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| 2014-11-15 The Crown Range. Click for more photo's |
15/11/2014
Wanaka to Queenstown
Overnight
it had snowed on the peaks which looked like fairy cakes with a sugar
sprinkling. Todays' climb was a biggie of 800m but spread out over 40
kms. The weather remained good and the climbing was comfortable
although the last 3kms had a bit of a sting in the tail and made the
arrival at the top a sweaty affair but with a gale force wind and a
few snowflakes it was time for a quick change into coats and over
trousers. From the top there were fantastic views of the peaks of
The Remarkables and down the valley to the SW Queenstown could be
seen, albeit 25 kms away. The descent was completely exposed to the
full force of the gale force SW wind which made it difficult to keep
the bikes in a straight line and the speed had to be kept down.
We
had time on our hands and decided to follow the trails into
Queenstown, again all very beautiful along rivers and through the
forests. On the final 10 kms into goal we found ourselves on an
isolated track well away from a road and came upon a sign abruptly
announcing that the track was closed. We could go back but decided
that the sign didn't really apply to us and pushed on. 1 km further
on the track it became obvious why the track was closed as it had
fallen into the river. We managed to negotiate the slip but had to
take the bags off and breathe in to negotiate what was left of the
track.
Queenstown
is a lively tourist town with lots of thing to do for adrenalin
junkies but after a full days cycling all we usually want to do is,
find a room, get some food and drink and refill/recharge. There are
loads of mtb's here. Like in the French Alps you can use the tele
cabin to get your bike to the top of the mountain so you can then
enjoy the downhill without having to slog up the hill. Will have to
come back to check it out!
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| Trickier and steeper than it looks but explains " track closed " |
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