Day 4 Naseby to Omarama

Last night the rain came down all night and as I heard it I made a decision that given my injury to my leg I would take a day off on the ride… good decision as it turned out for me as the rain kept up for most of the day and especially for those completing the Central Otago trail.

We were off in the van to the start point at 7.30 am and after unpacking the bikes the guys except Ellio and myself plus Ian, the van driver, were off for the 42 km ride.

Conditions were wet and cold and after about 15 kms, we met with the riders at a stop point on the trail where some got additional wet weather gear and all pumped their tyres up as the low pressure in the tyres made riding very difficult.

After this we drove to Middlemarch where the 3 of us had a coffee and muffin ahead of the riding group and then made our way to the end of the trail to meet the sogging wet riders!!!

After a quick change in the public toilets into dry gear, we all assembled at the Kissing Gate coffee shop for coffee and muffins to allow the riders to thaw out!!

Then after packing the bikes we were off to Omarama where we are staying tonight of the Alps to Ocean ride.

To say some parts of the ride were scary would be an understatement…. We went on an unmade road through the Dansey Pass which was at best a single lane road through hills where the road had no barriers the drop over the edge was enormous!

John Aldis, one of the Kiwis drove during this time and his driving skills homed on many hours of 4WD driving were put to good use.At one stage we were slowed down to a stop by a mob of sheep being herded along the road and the van started slipping with no traction!

We all got out of the van and helped by pushing it to get moving again. Thankfully it worked and we were able to get going again after a short walk to the top of the hill.

All a bit scary as the plan B would have involved towing I guess!! 

At the top of pass at 870 metres we met a German fellow who was on a ride…. He was backpacking and riding without a helmet!

After this it was incident free travel to Omarama where we were able to check in to our motel for the night.

Dinner tonight was at the local pub which was very busy and as a consequence the meals were slow in coming to us but my meal was good

In summary the day was a good one despite not riding 

No pictures today as the link is not working