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Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Watch Lucille 's LiveTrack
Watch Lucille 's LiveTrack
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Day 34 - Rest day in Invercargill
Invercargill is a small city of 50,000 people. I’m in a dorm room in a hostel right downtown. Lots of coffee shops, restaurants and shopping. Some of the buildings are new, and some have the older architecture that has been restored. Just a nice mix. In the dorm I met two young women who walked the Te Aroa, in sections. Yesterday they walked from Invercargill to Bluff…..such a long day of walking. I can’t imagine walking the distance that we cycled, with a 40lb pack….now that is crazy!!! Many do it in sections, but some do it in one six month trek!
I spent the morning in a coffee shop, where I had eggs Benedict with four huge pieces of bacon. Then I spent a few hours in the library….walked around a bit, then lunch. I was also working out a bit of a plan for when Ted arrives. I think I have a rough itinerary set out, but of course it depends on the weather. It will be warmer in the north island, but there’s more to see on the South Island, and I have a friend that I’d love to see in Gisborne most of the way up on the north island. We will see. I don’t want to rush from place to place, but rather take our time and explore.
Dinner out tonight with two fellow TA riders, Annabel and David. Annabel is headed to Queenstown tomorrow morning, and it was really hard to say goodbye. We’ve spent so much time together that very the past two weeks. David is going to accompany me to Christchurch. I’m so happy for the company as I’m a bit concerned about driving on the left side of the road, but my friend Karen told me when you get to an intersection just think….curb left, wide right! I’ve been practicing this entire time on the bike, so hopefully it will be ok. David lives in the UK so should be able to remind me to stay left!!!
We are going to go north via the East side of the island. A change of scenery. The drive is about 560km, and I’m not sure how long that will take. The map software says 7 1/2 hrs, but I’m not sure how fast I can drive. Usually I drive faster than the speed limit, but after all the time on a bike, I find that a vehicle feels really fast. We should be on smaller roads tomorrow….and hopefully the Easter holiday traffic doesn’t start early!!!
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Day 33 - Bluff!!! All done
And just like that….its over. I’ve completed the tour Aotearoa cycling from Cape Reinga on the North Island To Bluff on the southern tip of the South Island. It wasn’t at all what I expected- reality far surpassed anything I could have imagined. The views, the hills, the weather but the biggest surprise was the people that I encountered. The locals were all kind and generous with their encouragement, and fellow TA participants were nonjudgmental….everyone was doing this for their own reasons…and allowed to do it in whatever way worked. It was hard…the hills were brutal, but the feeling of satisfaction at the top of the climbs made all the hard pedalling worth it.
Thanks for following along, sending texts and messages of encouragement. Today was fantastic….a cool blustery day with some rain, and a fairly strong headwind, but nothing could deter me from the goal of Bluff today.
This area is one of the few spots on the cycling TA that the track is shared with the walking Te Aroa - and I saw about 15 completing their walk today. Some have walked the entire length that I cycled…taking them up to 6 months, while others do a section every year.
I’m going to take the day tomorrow to clean up my bike and organize my few belongings that I have with me. I will continue to blog as I’m am here until May 1, and there are still more adventures to be had-so follow along 😀
Monday, March 30, 2026
Day 32 - Winton
Only 63 km to Bluff and the end of the cycling!!!!
All of the sudden it’s almost over, and I haven’t had much time to wrap my head around it! Today was fantastic. An early start from Ian’s home, where he drove about an hour skirting the edge of Queenstown, to drop us off at the start of the trail at Garston. We knew we had about 100km to ride and that the wind would be increasing throughout the day….but all this escaped my mind. We had a nice coffee/tea before departing as well as second breakfast.
I must have stopped every few minutes to take photos today, including setting up for selfies. I just took my time and really enjoyed the day. The track to Lumsden was gravel, but well maintained. It went through a working farm, so every km or so I had to get off the bike…open the gate after figuring it out….roll my bike through, put out the kickstand, then shut the gate. All this took a fair bit of time. So when I stopped in Lumsden for lunch at 2pm, I decided to stay on the highway. Not the best decision….it was busy with narrow shoulders, and had three fairly good hills, while the path that I was supposed to take was sealed, no gates and no hills! Oh well. The wind picked up just as I headed out of Lumsden….started as a cross wind which was blowing me around a fair bit, then ended up as a head wind. So strong and gusty and increased as the afternoon went on. The gusts were up to 65km/hr by the time I arrived! But we made it! The views were magnificent today….especially at the beginning of the day when we were surrounded by the hills.
I’m so excited for tomorrow!!!!
Sunday, March 29, 2026
Day 31 - Queenstown
Yup….you read that correctly…. I’m in Queenstown tonight….but I didn’t cycle all the way here. 😀
We got up early this morning to the sound of rain….well it was forecast….but unfortunately it was true. So off we went this morning to get over Haast Pass. 80km with over 1000m of elevation gain, and if you look closely at the photo…most of that gain is over 10km….😱😳yikes.
