Queen Charlotte MTB

5-7 April 2013
Solo

Tramping is off the agenda for the moment but the Doctor didn’t say anything about Mountain Biking and I had long intended to get set up for short tours; so the concept of the weekend adventure from Wellington came about.

Plan A was always a tour around Port Underwood but it couldn’t happen on weekend 1 and turned into an inclination to the Wairarapa (refer separate trip report). This, the next weekend is another Plan B; I had planned a Port Underwood excursion with Angela but she couldn’t make it in the end so a road foray along Keneperu Sound is scheduled.

By Thursday night the possibilities have crystallised to one preferred option and the necessary gear has migrated to the bedroom couch waiting to be stuffed into its designated place. Things were looking propitious, so non-refundable return tickets (now there's confidence) were booked late that evening and the bike lubed and loaded.

The trip starts with the 15K commute to work; pauses for the working day and resumes with a dash for the ferry. This proves you can make the 1825 ferry after a day’s work. The ride around the Blenheim vines is on so more than a handful of cyclist walk their mounts onto the freight deck of the Arahura. A few others are being picked up in Picton and have bought their bikes for pottering around in the weekend.

On board, the first order of the day is a roast chicken dinner. Good enough although the vege’s were already over cooked before the voyage even started. This fills the gaps and staves off boredom for the first 20 minutes. There is no swell in the strait so dinner stays put and there's nothing to do but snooze as the sky darkens to black by 19.30. Which reminds me: is it day light saving this weekend? "Fall back" therefore if I do forget I’ll just arrive an hour earlier for the return voyage so let’s forget about it for now. The trip passes quickly; reading the rail ferry 50th anniversary mag, eating ice cream and snoozing.

Suddenly Picton is announced and the exodus to vehicles begins. The bikes are lashed two deep to the wall on the train deck by various dubious and greasy cordage. We disentangle and are directed to wait to one side at the front of the deck and start exiting as soon as the door is open. It's just before 2130. A light wind doesn't make it cold but I am pleased to have two layers on as I swing onto the Grove track.

A small number of cars pass but these are soon gone and the night is quiet and dark. It’s a straight forward ride and Aussie Bay campsite easy to find. It’s about 40 min after leaving the ferry so I'm quite chuffed with my planning.

Finding a vacant spot is a little tricky as it’s not a huge site and there are quite a few vehicles about. Across the Sound a collection of lights may well be Anakiwa. By 11 the tent is up, ablutions abluted, fees paid and there’s time for a few notes before lights out.

Saturday

The night was quiet; trickling from the stream, the occasional slap of a wavelet, a far off Morepork. By 7.30 normal processes necessitate getting up. A few vehicles have left and the morning is over cast. By day I can see the camp is between the shore and road with a bit of screening bush. It feels like a transitional spot rather than one to come and stay for a few days; ideal for my purposes. Looking about there aren't that many tent spots and I seem to have nabbed the best one. The road is quiet until a peloton of riders whoosh past and I hear more following, surely too early for the vine ride.

During the night I seem to have decided to bike at least the first part of the Queen Charlotte track. I don't have a map but remember enough from a short walk here some years back to be fairly comfortable. Better text my changed intentions though.

Before I know it, I'm in Anakiwa looking across the sound trying to work out which strip of beach is Aussie bay. There is a charge to access the track ($12 for a 4 day pass) and a complicated machine which had a previous life in a car park to part punter from dosh. All a bit confusing and no change given; credit card an option for an extra fee. A couple of MTBers park up to head around to Keneperu saddle by road and back along the track; a good option if you have a vehicle.

There is a dearth of free maps of the track on pamphlets etc. and those on the sign boards lack detail. I don't have the topo map either but am reasonably comfortable with my memory of the basic topography. The first 12K to Te Mahia passes quickly. The track is wide and easily graded; never climbing above 200m allowing a good pace.

Grove Arm and Okiwa Bay; Anakiwa behind the helmet and Aussie Bay somewhere on the left

The next 7.5k section to Torea saddle starts with a stick mangling into the back derailleur, the gears jump under load for a while but it seems to come right.  The section requires some pushing; it is narrower, steeper, climbs higher and is more technical with some down-hills requiring attention. There are a few people on the track but nowhere near crowded so quite enjoyable. Looking north from the track the unseen heart of the Sounds reveals itself; the terra incognita peered at on maps becomes hills, bush, bays and sea with oh so picturesque patches of well-ordered pasture. Passing patches of sun pick up the impossibly neat farmland or intense green of a bay with golden beach.

