Day 7: Waikaia

My family is aware of the 8th law of physics, or possibly biology. It is not well known but is as follows : The towel forgets.  That’s it. It is proven. What the law is about is that when you have your shower and you dry off you will start with your face and then your other bits and eventually your nether regions. That’s logical of course as let’s face it, you are hardly likely to bury your face in a towel with which you have just polished your bum!

But, then the towel is placed on the drying rail and next day when you shower the towel has forgotten so you can safely start the process from face onwards. 

The towel forgets. 

Well I wanted to extend the research further to see if indeed other items of clothing forget. The answer is they don’t. Undies that haven’t been washed for 4 days definitely remember. You most definitely don’t want to put your face in 4 day old sweaty undies. To be honest , even the intended occupants of the undies were beginning to baulk at being stuffed back in there. That is a very long winded way of saying we were in desperate need of a laundry day. 

After a good nights sleep at the recommended Commercial Hotel in Omakau we set off on yet another cold morning. We only rode for a minute before Dave Mac’s gps unit shat itself and dumped all the stored gpx tracks for our trip and then retreated into a shell where it refused to communicate with anybody. Dave’s response was an interesting and detailed description of female anatomy and procreation which seemed an unusual response but shows where his mind spends most of it’s time. 

The gps came back but the tracks didn’t and Dave’s mood was matching the light drizzle. 

So we headed over the old Dunstan road descending into the upper Taieri river valley where the poor man wanted to stop for coffee at the side of the road in the  heavier drizzle. Obviously I refused. Dave M showed remarkable restraint, only briefly mentioning one of my past failings and Dave L was wisely keeping quiet. 

So up and over, bisecting the Lammermoor and Rock and Pillar ranges we went. The rain stopped and so did we, at a beautiful spot overlooking the Loganburn reservoir. Coffee was had and mood brightened and although it wasn’t stated, obviously I was right. 

After a long flowing run across the top we intersected with Gardiners track which was to take us to the town of Lawrence. It was closed due to logging activities. Karen will smile at this. Predictably Dave M wanted to go take a look, I didn’t and Dave L was placed in an awkward and impossible position i.e. how could he keep us both happy. He couldn’t. 

Knowing I didn’t have enough fuel to backtrack I wasn’t going to go and to his credit Dave Mac didn’t make a fuss and rode off on our bypass route. And what a blessing the bypass was. A mixture of winding seal and mostly pea gravel through stunning south Otago countryside. Green paddocks lined with tussock over hill and dale in the most incredible sunlight that had broken through with a backdrop of purple dark clouds that threatened, but in the end only delivered atmosphere. I should have taken more photos but I didn’t. Certainly none that did it justice. 

In Lawrence the earth’s equilibrium was restored when Dave Mac found a kind and trusting lady who lent him her computer so that he could reload all the gps tracks. Faith in humanity and technology restored we allowed Garmin to take us to Waikaia via more awesome Southland rural gravel. The sun disappeared and the wind blew in our faces so it was cold and not perfect which is how it should be. 

Dave Lear had shed all his warm gear in Lawrence because he was standing in a sunbeam surrounded by dark skies. What a positive outlook. Obviously he was punished for that and got to our destination completely frozen. Take that.

So Dave Mac who forgives me my failings daily, helped me reattach the bits of my bike that were beginning to fall off and hopefully my luggage will stop tapping me on the back of my head. I’ll test it on some rough trails tomorrow. Continuing the theme that there should be no perfection, my water pump cover gasket is leaking. So now I can replace my minor luggage worry with something slightly more significant! 

Dave tells me not to worry so I won’t. The only reason I wrote about it is so I can sound knowledgeable but rest assured, I don’t have a clue. 

Dave Lear, he is too good for us, has spent  the last 4 hours fighting with faulty washing machines and tumble dryer’s. That’s adventure riding for you.