An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
Another crystal clear and cool day here in fun city. About 9:00, Milton drove into town to meet up with Tony, his mountain biking guide for the morning. Picked up a kick-ass Gary Fisher double suspension bike and the two of us set off for Skipper’s Canyon. Tony is quite the cool, laid-back, long-haired shredder-dude and will be representing New Zealand at the world mountain biking championships in Quebec this fall, in the downhill and dual-slalom competition. We began by pedalling up a decent grade for a bit too long (8 weeks of no biking except for a few hotel gyms is definitely not the way to stay in biking shape!) We stopped to admire the view down and across the huge and colorful valley, with the lake peeking out between mountains, and then began Milton’s downhill lesson.
Wow, this was a clinic in a hurry! Mostly a steep (at least I thought so) downhill, along a narrow twisting trail with some good rocks to bump over for fun. Among all the helpful pointers Tony gave, one of the more memorable was as you ride down the winding rocky trail, keep your focus on where you want to be going, not fixated on where you are now and you’ll inevitably get to where you want to be. (just like in skiing, snowboarding, business, life. . .) A bit of loosening up, trusting the bike, looking ahead on the trail, some good recoveries, and I was alright. Still had to stop a few times and mentally reset, though. We were frequently pedalling through little streams and mud, though, and that always makes it more fun. We stopped at the bottom and checked out one of the many huts that are situated along the many lengthy trekking trails and in the National Parks. These are for anyone to use, are usually made of stone, and have several beds, a table and a large fireplace. No Nugget Point, but certainly good value for the price!
We crossed the stream, and headed back up to the top. This was a looooong ride, though at a (barely!) manageable grade. We stopped a few times to rest and soak in the scenery. One of the incredible things about this area is that with the myriad different trails, mountains and canyons to be explored on foot or on a bike, they all not only look different in the different seasons, but just over the course of the day — as the sun and shadows change so, too, does the appearance of the mountainsides, the lakes, the terrain, etc. In fact, as we began this morning, the right side of the steep canyon was all light and shadows, which accentuated just how ridged the mountainside was, whereas later as we slogged (at least one of us) uphill, the canyon walls had become brightly sunlit browns and golden grasses.
Tony was sporting enough to drive the Explorer back to Nugget Point, thus letting Milton coast screamingly downhill for an extra 15 chilly minutes. He was also nice enough to take the bikes back into town and return the car to us at NP (he then walked the few minutes home), saving us precious daylight hours.
Wendy had enjoyed a relaxing morning, catching up on reading and correspondence. After Milton showered all the mud off, we set off on the beautiful drive to Glenorchy. Even though one of us had just done this drive yesterday, with the changing light and shadows and colors, it definitely looked different; moreover, there’s just so much to absorb that many repeated viewings would only begin to do it justice. We stopped at several photo ops, then arrived at the Glenorchy Hotel, telling the warm and friendly staff that the menu had looked so appealing yesterday that it was worth the drive all the way back today!
We were introduced to “cooking on the stone” - where they bring the food out to you on a sizzling hot small rectangular stone on which the meat (or whatever) sits and cooks naturally. We started with prawns and mussels on the stone, which were fabulous, then lamb chops in a delicious mustard sauce and a mixed grill (venison, pork, beef, chicken) on the stone, with satay sauce. Along with a Mac’s Gold on draught, it was a divine meal.
We drove back, absorbed in the magenta and bluish shadows making their way softly up the mountains and across the lake (and getting into a discussion of just which drives were the most beautiful and memorable. This then led to our coming up with the phrase that sums up our experience and we’d like to humbly offer to the New Zealand tourist board: “New Zealand: Why go anywhere else?”). Midway back, we came upon a flock of several hundred sheep being herded - by a few eager dogs and a pickup truck - along the road. It took us a while, but we finally made our way past the whole lot of them; just another New Zealand traffic jam. . .
We got home and did some typing and reading. Then our masseuses arrived and we had our first New Zealand massages. Not so great, but better than none at all. Thus adequately relaxed, we called it a night.