cold and after checking out the menu to make sure they have steak and chips (no lamb on the menu as the good stuff is exported) then it's off to our hotel rooms for a shower and washing.

Graham knocks on the door at 6.45 to say they are taking orders for dinner. I've already decided on Steak, medium-rare with chips and salad and Ian is having the battered Blue Cod with chips and salad. And when its served at 7pm its lovely with an old country hotel feel. Some of us have dessert of pavlova, chocolate cake or sticky dated pudding with ice cream, some of us just want an extra spoon to share with a partner. I'm a partner and Ian has the sticky date pudding.

The house sav blanc is nice. Its a better option than any of the NZ reds which are a bit hit and miss. And the draught beers are icy cold and really nice though a bit hoppy. By 10 we're all in bed.