NZ Day 8 - Kokonga to Middlemarch

Our last night on the trail was spent at the Two Wheel Backpackers in Kokonga. The owner, Fred, is a super-friendly guy who has opened up his home to weary cyclists on the trail. We were basically given free reign of the house & spent the night being warmed by the fire in front of the TV. It was pretty awesome :-) The house was formerly the Kokonga general store - Fred had lots of interesting history about it on display.

It's hard to describe how beautiful the subtle changes in landscape were. Here we were entering the drier climate region.

Yet more cool old bridges we had to cross.

I honestly can't remember the name of this site, but it was something to do with diverting water for gold-mining.

Stunning scenery in the Upper Taieri Gorge.

The entrance to the Prices Creek Tunnel.

Hyde from afar. The cafe here serves pretty awesome coffee, so I'm told, but at this point I was experiencing that 'can't stop, must keep going' thing you sometimes get when involved in physically demanding activities. So I didn't stop. The boys did, and we ended up meeting again at the end of the day in Middlemarch.

Despite my wish to push on through, I couldn't resist a quick shot of Hyde Station.

A creek running through the Rock & Pillar conservation area.

The bridges truly offered endless photo opportunities.

I went for a short walk into the conservation area, but the wind picked up & I was getting cold, so I took my photo & moved on.

Cairn honouring the people who died in NZ's worst train disaster - 21 people died in 1943 when a train travelling too fast derailed.

The landscape flattened out a bit on the last stretch into Middlemarch, but was still beautiful in its own way.

The long and straight road?

Quick stop at Ngapuna Station.

This fella was waiting for me as I approached. I had to stop for a photo, but he didn't seem to like it, immediately flaring his nostrils & looking at me in what I perceived to be an angry manner. I moved on pretty quickly - the fences around here aren't all that strong.

Finally I reached the end of the trail - Middlemarch. Here is the Taieri Gorge train waiting to take passengers to Dunedin. I was kind of disappointed we were getting the bus back to Clyde as apparently the train passes some pretty impressive scenery.

Check it out - 190km! Go team!

Looking a bit tireder & feeling a lot sorer at the end of the line.

Cycling the Otago Rail Trail is one of the highlights of my NZ trip. It's one of those feelings that's impossible to describe unless you experience it yourself. So get out there and do it, you hear me!