Cycling Days Seventeen and Eighteen and Arrowtown

We left Queenstown on Wednesday 6th April with just a short 19km to Arrowtown, I think this was one of the hardest cycling days we've had! Arms aching from the river boarding, legs aching from the mountain biking, bikes weighing a tonne for no apparent reason, lots of dead things on the road and our first puncture, it was just a poor day. Arrowtown however made up for it, the campsite was newly refurbished with a lovely kitchen and underfloor heating in the bathrooms - believe us this is bliss!

Arrowtown is another old gold mining place, we stayed an extra day due to inclement weather and mooched around the museum and Chinese settlement and then had a walk along the river admiring the autumn colours. Finally a drink at a micro brewery in town. Just what we needed to rest for the following day. Arrowtown is one of the nicest places we've been to.

Day eighteen of the cycling is one of the biggest we'll undertake, the Cardrona Pass over the Crown Ranges, NZ's highest sealed road at 1078m high. It took us just under two hours to get to the top of all the switch backs etc, we were deceived by the first section which wasn't too bad, the second section was hideous. However we made it without pushing and the views at the top were reward for all the hard work. A long downhill then to the Cardrona  Hotel and a burger and beer reward. An easy run then into Wanaka and the reward of a cabin for the night instead of a tent.