It took us four weeks to ride from Auckland to Invercargill, the city located on the southern part of New Zealand. From there we rode to Dunedin, which was the hardest ride we’ve had so far.
The road from Invercargill to Dunedin is a coast scenic route, which was supposed to be nice and adventurous. We had more than 250 km to make on that day and that included a winding road for 56 km. For us it meant all day on the bikes, so we were hoping for a nice weather.
Well, at least it didn’t rain at first. Then it started to rain so we stopped for a hot soup and after waiting for more than an hour we decided to go further. We drove for hours in light rain that was small enough to allow riding but also big enough to make us totally wet. We drove through hundreds of narrow turns and bends on the 56 km part where we definitely improved our riding skills. When we arrived to Dunedin it was already dark and it was still raining. We got lost a few times as it was difficult to see the name of the streets in the darkness from under the helmet covered in raindrops. On top of that, as Dunedin is a city situated on big hills, we needed to ride up and down steep streets, too. When we found the address where we stayed at for the night I was so relieved that this day was over. Those were extreme conditions for our beginner’s level and experience. I really hoped that we’ll not have any more of such days while riding the bikes.
The next routes we took after a few days off were pure pleasures. Riding from Dunedin to Clyde and then from Clyde to Mount Cook was just perfect. It was warm, the sun was shining and we could admire beautiful views all day long. I must say that after our rainy adventure I was not very keen on riding the bike again. I begun to think that maybe changing the means of transport for something with four wheels and a roof was a better idea, but after those next days and few hundred kilometers of the most beautiful cruising experience I changed my mind. “I (still) wanna ride my bike!”
