8th March 2017 (cont)
I don't sleep too well. I got a number of sand-fly bites when I was up in the Golden Bay area and they are persistently itching. I find the only thing in my medical arsenal which relives the itching is taking about three Benadryl tablets (I have thousands of them - a generic brand). The trouble is, taking these in that quantity makes me drowsy. when they wear off whilst I'm asleep, I find I've scratched the bites badly in my sleep. I should probably find a pharmacy and get something topical...
Anyway - a good hot shower starts the day well. I don't have far to go - the town of Lumsden is only about two and a bit hours south of here. I'm booked into the Lumsden Hotel for two nights and will be having a long day tomorrow...
I get kitted up and pack the bike, secure in its garage, then tidy the apartment up and press the door closure button and dash out before it closes. I press the starter at 0920 and set off into the traffic of Wanaka. I've not eaten since brunch yesterday, so mosey into town where I find...
...the Beanie Café...
...where the lovely Jess - from just north of Liverpool, and who's been working here for 18 months - brings me...
...a spot of breakfast - with HP Sauce!
- and a beautifully crafted flat white coffee...
Half an hour or so later, I get back abroad the Adv and start to follow Bettie's route out of Wanaka...
...where I spot this old split-screen Morris 1000
It's beautifully sunny, with virtually no cloud...
...but it is far from warm - I switch the heated grips to low for a bit - and then to high...
I'm going to follow the route I originally took on the way to Invercargill...
The roads are quiet to start with and it's easy to keep up a good average speed...
...but it's positively cold in the shade. I am planning an early start in the morning and will need to layer up well...
But - hey - I'm not at work...
After a while I start up the slow and twisty climb up the Crown Range Road, which unfortunately is quite busy with traffic - almost exclusively hire cars and camper vans...
I manage to pick a few off and get a clear run up to the summit...
...where I pull over at the overlook to take some pics...
The air is not as clear as yesterday afternoon, so the definition suffers a little...
But it's still a breath-taking view...
...and a gorgeous road to ride...
So the morning isn't completely wasted...
It's a bit chilly up here, though...
I ride through the permanently busy outskirts of Queenstown, where an Air New Zealand jet is lining up for take-off...
...and carry on south on the Southern Scenic Route...
...where pretty soon...
...I meet my old friend Lake Wakatipu again...
Plenty of other riders are taking advantage of the weather...
...and why not?
All too soon I am running out of lake...
...and I keep heading towards Lumsden - just a little way down the road now...
Keeping the speed down on roads like this is an exercise in self-control...
I notice that there's a light dusting of snow now, even on the tops of these grassed hills - [Ned Stark] Winter is coming [/Ned Stark]...
Sneaked in a bridge shot there...
I am on finals for Lumsden now...,
It's only 1230, so I take a slow nose about the town, finding a couple of old shunting engines and coal trucks on display (there's no railway line here now)...
...before going to the Lumsden Hotel...
...where I park the Adv in the back yard...
...to be guarded by Woofer...
My room isn't ready yet, so I set up in the bar and upload the pics and start the journal, aided by a pint or two of Steinlager (whatever that is
).
Good day, if a short one...