Monday 7th March: Sunshine, white clouds and a warm 18°C to 24°C
Twizel to Ohau: Dep Twizel 9.45am, arr Ohau Lodge 2.45pm: 38k bike
Accommodation: Ohau Lodge Ohau
Off to Lake Ohau
Chatty group on a slack day
Fog rolling down the valley
Bitumin ride beside Ohau Canal
Track around Lake Ohau
Smile Sean
On to Lake Ohau
Upended bike through gate
Donna on a roll
Blue skies blue lake bike train
Lunch at Lake Middleton
Let's go - Milton and his whistle
Time for a chat - almost there
Ohau Lodge - home for the night
Follow that blue shirt
A short, easy but magnificent day riding along the Pukaki canal with dozens of fisherman hoping to catch a big Rainbow Trout, followed by the Ohau Canal. Then around Lake Ohau to the isolated Ohau Lodge sitting right on Ohau Lake.
Milton gave instructions the previous night that it's a 9.30am start as today is an easy 38k. So it's a sleep in, then a casual breakfast, a repack, and down the road by 9.45am. It's easy down a little used bitumen road with the wind at our backs before turning onto the smooth shingle track beside the Pukaki Canal with many hopeful fishermen casting off the banks. Judging from the photos hanging in the reception of the Twizel Holiday Park, there's been some very large Rainbow Trout caught in the canals. The Pukaki Canal connects to the Ohau Canal rund into Lake Ohau. These two canals Pukaki and Ohau connect two major lakes, Pukaki and Ohau.
We're soon at the turn off to the road around Lake Ohau and onto a gravelly dusty track which follows around the South Western edge of the lake between swampy bushes. The strong wind coming across the lake seems to blow over our heads making it easier than yesterday with a strong head wind for most of the day.
After an hour of pedalling, we need to upend the bikes and push them through yet another control barrier. It's a good time to wait to make sure we still have 11 bikers. Soon there's a turn onto a bitumen road and 5 minutes further on there's a clump of trees around the small Lake Middleton where we have lunch - we have rice crackers, salami, tomato and mayonnaise.
Thirty minutes and 5k later, where rolling into Ohau lodge at 3pm. Our rooms are really nice - twin beds pushed together to make a king size bed. We waste no time washing our dusty clothes and hanging them in the window for a bit of breeze. The rest of the group have wandered down for a beer - a bit too early for me so time to blog a little.
At 6.30pm, we're all in the lounge room having pre dinner drinks then at 7, we sit down together with another 50 guests, for a 3 course dinner - potato and leek soup, side of beef or chicken with veggies, then icecream. Ian and I watch the football on TV - St George and Storm, while the others trot off to bed.