All this beauty has left me quite breathless (or it could have been the hill). Either way I decide to lose 100 precious metres to investigate Portage. They have a shop and a café so as it is approaching 12 it is the ideal opportunity to support local business and have the gourmet burger with fries; the lunchtime One-Square-Meal in my pack doesn't stand a chance.  At $22 I'm very pleased with my purchase which arrives quickly and matches Wellington quality.

The service is also good; attentive and helpful (with a quick eye for the up-sell). I send a few "I'm still alive and changing my plans" texts, which may just also have had an element of "I'm eating outrageously in fab surroundings whilst roughing it, so go green with envy."

Anyway, I tuck in not thinking too hard about the slog ahead. The impromptu stop is also a chance for a few housekeeping items: checking the bike, a loo, water for the track, and getting change for the campsite.

Leaving portage about 1, the first thing is a 90m slog up to the saddle, then the climbing begins. The track condition is generally better than the last section but the 24K feels long and reaches about 500m altitude with a number of ups and downs on the way.  Hills I would have grunted up in the morning become an excuse to get off and push for a bit.

There are a number of saddles that mark progress.  The trouble with this is that you glide down to them with ease but it means you are immediately facing a climb; I prefer ticking off the high points where the views over Keneperu and Queen Charlotte Sounds demand a stop (and a breather).

Looking southish down, possibly, Blackwood Bay

For the first half there are quite a few people, about 50:50 MTBers and walkers. Two couples have boats to meet and by my reckoning need to get their skates on.  At Black Rock Shelter I meet the two chaps from the morning. They have some useful tips for the track ahead.  Everyone is considerate and a few are down-right chatty.

The views gradually change: views of Queen Charlotte Sound, then into Tory Channel to the South, and eventually the length of Keneperu Sound to the west-southwest. 

Near the top, looking the length of Keneperu Sound

At last I have the feeling that the track is grading down for a rendezvous with the road at Keneperu Saddle.  However it takes a while to do so and develops two characteristics: 1, patches of water seeping across the track, and 2, a yellow clay base with little or no leaf litter. This combined with road slicks (which have been fine 'til now), make for diverting riding. The back wheel takes to skipping gaily across the track at the merest thought of the brakes which is mostly ok, but when the front wheel takes a notion to do the same, things become interestingful.

Things reach a head at a section with a bit of grade and slick clay, eventually seeing a graceful divorce of rider and bike.  Neither party is damaged but it’s like trying to do slalom sprints on greased ice.  An awkward hoppy-skiddy technique proves to be pretty hopeless but better than walking or falling off.

A bit before 4 the road heaves into view. This is the point where I say farewell to the track and turn back towards the head of Keneperu Sound.  There are a couple of sections to go and I suspect one of them is quite steep - but not today.

Keneperu Saddle!

My destination for the night is reached in about 6km of downhill and flat gravel road. The Keneperu Head Campsite is new with a tonne of space, although little cover. The facilities are basic, but look pretty good, and include a shower (cold). The grass looks invitingly springy for under a tent.  However, I think there is a bit of juice left and I know that there are more campsites along the Sound with Portage about 12k away.

The short uphills are slow and the downhills a chance to rest. The going gets harder until I remember I haven't stopped to eat since lunch. An OSM provides an excuse not to pedal for a while and perks things up a bit.  The DoC sites flick by: Nikau Bay, Picnic Cove ... I check a few out; they cater a little better for vehicles than tents and are mostly small, but good options, and frequent enough that if one is full you just push on to the next.

Around 5 the last downhill glide takes me into Portage. For the second time that day I take a break and text in the café/bar. This time with a beer as a pick-me-up ($8.50 /pint; no local brews just the run-of-the-mill offerings from one of the usual multinational suspects). The same gent behind the bar helpfully points out that the Cowshed Bay Camp is within walking distance and therefore another beer could be in order.  I decline with one of those little lies that lubricate social discourse; "maybe I'll pop along after dinner."

Cowshed Bay is indeed very close. It is empty bar me and another tent, and half of it is a construction site.  It will be great when it's finished.

I select a romantic spot for the tent away from others under a cabbage tree overlooking the bay (it will probably cop the wind but I couldn’t pass it up).  I hear the calls first but soon a couple of weka are stooging about; although about the size of a chicken there the resemblance ends; no chicken has that level of smarts and casual kleptomania.

