Sunday 9th February - Haast Village to Makarora

Today was the main slog uphill away from the coast and now moving East.  Unfortunately there were mountains in the way that created a serious barrier.  We were offered motorised assistance and to cut a very long story short lets just say due to logistics that never materialised.  So after 30 miles of gentle uphil from Haast Beach we started the real hill, past The Gates of Haast, and upwards and further upwards, past the roadworks trying to put the landslip right (there was a landslip last October which closed the road for a month and it is now open during the day only) and has only a single track carriageway for about a mile. The drivers behind us were very patient! The wind was against up and caused a few wobbles on some of the bends but we coped.  The route gradient leveled a bit and we could make some real progress and then before we knew it we were at and over the top.  Being nieve, I thought that was it, but the wind picked up and the last 10 miles downhill was the hardest.  We arrived in quite a good time overall to our pre booked A framed cabin, which was delightful.  Unfortunately few photos were taken today.  It we stopped to take a photo or two we would have had difficulty getting back on our bikes due to the wind, gradients, and luggage weight we are carrying. 

Yes I know 564 metres does not sound a lot but with a strong wind in our face and a very steep accent it was a hard climb and we walked pushing the bikes up the heavy incline for over two miles.

The view from Makarora that night. They had closed the road as usual overnight in fear of more rock falls.

As you can see, when the climb came it was a steep one!