New Zealand - Nov 11

Havelack to Richardson

The day started gloriously with no rain and fairly warm, only needed my light windbreaker versus thicker rain jacket.  As we left our hotel we turned a bend in the road and beheld an awe inspiring sight.  There was a bay surrounded by a valley of green fields that would make Ireland envious.  And the valley was enclosed by a set of forested mountains with wispy clouds of mist hanging in the hollows and resting upon their tops. Unfortunately, you will only have the mental picture I just painted as I did not have my camera out.  But that is ok because a picture would only pale in comparison to the beauty we beheld...

We traveled along in a pace line at a fair clip.  The scenery along the way was wondrous.  Fields and mountains and valleys and streams...

Then we came to a one lane bridge over a rushing stream.

It looked like a great place for a float trip. It was at this juncture that a decision was to be made.  Actually the group had already made the decision to stick to the road.  But there was a side trip that would route us through the countryside  and up over a mountain via an off-road path.  I thought it would be an intriguing detour worth taking.  This would be one of those fateful decisions that you live to regret.  One that resulted in potential disaster.  And the unfortunate part is three other riders decided to go as well.  I feel I led them down a disastrous path.

It started out nicely enough with great views and paved road.  That quickly changed to gravel at 1.5 kilometers.  At the turn off, 10k, where we left the "road" and began the "trek", the situation deteriorated significantly.  It reminded us of the goat tracks of the Ruta Maya, the Central America trip.  It was complete with a river crossing to continue on the "path".  The grades of the path were steep with loose rock and gravel.  Then the rains came.  Drenching rains that made the path slippery and muddy.  It became unnavigable.  We had to walk up the steep sections of the trail.  It took us a good deal of time, over 3 hours, to go 12k.  When we finally reached the summit there was an unexpected dilemma that presented itself.  According to the directions we were supposed to continue down the steep grade to get to the next town.  Instead, there were three roads!  Option A to the left, Option B straight ahead and Option C to the right...  Option B had a big sign stating ROAD CLOSED!  So the options were not good ones...

We stood there at the summit soaked to the bone, cold and shivering.  A decision had to be made.  The stark realization that a wrong decision could actually place is in serious trouble hung heavily over us.  If we chose the wrong option we would be heading further out into the middle of nowhere with no cell signal and no one knowing where we were.  There would be no hope of help or pick up from anyone.  It could mean real trouble.  So the decision to turn around and go back the way we came was made.  It was the only course of action where we knew the outcome.  But that meant heading down the steep washed out grade.  Not a great option...  It posed a good deal of danger as I had no front suspension and the wet slippery mud caused the brakes to only slow me and not stop me.  Needless to say, it was a harrowing experience.  It tough to hold the brakes on as tight as possible all the way down the 12k.  That all while it rained.  It was a disaster. 

Once we got back to where we had begun we tried calling for pickup.  We still had no cell signal.  We found a little cafe where we used their land line to call for pick up. There got some much needed food. 

Here is the lunch I had... A steak and Guinness pie, a steak and cheese pie, two cokes and of course a full shaker of salt.  Nothing ever tasted so good or went down so fast.  It was a fantastic warm and dry place to get out of the driving rain.  A day to remember or was it a day to forget?!