Middlemarch to Dunedin

Jan 15 - 17, 2010
Middlemarch to Dunedin
Distance: 155
Total distance: 2 474 km

Pictures

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ATP3XvU9kGsfiS2WA

Middlemarch to Dunedin (Jan 15) 83 km
Overcast in the morning than clearing in the afternoon. It's hill time! The first 30 km is climbing and climbing. Steep and long uphills, the view is magnificent and the reward is a biker burger at Clarks Junction Hotel. After lunch, the down hill to give you a thrill, top speed at 70 km/h, you go down and up and down again all the way to Outram. You think it is over? Think twice. To go to Dunedin, the most direct route is to go over three mile hill since bikes are not allowed on the freeway. Three miles hill says it all, a three mile steep climb to Dunedin. At the end of the day, it is a true 82 km in your legs...but what a great day!

A day in Dunedin (Jan 16)
Sunny day, cool wind, we decided to give our legs a rest and went for a walk down town and on the waterfront. No rest really as we walked all day in the hilliest city I have ever been in. We visited a free museum and went to the steepest street in the world, Baldwin Street. We walked up it and yes, it is very very steep. On top we met a family, 4th generation and they gave us candies called Gaffreys. We thought that it was to eat, but it was to throw down the hill, apparently a long Kiwi tradition. So Patti lined up with the 88 year old great grandma and threw the Gaffreys, for respect of tradition. The old lady was hilarious, and we had a riot with the family at the top of the hill. It is getting late and we still have a good distance to walk so I (Yves) decided to hitchhike just for fun, Patti felt a little bit embarrassed but she put her thumb out with me and we caught a ride all the way to the campground, approx. 5 km, which saved us a good hour of walking, with the last 2 km being up an extremely steep climb.

Dunedin, Otago Peninsula (Jan 17) 72 km
A great, no, a fantastic day ride to the Otago Peninsula. Leaving the campsite, there is a huge down hill to down town, top speed 69 km within 1.5 km, very steep hill. We choose to ride the high road first and then come back on the low road. The high road is steeper to climb but shorter to get to the top. The 9 km downhill to Portobello was great, we stopped at the Portobello Hotel for lunch. From Portobello, we rode to Royal Albatross Centre located at the end of the peninsula, a 12km ride from Portobello. After checking out the centre and taking in the views of the east coast seascape, we tracked back to Portobello to get on the Low Road that follows the seashore all the way to Dunedin. Appreciation: An excellent circuit to ride. The morning was very overcast and the High Road was in the clouds so not much to see, once in while, we had a view but it was wet most of the morning. The road goes up and down and around, very exciting for a cyclist. We didn't find the climb that bad such as describe in the Lonely Planet Book. On the way back, the Low Road follow literally the seashore so close that if you get off road, you are in the water. The wind was with us on the way back, we did good time and appreciated the beauty of the scenery and really enjoyed the ride. From downtown to the campground, the climb starts again - a good push at the end of the day and a reminder that the hills are always there for us...! We stopped at a Chinese restaurant, take away food, and I had a great super sized extra veggies chicken curry and Patti a chicken satay extra veggies too. Over all, a great day...72 km...what a rest day!