Day 9 Lake Dunstan Ride

There's a really good writeup of the Lake Dunstan bike trail in Stuff, too.

Our Lake Dunstan biking day started with an early morning coffee and iced latte expedition to Ferg Baker (next door to Ferg Burger).  Queenstown is nice and quiet in the early morning.

We said goodbye to Iona and left her to start her day.  Thanks for coming, Iona! You've been a great Southern Adventure companion.

6:45am iced latte

We'll miss you Iona!

There were five of us today - Me, Mike, Janine, Callan and Stacey.  

We jumped in the van and swung past Callan and Stacey's Rav4, parked up on a Kelvin Heights side street, to grab helmets and other bike gear.  As we headed south down the Kawerau Gorge, right on time, we realised we actually started from Clyde and not Cromwell and so we were late.  Some panic ensued but we were driving just behind the bike company's shuttle bus so that reassured us. We were just ten minutes late in the end and it wasn't a bother.

We followed the shuttle bus all the way to the She Bikes He Bikes car park, and soon found our bikes lined up on the old railway station platform. The professional but relaxed and reassuring staff soon had us fitted to our bikes and quickly ran us through how everything worked. Then we loaded our bikes onto the enormous shuttle bus trailer and Don, our driver, drove us back up State Highway 6 to the start of the trail.

We're ready to begin

The first part of our ride was around the Lake Dunstan inlet to Bannockburn and back, shaking down our bikes as we went. Janine's bike wasn't accelerating like it should, in fact we worked out that it was actually not providing any e-bike assistance at all and showing a "W013" error (thanks, Callan, for remembering that code a full year later). We tried various things to fix it but - of course - turning if off and on again sorted it out.

In fact I think this first few km was mainly there to sort out both the bikes and their riders. In this part it is easy to leave the trail and get help or pull out. Especially at the Carick Winery where some other riders warned us with serious voices that we would find nothing more to drink past this point. I think they meant water but I'm not completely sure.

Off we set

Lupins

I'm having so much fun

Now we started around the lake proper, and the track went from "Grade 1" (wide flat gravel road) to "Grade 2-3" (slightly narrower track with some up and some down and some corners). 

One highlight was how the track designers had solved the impossible problem of how to get the track past the occasional sheer cliffs on the way around the lake. They had built cantilevered track hanging off the rock faces. Lots of fun to ride around. 

We reached the famous coffee boat right at 12pm. I enjoyed my second iced latte of the day along with yummy things from Ferg Bakery that I had secreted in my bike pannier. 

The view just keeps getting better

Mike reads about the cantilevered track

Lunch doesn't get much better than this

Straight after the coffee boat was one of our few ascents, a series of nicely graded switchbacks. Our E-bikes made short work of it. There was a viewpoint at the top with Brent's dad Bruce McMillan featuring on an explanatory sign.

"People were able to see inside the drainage tunnels after they were constructed. Pictured is tunnel guide Bruce McMillan during a drainage tunnel open day."

Callan, Stacey and I at the trig

Janine at the trig

It was quite surreal biking along this path, which Mike and I had looked at from the highway on the other side of the lake many times in our travels. And now we were biking along it, with the serenity of the heat and scenery only broken by the noise of the traffic on that same highway. Now we were watching the cars who were watching us and no doubt some drivers were wondering, "How did those cyclists get there? What's up with that track then?"

Towards the end we reached a huge, nearly 100m long suspension bridge named the Hugo Bridge in large letters. 

Mike set himself up and took a lot of photos

Mike's leg is not as photogenic as my feet

Stacey (and Callan)

Me!

Janine (and Callan)

Janine exits the bridge

... and onward, back at lake level

Clyde Dam was nearly our destination - it was the point when we transitioned from track back to tarmac. I'd never been that close to it before. Unfortunately you couldn't cross the dam itself, but you could see it up close.

Very soon we were back at He Bikes She Bikes Base Camp and returning our bikes. Clyde is quite a small town but it did have at least a couple of cafes and bars for weary thirsty cyclists. We chose The Merchant of Clyde and enjoyed a few drinks and a bite to eat.

Clyde dam, up close

Clyde memorial at the side of the road.
"RIP Danny, our lovely cat. We miss you."

The Lake Dunstan cycle trail was really impressive. I had high expectations and it exceeded them! If you have a spare day in the Queenstown area it's a must do.

42km in slightly over 4 hours (we were definitely not in a hurry)