Reunion

Our children should be here mid afternoon, this morning we will work. Libraries are good for this, plenty of space, wifi and quiet. We pack and ride back into town, again going through Queens gardens.

Invercargill still has a lot of well preserved old buildings, and a well defined main road. I think Auckland lacks in these respects - few well preserved old buildings and what there are, are scattered, also no well defined center. Queen Street and surrounds just don't have the feeling they used to - for me anyway. We find the library and settle in to work for the last day this year.

The library turns out to be a dramatic place! A young man is sleeping on a chair. A librarian wakes him, "this is not the place" when she leaves he lies back to sleep again. A 'friend' enters, talks to him, which rapidly turns into a loud argument with many profanities. They leave, but the man soon reappears, blood on his lips. Another, male, librarian appears and tells him to leave, which he does without too much more drama.

We work a while more then leave for lunch and to find tonight's accommodation. We choose Korean fare for lunch. It is quiet and the owner chats to us. He lived 13 years in Queenstown but the population pressure there became too much for him so he has moved here.

Our new accommodation is an oldish bungalow, the outside looks shabby but thankfully inside is very spacious, clean and well equipped.

They are here :-) Hugs all round, it is so nice to all be together again. We celebrate with a meal together at Mama San.

This has been another wonderful journey - or perhaps change of lifestyle describes it better. We were incredibly fortunate with the weather, all accommodation was booked well in advance, so our riding days were fixed yet we had no days with unpleasant riding conditions and many with near perfect conditions. Sau Keng says she has a special relationship with the weather gods - and it certainly seems so.

I doubted my abilities more than on the North Island ride and worried more - I don't know why. But as on our North Island ride, this ride was easy, at least it feels that way now, there were periods along the way that certainly did not feel easy! But the tough sections are over soon enough and I was fit enough that they were hard but not unpleasant and that I recovered very quickly. (With the exception of the first day, when the end of the ride did not feel good)

Once again the ride was Sau Keng's creation. I helped and did a lot of the work to prepare the bikes and organise the route - but she made it happen, not me.

Two gaps remain, large and small: Picton to Christchurch and Cromwell to Gibbston valley. The first we will investigate on our way home. We are thinking of riding via Hamner springs, going through back country roads to Blenheim, then around the coast to Picton. We tentatively plan to ride this next summer. The second we will sometime after the new track there is completed - this is just a day ride. Easy :-)

Thanks my dear for bringing me on such a wonderful ride.

Our journey summary

Ride	Distance (km)	Climbed (m)	Time (mins)
Christchurch to Rakaia	70	50	450
Rakaia to Ashburton	42.7	49	159
Ashburton to Temuka	79.2	152	267
Temuka to Fairlie	63.3	401	243
Fairlie to Tekapo	51	622	241
Tekapo to Twizel	62.4	217	282
Twizel to Ohau	43.6	149	200
Ohau to Omarama	61.1	638	292
Omarama to Otematata	38.4	367	221
Otematata to Kurow	31.6	262	151
Kurow to Duntroon	28.3	53	114
Duntroon to Oamaru	59.6	537	280
Oamaru to Hampton	46.7	466	205
Hampton to Donback	34.6	582	168
Donback to Middlemarch	62.4	1036	275
Middlemarch to Ranfurly	65.8	338	287
Ranfurly to Omakau	61.5	278	248
Omakau to Clyde	50.3	137	196
Clyde to Cromwell	46.3	631	221
Gibbston valley to Queenstown	62.2	648	332
Walter Peak to Mossburn	105.2	824	430
Mosburn to Lumsden & return	44.1	140	193
Mossburn to Winton	75.4	182	246
Evening ride around Winton	5	11	40
Winton to Bluff	74.4	183	315
Back to Invercargill	39.7	124	180
Totals	1404.8	9077	6236