Thursday 10th March: Windy, rainy morning, brilliant sunshine and gale force winds afternoon, 15°C to 22°C
Omakau to Ranfurly: Dep Ophir 8.45am arr Ranfurly 3.45pm. 61k; 7hrs
Rain gear on for wet morning
Not pretty in a tutu but it works
1880 Daniel O’Connell bridge
Donna and Sean on the trail
It's cold, windy and wet
More rain on the way
Through the Raggedy Range
One of two Poolburn tunnels
More rain coming our way
Lunch in a warm Oturehua Cafe
Blue skies, sunshine and wind
Sean with photo on the go
Highest Point 618 metres
Windy trail under blue skies
Old friends share a drink
Strange cloud in Ranfurly
Highlight was reaching the High Point (that's its real name) on the Otago Rail Trail at 618 metres above sea level. It sounds easy - It's all downhill from here - but they forgot to mention the 80kph cross winds that shook me off my bike and into the fields.
Early breakfast at 7.30am in our lovely Blacks Hotel and then time to get rain-geared ready for a morning in the rain. My best bike rain gear is a glad-wrap poncho held down by a rain jacket on top - I was the only one dry in a deluge on the Cycle Qld trip where we had about 6 inches of rain in 2 hrs with the same gear. Not a pretty site but it works.
It's cold, but not freezing, wet and windy as we leave and take a slight detour to cross the historic 1880 Daniel O’Connell suspension bridge with its stone piers, which crosses the Manuherikia River at Ophir. Back through the town of Omakau and onto the rail trail. There's black clouds all round, threatening to dump its load on us, but mostly its just windy mizzly rain making it very cold. The trail gradually climbs from Lauder, crosses the Manuherikia Valley on the Poolburn viaduct , and through the Raggedy Range via the Poolburn Gorge. There are two dark man-made tunnels made by 300 workers who hacked and chiseled and blasted a path for the train for three years from 1901. We need to drag out a few torches to walk our bikes through the darkness.
Once out the other side, the Ida Valley lays before us and the sun briefly comes out before the rain and wind take over. It's cold and wet as we aim for Oturehua, about 15k away. Too cold to for me to stop now so I ride ahead while the others wait. At 12.00pm, Ian and I have rice crackers in a sunny spot out of the wind, and soon we're all together in the towns cafe ordering burgers, beers and coffees. A leisurely one and a half hours later, we're on the trail again - it's brilliant sunshine and warm, but the cross wind from the west has reached gale force. Everyone has trouble staying upright, most of all me, and at one stage with only 3 k to go, I've lost it and roll into the grass and have trouble picking the bike up and when I do, can't get on so have to walk a 500 hundred metres out of the 80kph wind.
It's 3.45pm when we are blown into the small town of Ranfurly, and come across the Hawkdun Lodge, a new purpose built motel style accommodation for cyclists on the Rail Trail. The rooms are really nice, and Ian and I have soon showered, washed most of our dusty clothes and hung them on the outside clothes line where I'm sure they'll all dry in 20 minutes in the still raging wind.
After googling and blogging for an hour, we meet at the Ranfurly pub for a few drinks. There's only one place in town to eat and it's the pub. And the food is really nice - steak and chips and salad. It's so strange that no offers lamb on the menu. The walk back from the pub to Hawkdun Lodge is freezing cold - it's supposed to be 2°C in the morning and it's already 12°C - its dropped 10° in the past few hours. We need to pack and be ready to leave at 7.30am in the morning to cycle 60k to Middle march for a 1pm train. We're just hoping that the wind is not against us.