Day 22 Mossburn to Winton

Today we ride to Winton, about 70km. Most of the way we will follow the Oreti river and it will be flat. For a bit of variety we will cut a corner and ride directly to Dipton instead of following the round the mountain track to Lumsden. We will get to see the castle rock limestone formations and we rode to Lumsden yesterday anyway. The wind should be with us and it should be an easy ride!

Google recommends we take the road next to our accommodation, but this it's gravel and there is a sealed road that is just as direct and should be quiet enough for us. We had 100 km of gravel the other day, sealed roads are easier to ride and because you don't have to watch the road surface so much there is more time to look around. We will go that way.

I look back at West Dome, the peak at the corner of the Eyre mountains that we rode around on our way to Mossburn. Farewell mountains.

Easy riding down Wreys Bush Mossburn Road, then we turn off onto the Dipton Mossburn Road. We are riding around the White hills, with the wind farm, then between them and the Taringatura hills.

A hill, it will be the only climb today. Nice view from here.

The road takes us down and into an interesting valley with limestone outcrops. This must be Castlerock. We take our time and stop several times to take photos.

We have come back to the Oreti river. I'm feeling attached to this river, having followed it from its headwaters. Sau Keng says all the rivers look pretty much the same - which is true enough.

Dipton is a very small town, a bit sad, but still with some industry in the form of an upholstery shop. I like the signage a lot!

Our first Southland Traverse sign. We will follow this route to Invercargill.

From Dipton we are riding a little to the west of the Oreti river, following the Southland Traverse signs. I don't see how this is a 'traverse', we are going pretty much directly down the middle of Southland, not across it. The land is very flat and farmed in various ways. Riding past one of the shelter belts, the shape of the trees suggests there is a strong prevailing wind here. Today there is just a breeze, a little in our favour.

A bit of Christmas cheer in front of an old house along the way :-)

A little past here we cross a second (low) hill where Dipton stream forced the road inland. Over the hill I spot an angler resting in the grass. Stop to ask if he was okay (he is - his son has gone to fetch their car) We had a nice chat, he is from northern California. Had caught and released several fish. 9th visit to NZ.

Winton. We like the feel of this town. There are a few people around, quite a few well kept old buildings and a very nice flower garden down the middle of the main road. We find the middle pub and stop for refreshments. A very enjoyable ride today. The countryside around here is still lush and green. Hay is being harvested. There are lots of sheep, some dairy and beef cattle. A couple of fields of wheat. Perfect for riding through.

We are staying a little further down the road at Belvedere B&B, this turns out to be another grand old house, the gardens are a bit sad but inside it is very nice, our hosts are friendly and our room is large and comfortable.

One more excursion today. Our hosts recommend the top pub for dinner, about 1 kilometre up the road. Easy to ride there, harder to find the garden bar, which is hidden behind the bottle store and separate from the actual pub. It's busy, full, some people are using the tables in the garden and a bunch of kids are playing, using a weeping willow as a swing. There is a very good vibe here. Dinner arrives and is excellent :-)

There are some good murals on the buildings here. We particularly like this one.

Statistics

Distance 75 km

Climbed 182 m

Time 4:06