After a leisurely start today which was once again chilly and calm, we walked down to the village for our usual coffee at Provisions and to pick up some picnic food for lunch. We then walked down by the river to the Bike Hire location where we were set up on two mountain bikes. Since this was to be a half day trip I opted for a mountain bike and not an ebike which would have cost twice as much. The assistant assured us this was an undulating trail along the Arrow and Kawerau Rivers and shouldnt be too challenging. Now, please note, that I hate biking up hills hence the reason I have an ebike. What a mistake to make. The trail was indeed undulating but it also had some nasty hills to get up from river level to the terrace above. Despite that, it was a nice ride through trees along the river with a well formed and maintained trail. There are a couple of swing bridges to cross over and I remember from our Nelson days that riding in a straight line across a swinging bridge isnt easy. Add to that Im scared of heights and it was
a hell of a long way down to the river far below. After 13kms we reached our destination of the Bungy Jumping location at the Kawerau Bridge. Here, we had our lunch, watched a few insane people jumping off the bridge or flying on the Zip Line, and headed back towards Arrowtown. I made a stupid mistake on one of the hills which was too steep for me to keep riding so I put on my brakes to stop and push the bike and it skidded out from under me. I ended up side down in a ditch at the side of the trail with the bike on top of me!! I couldnt move until Lindsay pulled the bike off. Hed love to have had a camera to capture the sight! Fortunately I only have a few bruises as a result. The rest of the way was uneventful apart from feeling pleased to get off that bike.
It is a good trail to do as you can do as little or as much as you want. The trail does go on through the wineries along the Kawerau. The bikes are okay but only have gears on the back wheel
Back at the motel we rested, cleaned up and then headed to Rebel Sports in Frankton to get some road shoes for me with their 20% sale. I think Linds lost the will to live having to contend with me fussing over what I would or wouldnt wear. They had to be the right colour, not too wide, have toe space and decent soles. Mission though. I should add here that Queenstown has solved its space problem by virtually building a town out in the Frankton area. There is a massive new shopping area with great parking, wide streets, modern offices, two Supermarkets and a huge number of shops. Queenstown itself must be suffering from the move of shops out of the area by the lake. The whole area has grown hugely since our last visit and there are new developments popping up everywhere. The standard of housing is also way above what were used to seeing. All they need now, are overseas tourists to get things moving again. In the meantime, we Kiwis will love it without them.
