At 7am it's dark and there's a good frost. By 810 it's light enough to leave my cosy room and crunch through the frost to the road. There's wispy high cloud but the snowy tops are clear and catching the first light.
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| Not many photos today so here's an irrelevant shot of me being cold beside my bike near start of the Porika track |
The road is sealed for a few K then turns to well compacted gravel. It's essentially an access road for the local farms and probably a little slower than the main road but gets you out of the traffic. The frost on the farmland is hard and the quiet air is crisp.
The sun soon cracks the ridge providing a boost but little heat so fingers and toes become progressively more numb (number?). The road winds into beech forest with the sun filtering horizontally through the trunks and after dipping and rising eventually drops back to the flats for the run back to SH 65 then SH 7 and Springs Junction.
It's only been about an hour on the road but the cafe is a welcome excuse for a morning coffee. The owner points me to the fire to thaw feet and hands and look north through the large window across the flats to snow clad hills in the distance (possibly Mts Cann above the Glenroy River and Mantell North of the Muria Saddle).
Chatting to one of the waiting staff it turns out that he lives in a cabin nearby and came down from Auckland for the job a couple of months back. I don't imagine the pay is very good and have to admire his willingness to follow a work opportunity into the middle of winter and nowhere. I don't ask where he came from before Auckland but it could be one of the 'stans. He asks where I'm headed but looks blank when I say Inangahua.
Back on the road the sound of 9k up to Rahu saddle is not enticing. However after a short steepish stint it's a reasonably gentle 'up' on a very nice driving road. The traffic is sparse so it's good riding despite a few false tops. The frost limns the beech trees on the approach to the real top which has a DoC sign (Klondyke? route) then a modest AA sign noting 696m.
Now there's about 500m to lose before Reefton, 37 km away. The down hill lasts and lasts. Thick beech hems the road (mind the grit and ice) with mossy bouldered streams appearing from the dim recesses of the forest to join the upper reaches of the Inangahua river. The river bed doesn't look very active as the boulders are lichen covered, suggesting they're not moved about much.
When the road finally drops to farm flats at Craig's Clearing the sun is welcome but is still not enough to thaw the extremities. Down the valley the river is wide with round white rocks. There's plenty of reminders of mining; walks to old workings, the access road to an active gold mine (Oceanagold's Reefton open pit mine) and finally at Black point a museum and associated industry. As it is just 2K through a cold gorge to Reefton, there's no stopping now.
Rounding a corner the road simultaneously breaks into bright sunlight and into the basking township. Although 11.30 is a little early, it's the only lunch option today so after a cruise of the main street my eye falls on the Broadway Tearooms and Bakery. The proprietor has recently returned from a cycling holiday in China and relishes the chance to talk shop with a comrade on wheels.
Nabbing a chair by the heater I'm content to spin my creamy chowder out for much longer than necessary and read the paper. The place is busy by the time I leave.
By my reckoning it's 33K to the Buller Gorge road so I follow SH 69 north along long straights through healthy farmland. On the right the snowy tops of the Victoria and Brunner Ranges and on the left the lower foothills of the Paparoas with Charleston somewhere on the other side. There's plenty of trucks and company utes about suggesting that some parts of the local economy are doing well.
Not having looked at the map recently I am expecting to arrive at the township of Inangahua and the intersection with the Buller Gorge road. Instead there's an intersection, a house, signs pointing to Westport and Murchison but no mention of Inagahua. I find out later that it was just up the road a little.
My plans at this point are a little vague but a trip down to Westport seems to be on the cards. I leave a message on my mate Pete's cell phone and head for the lower Buller Gorge. It's around 2pm so plenty of day left although clouds are lurking in the west. The gorge is busy but I'm given a wide birth and keep pottering along.
Having done the Buller half and Marathon along this route in recent years, I have an eye out for the first familiar landmarks. This comes with a white line across the road with the word "Turn" shortly before Berlins. Then the Ks count down from 8 to the starting point of the Marathon at Hawks crag (they set off up the road to start with).
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| Hawk's crag and the start of the Buller Marathon |
The crag is an iconic spot on the river which has been known to flood the road at this point. Some quick arithmetic confirms that there must be a further 5K to the half marathon start. Sure enough the road markings continue counting and just after 21 I recognise the spot and see another line on the road. Having run this stretch twice it is all familiar now.
The road winds up and down above the deep green river until dropping to the flats. Pete calls but takes some convincing that I am in fact just up the road. He offers to pick me up in the ute but tempting as it is I'm sort of enjoying reliving the route with the km marks ticking up towards 42 so elect to continue; recognising water stops, noting where the piper always stands at the top of a rise and the final down hill, which is where I leave the course today.
It's been a longer day than expected so at 4pm I'm very pleased to be barked at by Cass and to settle on the deck with a cup of tea. We yack until Wendy gets in. Pete is a long time Coaster; he was teaching at the school and coaching local rugby teams long before we worked together in Wellington. He has retained that annoying trait of a good teacher; being able to see right through you with a piercing eye. He wouldn't admit it but he is what he would describe as a bit of a clever bugger.
His garden has fair come on since I was here last, he's been looking after the birds over winter with sugar water so there's a good number about. In particular he points out a quiet little brown shape; it's a fern bird which I would not have noticed amongst the sparrows.
None of the Weka are about but no doubt will make an appearance before long. Some of the Coasters have a bizarre attitude to Weka, treating them with something that goes beyond indifference into contempt. It's a real shame; visitors can see their charm and find them irresistible. There's been mixed success with his neighbours; some are taking a little pride in them now but others haven't got much past the urge to put the dogs on them.
Pete talks about some work he has been doing with DoC and has recently been up the Old Ghost Road which has had some considerable investment poured into it. Definitely something to return to with the bike.
Wendy gets in from work and prepares an absolutely delicious dinner with matching wine (courtesy of a son in law wine maker in a prominent Marlborough vineyard); very welcome after the eclectic eating patterns of recent days.
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