We change direction - and so does the wind!

It blew a hooley last night with things crashing around outside. Very little rain, but lots of branches down and the warm northerly wind changed to a cold west / south west wind to match our change in direction. We started with a 26 mile climb up to the top of the Crown Ranges, the highest surfaced road in New Zealand. It was only really steep for the last few miles, but by then our legs were sapped by the endless upward grind. The wind wasn't too much of a problem on the way up as we were sheltered by the mountains but it was absolutely freezing on the top - this is the area that saw a foot of snow just last Sunday!  We were joined on the top by two young British girls on a working holiday, who were doing a bit of cycling to see the country - we were amazed to see 2 youngsters riding up the pass with fully laden bikes and they were equally amazed to see 2 pensioners doing the same! 

The descent was very steep, twisty and scary, especially as we were now being buffeted by very strong winds and our hands were so cold we were struggling to brake safely. We finally made it down and took a detour via Arrowtown (used to be a gold mining town) for lunch, hot drinks and then, as we warmed up, ice cream. We eventually made it to our accommodation in Queenstown at around 4.00pm having had to battle into a ferocious wind for the last 15 miles. I forgot to mention that on the top of the pass a motorist got out of his car and presented the four of us with a peach each, as he had been so impressed at the fact we had ridden all the way up! 

Queenstown is full of tourists / backpackers and the like and as it was a last minute decision to stay here rather than press on for another 28 miles, we are lucky to be staying in a pretty decent place. We had a fairly lengthy walk to get food, but are now relaxing ready for the next stage tomorrow.

Thought for today - a garage sale in this area last weekend was selling a selection of random items and I am wondering who, if anyone, bought the single ski (???), 200 flys, antique fire dogs or the Agee processor.  And finally does anyone have any suggestions on this advert: Wanted - 4 X Sheets of rib and 4 X bales of pink batts..................the worry almost kept me awake