Day Four - Geraldine to Lake Tekapo

Bonney & Patrick on top of Mount Michael.
Originally uploaded by bpelley.

This was our hardest day of cycling so far. The distance was only 88km, but the terrain was very hilly and it was hot and windy. We had two long climbs over Mount Michael and over Burkes Pass. We have to admit that we walked some of the steeper parts (for safety of course). We had a lovely lunch in the town of Fairlie halfway through our ride. Unfortunately, during lunch, the infamous "Norwester" started to kick up and slowed our ride down quite a bit for the rest of the day. The country was beautiful, but we had to focus on keeping our bikes on the road for fear of being blown off to the side. At times (we think the wind was gusting up to 30 mph) it was faster to walk our bikes than to ride them! We struggled through Burkes Pass and began a long flat plain ride into Lake Tekapo. A friendly tourist stopped to offer us a ride about 8km from the finish, but we told her that we wanted to finish the ride having come so far. As she drove away, we wondered if we shouldn't have relented. We paid for our pride and struggled to the finish. The wind didn't let up until we saw Lake Tekapo, but it was certainly worth it! We are both very proud that we finished. The lake and the valley are breathtaking. For more pictures of Day Four, click here.