Day 25. Wet and shame
Pleasant Flats to Wanaka
Daily total: 18km Running Total: 1617.92km
Rain. So much rain. Again. The rain started around 10pm and just carried on and on and on and on and on and on and on. 10am it was still going strong. I was there,under the shelter trying my best to pack up camp and to dry stuff off. Stuffing my sleeping bag under T-shirt with the hope that my body heat will dry it off and using tissue to remove the paddling pool from the tent.
Around 10.30am, the rain still had not tired itself out and everything, still sodden. A dutch couple took pity on me and offered a life line, in the form of a lift to Wanaka. Which was a good thing, as I had got it into my head that maybe I should just strip down to my swimming trunks and go on my merry way.
The road past Haast Pass was amazing. Stunning views, winding roads. Looked good cycling territory and the rain had let up. A tinge of regret hit me but if I decided to be retarded and decided to decline the offer of the lift, sod's law would have ensured continued rain. Never look a gift horse in the mouth.
Unloading the bike in Wanaka, I could feel everyone looking at me. They knew. They knew my little dark secret of copping out and skanking a lift. They saw me as a fake, a day rider or one of those cheats with a support van. They would not believe what I have achieved prior to this point. Unloading the bike from a van...I will have to live with this shame forever or for about 10 minutes until my melodramatic moment passes.
The weather was good in Wanaka, but after my prolonged encounters with the less than favourable elements, I decided that indoor time was due. This plan had to be aborted as a large bike race was scheduled for that weekend to spite my attempts to break into the world of indoor living. Everything was booked out with bloody cyclists, so back to the tent and the return to another out of town campsite. This would have been the end of the world but every cloud as a silver lining as life turned out well at the campsite as I met a group of English travelers and we pooled our food and cooking equipment together to get a proper big feed on the go.
Rain. So much rain. Again. The rain started around 10pm and just carried on and on and on and on and on and on and on. 10am it was still going strong. I was there,under the shelter trying my best to pack up camp and to dry stuff off. Stuffing my sleeping bag under T-shirt with the hope that my body heat will dry it off and using tissue to remove the paddling pool from the tent.
Around 10.30am, the rain still had not tired itself out and everything, still sodden. A dutch couple took pity on me and offered a life line, in the form of a lift to Wanaka. Which was a good thing, as I had got it into my head that maybe I should just strip down to my swimming trunks and go on my merry way.
The road past Haast Pass was amazing. Stunning views, winding roads. Looked good cycling territory and the rain had let up. A tinge of regret hit me but if I decided to be retarded and decided to decline the offer of the lift, sod's law would have ensured continued rain. Never look a gift horse in the mouth.
Unloading the bike in Wanaka, I could feel everyone looking at me. They knew. They knew my little dark secret of copping out and skanking a lift. They saw me as a fake, a day rider or one of those cheats with a support van. They would not believe what I have achieved prior to this point. Unloading the bike from a van...I will have to live with this shame forever or for about 10 minutes until my melodramatic moment passes.
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| Shame... |
The weather was good in Wanaka, but after my prolonged encounters with the less than favourable elements, I decided that indoor time was due. This plan had to be aborted as a large bike race was scheduled for that weekend to spite my attempts to break into the world of indoor living. Everything was booked out with bloody cyclists, so back to the tent and the return to another out of town campsite. This would have been the end of the world but every cloud as a silver lining as life turned out well at the campsite as I met a group of English travelers and we pooled our food and cooking equipment together to get a proper big feed on the go.
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| The clouds! Those crazy clouds! |
what a sky <3
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