Day 3 - Wedderburn to Hyde

Bev and I had a continental breakfast with Roger and his wife who were staying in the Lodge with us.  He told us a little about himself; he had sold a business a few years back and had retired.  I guess he was in his fifties.  They were travelling in a Travel Home and this had been it seemed an almost last minute decision.  He had clearly built up a substantial business  and I guess it was enough let him retire and do things.

The day had begun bright and clear then all of sudden there was fog.  We took our time to pack, and make our way to the track.  It was beginning to clear as we headed off on the downleg part of the track.  The first picture opportunity was the Wedderburn railway shed that was made famous by Graeme Sydney’s painting.  I was about to take a photo of it and van with a bike trailer decided to park right in front it ruining my picture.  I grumply smiled and asked him to move which he did, phew. 

About halfway between Wedderburn and Ranfurly we called in at a little information shed where I rehydrated.  The mist and fog had cleared away and we had clear azure sky contrasting with golden brown hills and the plain which was tinged with green. Just as we were about to leave we noticed a Ute following some sheep and was then surprised to see it was on the track.  I was so taken with it I took a photograph of it as vehicles are prohibited trail.  The farmer pulled in and leaned out the window, while one of his dogs circled me curiously, and asked, “Are you going to report me?”  I replied, “No, I just wanted to record an interesting event”. “Ahh” he grunted in reply.  A brief conversation followed. He asked us where we were from and then commented that there were a few riders on the track and made a comment about the lovely weather.  Then he said, “ I better catch up with my sheep” and proceeded slowly along the track for another hundred metres before turning off.  At Ranfurly we explored a small museum and souvenir shop which detailed the history of the Rail Trail.  We then cycled slowly around the little town which took five minutes.  We had a nice coffee at a little café and spoke to a couple of the locals.  Bev took photos of the cakes that were lined up in the cabinet – apparently nostalgic memories for an ex-pat who hasn’t seen or tasted those what she described as "yummy" slices for a long time.  Despite the lovely clear sunny day there was a distinct nip in the air.  Despite it being the middle of the week it was very quiet that was so different to the noise and bustle of a bigger place. 

Waipiata Hotel

Eight kilometres down the track we called in at Waipiata for lunch at the pub.  I had a lovely BLT and Bev and steak sandwich which was enough to feed an army, like every meal we seemed to have had on the trail.   We basked in the glorious sun for a while, resting my ever so slightly tender bum before looking around the one small street its ten houses and old church that made up the main and only street before heading on back down the trail.  There were more people on the trail than we had seen in previous days coming toward us from the Middlemarch end.  We passed an area which had been Lake Taieri.  At Kokonga I made a discovery that I had left my helmet at Waipiata.  I had a discussion with Bev about whether we go back and retrieve it or whether I call Trail Journeys and let them know that it is at Waipiata and get it transferred to Hyde.  Bev had commented that it had been an easy day so far and that perhaps we had not had enough exercise, so the decision was made to go back.  It was 10 kilometres and because it was relatively flat we were reasonably quick and were back in Waipiata 40 minutes later.

Animal life near Ranfurly

We stopped for a drink before getting on bikes and heading back from whence we came.  It was getting late in the afternoon and we saw more people on the trail than we had on the previous two days.  We got back to Kokonga about 30 minutes after leaving Waipiata.  It must have been slightly downhill!  My bum was beginning to get a bit sore by this time, although I found that by moving on seat I was able to relieve the pressure a bit although I think that it was the stinging from the chafing that was the real problem.  The part of the trail after Kokonga was rather nice with us beginning to enter the Upper Taieri Gorge.  As it was early evening the rabbits had decided to come out and play.  They were on the trail as well as on the bare hillsides.  It must be a real problem for the farmers in that area as it is quite a dry area.  In fact we found out later that this was the area where the rabbit calcivirus was introduced.  The same person said that the way they introduced it meant that it was not very potent so the rabbits developed resistance to the virus relatively quickly.

Upper Taieri Gorge

The low sun made for some very pretty sights.  As the autumn colours were beginning to show, there were hues of yellow along with the lighter golden browns of the hillsides, with a hint of green here and there.

The trail took us alongside the hillside or gorge above the Taieri River, it was all downhill.  We came to a very pretty bridge and then about a kilometre on there was the Prices Tunnel.  The tunnel entrance was in shadow so we stopped briefly to read the information before walking through it.  Hyde was beckoning so we headed at some speed for Hyde.  A few kilometres later we saw it come into view.  As we rode up to the hotel a woman called out asking if it was Murray.

“Yes” I replied.

“I left a message on your phone that your meal would be ready at 6pm.  If you go up the road to the schoolhouse they have kept some aside for you.  Your bags are here and when you get back we can put you in your room”

“Thanks” we replied together.

This was not what I had imagined I would do when we arrived.  I had thought a shower, a quiet drink of wine and then leisurely going to the dining room to have yet another well cooked and, of course farmer sized meal.

What was more my bum was sore and the last thing I wanted to do was ride another metre.  It turned out that it was another half kilometre and uphill.  However, when we got there, in reasonable cheer, we were welcomed and offered a nice selection of Central Otago pinot noir.  We chose a bottle of Rock and Pillar pinot noir grabbed our plates which had been kept warm and added a bit of salad.  The plates were as expected very large.  There was ham off the bone, some salmon and a chicken along with the usual frozen vegetables (cooked of course).  We sat communally and we chatted with the people;   a Dutchman living in Sydney and traveling solo and doing the trail on the recommendation of his Kiwi flatmate and a couple of farmers from Gisborne.   I was too busy eating and drinking and trying to wind down from the long day to feel particularly sociable. 

At half time this woman who is probably in her 70s came through and said she was going to tell us about the history of Hyde, and particularly the hotel, which turned out to be her history.  It was very nice to hear her talk about how she decided to make the hotel a stop on the rail trail.  She provided chapter and verse about the trials and tribulations.  She was clearly one determined woman who lived her dream and brought to life a little community that was rapidly fading with the loss of the railway.  She bought the school the historic Hyde School, in which we were eating, and gave it another use.  It does weddings as well as the meals for people like us who were on the trail.  Not only that the whole enterprise has provided work opportunities for some of the women in the region. 

After half time we were told that dessert was available and it was plentiful; a fruit crumble, custard, trifle and a pavlova (with lots of cream if one did not worry about ones arteries.  And then we had a bit more history.  In the meantime Bev and I had drunk a good proportion of the wine. 

On returning to the hotel, with our half finished bottle of wine, we could not find anyone to tell us which was our room.  After looking in each room to see if we could find our bags a nice woman appeared and took us to our room, which was without an ensuite but the showers and toilet were next door although it did mean venturing outside in the cold to get there.  The showers were a very nice way to relax prior to finishing off our wine and transferring our photos off the camera.

We cycled 72 kilometres that day and apart from the sore bum we felt pretty good so must have been getting a bit fitter.