Takealotofdrugs: Cromwell, Wanaka, and then some

Goals for today: see the town of Cromwell and sleep at the Cardrona Hotel.

Cromwell comes up in my Queenstown/Wanaka real estate hunting sometimes when I'm bored at work. It's substantially cheaper, on a lake, surrounded by wineries...seemed like a good place for my future southern hemisphere base. Unfortunately, the bike trail between Queenstown and Cromwell that I thought existed when I started planning this trip won't be complete until February. Two cycling Kiwi friends recommended I not ride on the highway, though the crazier one reconsidered when I gave her my itinerary, but I don't speak Kiwi very well so maybe she was putting me on.

Fortunately there's a bus for that. The website said I'd have to remove pedals, remove wheels, cover the chain, and turn the handlebars. I assumed this would be unnecessary (and it was) but with all the bags, it might have been a 15 minute job.

I tried to take some photos of the bike path that will soon be open, but I was on the wrong side of the bus and none of them came out. It appears to be a monstrously difficult trail. I arrive in the center of a cold deserted Cromwell. I bike around to Historic Cromwell or whatever they call it. Fun fact, the old town was flooded when they dammed the lake. These buildings were relocated. I'm hungry and as usual have had no coffee and these places aren't open yet. I head back to the bus stop for flat white #3 and scone #1. I think scones have gone out of style. I haven't seen them anywhere.

I bike through a new housing development to see a house that's been taunting me for over a year. It is surrounded by blocks and blocks of new homes and homes under construction. There are walking and bike paths everywhere but no people.

I get quite lost which is surprising considering Cromwell is not big. The lake is not visible from anywhere unless you're right in front of it. Cromwell has almost none of Wanaka's/Queenstown's beauty.

I manage to find my way back to the historic district after clocking 10+ km in suburbia. The Lake Dunstan trail map indicates I can ride 16 km toward Wanaka without getting on the highway. Neither Google maps or my Garmin know anything about this trail.

I decide to reset my Garmin and call this the start of today's ride.

Lake Dunstan just isn't as pretty as it's neighbor lakes. As it's manmade, there are a lot of inlets that I later discover add 5 km to my ride.

Pisa Moorings, built on a few of these inlets is definitely making an effort on their section of lake. There's a sign that it's a predator free zone. It's either a vacation or retirement community. It feels stepfordy and the only people I see are white haired old men spraying their gardens with something.

The trail ends and I must move to the highway. It is more boring than anything else. There's a cold headwind and the shoulder is often wheel width. I get assaulted by magpies. I can't remember what I'm supposed to do besides putting fake eyes on the back of my helmet and I don't have any of those. I tuck in and speed up while they yell at me for what feels like 10 km but was probably a couple hundred meters.

I run out of water. There is nothing around until I approach a sign for the Nanny Goat Winery. I figure they'll either give me water or worse case I can buy a bottle of 88% water. Their sign says 1700 meters. I don't know if they're open and it's probably up hill. I only have 20 km to Wanaka so I press on without water.

I eventually reach Luggate and stop and whatever this place is called. I buy a bottle of water and see they have pies. They're out of most of them and I should not have selected the smash burger. It was worse than it sounds. I eat half of it and regret taking this photo because now I cannot easily wipe it from my memory.

Wanaka feels quiet after a few days in Queenstown. I had plans to visit a Wanaka brewery or two, but I see they're all a mile up the hill I just came down. I take my picture with some public art and settle for a pizza parlour in a brew pub. I have a view of the bicycle which I'm too tired to remove anything valuable from.

Cardrona is 25 km up hill. I can't remember how much climbing and the Internet is useless because no cyclist has ever stopped stopped on this road before reaching the summit. Google says mostly flat, but I already know Google lies. It turns out to only be 200 meters give or take.