Spent a fun weekend with Jodi mountain biking the Queen Charlotte Track in the Marlborough Sounds.
I arrived in Endevour Inlet in the early evening on Friday and was quickly whisked away by Jodi and her work mates for a delicious meal at Furneaux Lodge. Fiona was having a birthday, so the meal turned into a few drinks and a rather late night for all of us..
Next morning the cloud and light rain lifted a little providing cool cycling conditions. The track was pretty muddy in plenty of places and we had to do a fair bit of 'bike pushing' to get around the bogs.
Our first and only chance to visit the water on day oneThe first bit of the ride was more or less countouring round Endevour inlet, but once at the Kenepuru Saddle, it was a steep grind to the spine of the range. The uphills seemed rather relentless, but were balanced by some fun downhills and mellow flats. There were lots of chances for great views over the sounds and back toward farmland valleys to the west.
It was a pretty solid day, with 30km of biking taking a bit more than 6hrs, which was the most time i'd spent in the saddle to date.
That night we stayed at Portage, succumbing early to sleep from the long day and late night partying.
Jodi removes a stone in the sunday sunshine
Jodi battles uphill
Our second day began sharply with a steep slog uphill in the glorious sunshine. From Portage to the first road crossing the terrain was pretty steep and tough, but the section from the last road through to Anakiwa was simply delightful.
We stopped off for a wee swim about 15 mins from the Jetty which was a great way to enjoy the end of a fantastic trip.
The last 50m to our return ferry
Wither Hills map
On my way to Mt Vernon
A rest stop with interpretive displays on the farm track
