A beautiful dawn came upon us in Omakau.
After a very early breakie we jumped on the bikes and took off from Tiger Hill Lodge.
Today’s stage would take us to Wedderburn but first we need to pedal around 50 km on the rail trail. Only occasionally did we encounter areas with intensive agriculture;
mostly we biked through a dry-looking landscape of rolling, boulder- and matagauri-strewn hills with sheep.
We rolled over several old bridges ingeniously constructed …
… and through two tunnels chiseled out by the tough and rough “rail gangs” some 115 years ago.
We did see some wildlife.
After a veeery looong straight stretch the trail eventually led us to Oturehua.
At the outskirts of the tiny village we stopped and decided to have ...
... some lunch at an old homestead.
Then we proceeded to the other four houses in the village and found the oldest and still functioning general store in New Zealand.
Inside Gilchrist's 117-year-old store tins, cans, bags and packages of all kinds of long-gone brands were still for sale.
A couple of kms farther along the trail we met a sheep farmer family + three dogs all engaged in treating their rounded-up sheep.
At a surprisingly fast rate the sheep were funneled through gate and fences and then each individual squeezed itself through a contraption that applied to the sheep a forceful spray of fluid; a treatment against fleas or the like, I assume.
Another long stretch of trail had to be covered, but fortunately we had a strong tailwind.
By mid afternoon we reached our overnight destination: Wedderburn
It is not even a village, but just some cottages for tired bikers – and a tavern 300 meters away by an asphalt road.
We are now in cottage # 12 and are enjoying this view over the sheep pastures and towards the Maniototo mountains.
. . .
Tomorrow will be a new day of exploring – and we should be in the village of Hyde by tomorrow evening.