Last night we contacted Ian, another fellow TA rider who lives near Queenstown about a route we wanted to take. The issue is that getting to Queenstown, there’s a massive gorge….spectacular to look at, but either way means a huge climb over questionable roads….so Ian offered to pick us up from Cromwell in two days time. Ok….we have a plan.
Off we went in the rain this morning….and although it looks flat for the first 50km….there were a lot of small hills. I was feeling sorry for myself…cold, wet…couldn’t see through my glasses….ughhhh. When all of a sudden there was another rider beside me. Brian. He finished in Bluff 3days ago, but his bike broke just before Haast. He got a ride and bought another bike to finish the TA….but since he missed cycling the Haast Pass, he was back today to finish it off. He was so positive and cheerful ….loving the rain! Gave me some positive inspiration that just turned my mood around!!!
Lots of waterfalls again today, didn’t take many photos not only because it was raining, but also because there wasn’t a safe place to stop. Most of the time there isn’t a shoulder and sometimes there’s a big drop off right next to the pavement. No place to be safe.
Haast Pass is spectacular….despite the low cloud…I could see some of it. Just amazing rock walls, super lush greenery, lots of waterfalls, spectacular. The Pass was 320m high, and most of the grade was 13-17%. Not rideable for me….so pushed my bike almost the entire way up this steep section….so I had lots of time to look around.
Eventually it flattened out….and I made it to the town of Makarora which is where we planned to spend the night….but Ian had other plans for us. He saw the weather warning for the area, so hopped into his car to come get us!!! He is amazing! Met us at the hotel with dry towels, a double bike rack and brought us to his place. Although we had planned on riding tomorrow….it would not have been fun on the busy narrow twisting roads. The scenery is spectacular through the gorge, but no fun on a bike.
We had a lovely evening together in a stone house that he built over 40 years ago! This is what the TA has really been about for me. The people that I have met, the shared experiences, the shared meals, and seeing a new country. I’ve really had a blast! Tomorrow he’s dropping us off in Garston, and then it will only be two days to Bluff, with much improved weather….so I should be able to take more photos, and hopefully if the weather is good, Ted and I will be back on these roads in hopefully sunny weather in a few weeks. 😀😀😀
Saturday, March 28, 2026
Day 30 - Haast 120 km, 750m elevation
What an amazing day!!!! I had so much fun today.
We got up early, 0630 for an 0800 departure as it was going to be a long day. The forecast was for it to be a nice day starting at 10am, and there really isn’t anything between Fox Glacier and Haast other than a campground, but no food. We are really in a remote area.
Breakfast at the hostel, clean up, pack the bikes….and I was off right around 0800. I circled around town a few times until I figured out where to go!!! I really am directionally challenged! It was misty at the start…and it kept on increasing. I was soaked through by the time I got to Bruce Bay. There were lovely views….but with the rain I didn’t really want to take out my phone too much…and I secured it in one of my rear saddle bags. But there was tea and scones at Bruce Bay!!! Yippeee. 2 Chai tea latte and a scone hit the spot! This was at about 45km.
Finally at the 70km mark, the sun popped out!!!! Double yippeeee. I’m started to dry out….so much more comfortable. The final 50km had several hills…and one huge one….220m over 3.5km! Ok…. I can do this….at least it was sunny. Half way up was the next photo checkpoint.
Knight’s Point Lookout.
In the 1950’s this scenic lookout served as the meeting point for two roads building crews one working from the east coast across Haast Pass and the other working along the west coast. When officials from the then Ministry of Works journeyed down from Wellington hoping to name the meeting point after a high ranking ministry official, they found that it had already been christened’Knight’sPoint’ after the original surveyor’s dog!!!! 😂😂😂
I took some photos and FaceTimed with Ted to show him the view. Then I continued up for another 100m and 1.5km. At the end of the hill was a pullout and another fantastic view. I was taking photos when all of a sudden a motor home pulled in and someone shouted ‘Lucille’!!!! What???? One of our favourite transport physicians Katherine jumped out of the motor home and gave me a huge hug!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️😀 Someone from home!!!! She didn’t really know that I was here in NZ, and she recognized me as they went past….they turned around and came to see me!!! Nothing short of amazing!!!! We had a great chat…I ate some of her chocolate- then Annabel came along…so she was brought in. Katherine is touring with her children Eloise, Charlie and Sam, her brother and parents. What luck that I was stopped, and that she wasn’t driving and noticed me. This gave me the energy to finish up the final 25km into Haast as they are on their way Northbound.
Tomorrow is another long day…with no stopping places for tea….so we loaded up at the grocery store….enough food for breakfast and lunch on the trail. Forecast is for rain all day tomorrow, but we will not be camping again tomorrow night. 😀
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