Distance: 61 kms. Ride Time: 4:22 hours.
When I arrived in Invercargill I discovered
yet another system of colds fronts was forecast expected to arrive over the
next few days. Sure enough, yesterday morning I awoke to wet and soggy
conditions, and decided to delay my departure by a day. But really, I was just delaying the
inevitable, as the fronts were almost certain to arrive sometime whilst I was
on the road.
So I set out this morning in calm and
overcast conditions, with a slight breeze assisting and the road gently
rolling, and I was able to make good time.
As the morning progressed the clouds became
darker and darker. The first shower arrived just as I encountered a pair of
German cycle tourists I’d first met approaching Queenstown. They had taken the
Otago Rail Trail across to the east coast and were approaching Invercargill
from the opposite direction.
Soon after I reached the Titiroa River,
near Fortrose. It’s the whitebait
season, and there were many whitebaiters with stands and nets along the river.
I should have stopped for a photo, but the cold front arrived about the same
time, with driving rain and howling cold winds.
Pushing the last few kms through the wind,
I arrived at the hamlet of Fortrose just after midday, and stopped at the one and
only café. It was just after midday so I
decided to stop for lunch and wait to see if the front would pass quickly.
The café was offering whitebait on the
menu. It’s undoubtedly a delicacy to many Kiwis’, and some go to great lengths
and endure much to catch them, so I decided it was time I tried them for myself
to find out what all the fuss is about. I ordered a whitebait omelette, which
tasted – like an omelette. I expected whitebait to have a fishy taste but couldn’t
detect any fish flavour at all.
After a languid lunch break conditions had
not improved, but I continued anyway to see how far I would get. It soon became
obvious that in the battle against the wind I would be the loser. So at Tokanui
around mid-afternoon I decided to call
it a day. Tomorrow, if the conditions improve, I will have easy and fairly
short ride down to Curio Bay, which give me a little more time to have a look
around.
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