Day 4 - Hyde to Middlemarch and then to Dunedin

It was another nice sunny day for our fourth day on the Trail.  It was to be our shortest day in both distance and time for riding.  After our breakfast we loaded up.  We had decided to backtrack to Price’s Tunnel as it was late in the day and we had not had the opportunity to have a look at the other tunnel that had been constructed during the gold mining era.  Also we wanted to keep our exercise hours up, given we were going to be in a train for a little while at the end of the day.  There was a lot of wind from the north when we headed back up the trail so it was a bit of hard work 

As we were leaving Hyde the tour guide that I had encountered at Ophir arrived with the van and trailer.  She said hello and said that she was meeting her group at the tunnel so would be faster than us and would warn them that we were coming.  We were unconcerned and enjoyed the work of biking back up the trail.  The first of her group were coming through the tunnel just as we arrived.  We walked the bikes through the tunnel. After we got through the tunnel and were considering the route down the hill to the water tunnel we heard the stentorian voice of the guide telling them to “beware of two riders coming through the tunnel”.  I said loudly enough to be heard that we were through. 

Overlooking the upper Taieri River near diversion

Then we both heard her giving instructions to this woman about our age on how to put on her helmet and treating her as if she was an incompetent teenager (she was middle aged like us).  Poor woman!  One of the reasons why I could not do a tour!  After we watched the performance of detailed instructions on how to go through a tunnel we smiled to each other thanking someone we did not go on a tour and clambered down the hill to see the other bit of engineering.  This other tunnel had been constructed to divert the Taieri River so that gold could be mined.  It was interesting to see that the diversion was still there working as well as it did a century or so ago.  It did not divert all the river but I guess when the flow was low most of the water would have gone through the tunnel.  The force of the water coming through the other end was considerable.  Out of the wind it was very nice in the sun. 

The wind blew us back down to Hyde where we called back into the hotel and got a coffee from the café and sat in the sun enjoying it.  Before we left we picked up a very nice sandwich on my part and a wrap for Bev.  We then went back to have a look at the school where we had had dinner the previous evening.  It is a listed building and they have done a wonderful job of converting it to a function centre while keeping its essence as a former school intact.  Even the pool had been converted to a conversation area for outside functions. 

Hyde Station

Hyde Station was about 2 kilometres south of Hyde.  The station was up for sale, not sure what anyone would use it for; perhaps a bach.  There were still bits of the railway line there and a couple of rail trucks which was nice.  The trail goes down a wide valley to Middlemarch with the Rock and Pillar range on the western side.  It was blowing very strongly and a couple of gusts almost had me off the bike.  Biking into it would have been hard work.   About 4 kilometres south of Hyde Station there was a memorial to the Hyde railway crash when a train going twice as fast as it should have been (70mph instead of 35mph) derailed on a corner.  Twenty-one  people were killed. There was a memorial to the event a kilometre or so from the crash site and it was a sober reminder that even on trains there can be disasters due to human error. It appears the driver was trying to make up time!

Lunchtime

Around lunchtime we found a nice place to stop for lunch; a bridge over a small stream.  It was idyllic.  The wind had blown itself out so it was still, and the only sounds were the buzz of an insect, water running below us and our voices.  We were due at Middlemarch at 3pm so that we could be transported to the train further down the track at Pukerangi.  The trail was quite straight and easy to ride for the last few kilometres and all too soon we were at the end of the trail.  We took a photo and then a very kind person came along and offered to take one in which both Bev and I starred.  The final bit of the ride was through Middlemarch visiting Middlemarch Station before taking our very grubby bikes to the Middlemarch depot of Trail Journeys. 

End of the trail

For a small fee we were able to get a shower and change into clean clothing for the trip on the train to Dunedin. 

About to board the train Pukerangi

There was quite a crowd waiting at Pukerangi for the train, we suspect most were cyclists on their way back to Dunedin having done what we had.  A number of people disembarked and then we were away but only after the train had been decoupled, moved forward and then back to the new front of the train, if that makes sense.  We found that the people across the aisle from us in the carriage had been with the tour party led by the bossy woman.  They were circumspect in their comments but largely confirmed that it had been over organised and the woman was rather bossy.

The trip through the lower Taieri Gorge is spectacular.  The engineering to put it through there is something to behold given that it was all done by pick, shovel and dynamite.  They were certainly tough men. 

Lower Taieri Gorge from train

At Dunedin my friend Iain picked us up and took us back to his place.  He lives on the edge of what I think is Roslyn looking over Caversham suburb.  He has a large property that  gives of a sense of  one being in the country rather than a couple kilometres from the city centre.  

The next day Iain took us out to the airport.  Our little holiday was almost at an end.  For me it was easy, but Bev found that she couldn’t check in.  It turned out that her plane was grounded along with the rest of the fleet of ATR 72s due to a crack around the windshield that had been discovered.  Fortunately her plane was not due to leave until late that afternoon from Christchurch.  However, a planned reunion with her sister-in-law was not going to happen. 

My plane was full with rebooked passengers to other parts so there was no room for Bev to get a trip to Christchurch via Wellington.  A text to me after I got Wellington told me that she had taken a bus to Christchurch. 

It was a superb little break from writing Position Descriptions, and something I would do again.  


Central Otago is scenically stunning.  Whichever way one looked there were stunning sights.  The land is dry, although it was unusually green for this time of the year.  The air was clear and on the days when there were no clouds the visibility was almost unlimited, with the surrounding mountains and hills etched into the sky.  

We found the people along the trail generally very friendly and willing to have conversations about themselves and the area.  Similarly when we encountered people on the trail they were all ready to talk.  I guess a case of everyone having something in common.  Security was not a problem, we did not have bicycle locks and it was apparent that the locals generally did not lock up their houses or cars.  As one person said if something was stolen everyone would know who did it and they would be made to pay for it in some way.  It reminded me of my childhood where Mum and Dad did not lock the house and the keys were left in the car.