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Evading the Heaving Rain

With a four-day holiday coming up, I put together a top of the South Island route for a group of five riders who were able to lock in four days of riding. However, a week out from the start, a front was pushing through and was bringing with it some pretty scrappy weather. I put together a plan B route of the High Country where the front had minimal impact. However, a few days later the front had grown in size and had started spilling over the Main Divide making the High Country rivers impassable.

We were pretty much limited to the East Coast if we wanted to stay away from heaving rain so plan C was put in place. While I’ve spent considerable time riding the Clarence area over the last three years logging the routes for Adventure Guide, there were still a couple of tracks left to explore. This is always an enjoyable place to ride so it was locked in.

At the last minute, a couple of riders were pulled back into work so we planned to meet them two days later. So, three of us set off into what could only be described as perfect conditions. Here are some photos from the four days…

We stopped for a quick chat with these two who were on the last leg of a multi-day High Country trek

Spot the goat

Some of the rocky slips that had to be navigated

Back at the hut for tea

Later in the arvo the two other riders turned up so we had a campfire around the stars to wind the day up

The hut for the four days

Not much left of my number plate

Heading down one of the newly logged routes, Gore Stream Confluence Track

While the new luggage was only used half the time, it got a good workout

Heading out. Spot the riders ;)

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