Cowshed Bay: still life with tent and bicycle

Taking a wander I find another half of the site on the other side of the road. Better sites and a loo. Ah well, I'm not moving now (well, not the tent anyhow).

It’s well after 7 and the wind has got up so I find a sheltered spot behind the workers shed and fire up the Penny stove for beef and pasta hot pot (for two). In about 10 minutes, half a litre of water is boiling and I'm trying to work out how to fit the dehy in (and wandering what the wekas are doing to my tent).

The tent is still there but sitting waiting for the dehy soak time to elapse it's not long before there is a weka within half a metre. It's a persistent bugger and I resolve that everything goes in the tent tonight.  I just hope they haven't flogged another biker’s tool kit and dismantle my bike.

The wind is still on the firm side and a few spots of rain come through but not enough to drive me indoors.  A weka squeezes under my feet as I sit next to the bike and demolish dinner in the deep dusk. The jetty lights at Portage are just around the corner and there is the odd bach light but by now little else is visible.

A couple of camper vans turn up, the first happily parks at the other end of the ground the second is closer but they don’t look like yahoos.

By 8.15 I'm in the pit listening to the wind, campervan noises, spots of rain and the odd weka fiddling with the tent.  Daylight savings tonight so plenty of time to kip.

Sunday
There's a few strong gusts and a period of rain during the night but it is calm by morning.  The dawn light brings a chorus with some bell birds (or tui?) precisely annunciating the same three and sometimes four note phrase. A tui throws out some guttural croaks and the wekas get even more active. They thunder about the campsite and rustle around the tent; the odd flurry and outraged squawk suggests a bit of scrapping going on.

As I pack, I turn my back on the open tent for a second, turning back a startled weka scrambles out of the middle of my gear and backs off a few paces.

My muesli was packed in the billy last night but is nowhere to be found now.  It never turns up; I suspect a weka knicked it while I was cooking last night.  It’s a salient lesson in packing light as there's nothing to eat but OSMs.  I tuck into one as I head off down the road around 7.30.

The culprit?

It takes longer than I thought to exit Keneperu sound via many dips and rises (rarely over 100m and only once above 150m).  Eventually I reach Linkwater and turn left onto the Grove Track, passing Aussie Bay about 9am, and arriving at the ferry terminal by 9.45.  Yes, my ticket can be changed to the 10.30 sailing ($5 surcharge).  There’s 15 minutes to get to a café for a hot chocolate and croissant melt in the sun. Perfect after a cool ride despite the morning sun.

Back at the rally point for bikes there is a lot of shunting in and out of the ferry; quite entertaining as they have a remote control loco; what a toy.  You can't help imagining it trying to stick a train through the front of the ship when someone pushes the wrong button. The workers jump on and off moving trains elegantly, I guess natural selection has taken care of the clumsy ones.

The other bikers are all returning from the grape ride and seem to have enjoyed the experience.  A few accidents to report though.

A few minutes after ETD they finally let us on. The tie down arrangements on the Aratere are about as crap as the Arahura. All the bikers are scratching their heads how to tether machines without sensitive bits getting mangled. The short bungies for my sleeping roll come in handy.

The voyage is under way by the time we scale the innards of the ship to the passenger areas. A seat in the forward lounge provides a panoramic view forward and access to coffee and iced water.  The voyage proceeds as any other, albeit fairly boisterous at times. Wellington looks gloomy and does its best to rain during the last few kilometres to be home by 2.20. 

Sitting in a hot bath soaking off the accumulated sweat of two day’s riding is a suitable denouement to a superb Plan B weekend.

The bike set up has performed well. I lowered the back bag as far as it would go and put the heaviest kit in my back pack. The track is pretty good but is still pretty hard on bike mounted gear. The handle bar mounted gear doesn't get in the way of the steering and helps distribute some weight forward.

The distances for those interested in repeating parts of the ride...

Picton to Aussie Bay                         15.7
Aussie to Queen Charlotte Track      7.8
Start to Te Mahia Saddle                  12.5
Te Mahia to Torea                               7.5 ? (Also saw a value of 9 point something)
Diversion to Portage                           1.0
Torea to Keneperu Saddle              24.5
Saddle to Head of Sound campsite   6.5
Head of Sound to Portage               12.3
Portage to Cowshed Bay                    0.6
Cowshed to Aussie Bay                    34.9
Aussie to Picton                                 15.7