"The Steepest Hill in the World," is what all the signs said in a small north Dunedin neighbourhood. Campervans were parked at the bottom of the street and there was a small crowd of tourists taking pictures as I biked by on a grey Dunedin morning. There was a handful of people sitting on the bench at the top of the street, enjoying an early morning adult beverage, presumably on holiday, celebrating their arrival to the top. As I turned to face the hill and pedalled toward it, I thought about taking my one front pannier bag off the bike, but thought better of it since it only weighed a couple of extra kilos. The hill couldn't be that steep, surely I've biked up steeper gravel hills, I thought. Some tourists seemed to be making bets about how far up I'd make it before getting off to walk - all the more encouragement to prove them wrong.
As sweat started to drip and I struggled to breath deep enough, I began to see why the hill is in the Guinness Book of Records for being the steepest. I was in my easiest gear - the 'granny' gear in front and a 34 tooth sprocket in my rear cassette - and I couldn't even see the top of the hill as the grade was still getting steeper. I was standing up, out of the seat, each pedal rotation a struggle and a breath in, a breath out. I could hear the tourists at the top "almost there, 20 meters to go," but didn't even bother looking up for fear of losing my balance and concentration of getting up the incline.
At last I made it to the top and was bombarded with congratulation and questions by the group at the top. For the first time in my memory, I couldn't speak after getting off my bike for my excessive breathing rate! My only question being - "WHY WOULD ANYONE BUILD SUCH A STEEP HILL!!!????? WHY?????"
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| The residential Baldwin Street in Dunedin looks quite normal from a distance but has the record of steepest street in the world. |
Dunedin feels like a college town. Much of its culture is based on Otago University and the energy that students bring every year. But after staying in Dunedin long enough to gain a strong appreciation for
the little city, Christchurch was pulling me back to finish the tour. I needed a job and was feeling quite ready to be settled in one place.
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It's hard to write a final blog post for a tour. I didn't even include one for my last tour. The final leg took me 7 days. I rode on 2 bike trails, over the Lindis Pass, and along the scenic route of the Canterbury plains. It was a great little trip and I managed to keep my mind in the moment and not think about the end of the tour and the different life I was about to start.
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| The final 7 day leg of the journey from Dunedin to Christchurch. I took the Otago Rail Trail to Alexandra, climbed over the Lindis Pass, pedaled along the Alps 2 Ocean bike trail which brought me close to Mt. Cook, descended to the Canterbury plains and hugged the base of the alps before cutting straight east to Christchurch. |
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| Beautiful view of Dunedin from the Otago Peninsula. Great day for a ride! It was hard to leave this beautiful city, especially when the sun was out! |
I was on the Otago Rail Trail for a day and a half. It's an old railway converted to bike trail, and definitely the most popular bike trail in New Zealand. With 150km of continuous gravel trail, many people take a 3-4 day holiday to bike the length of it. While I enjoyed being on the trail versus a road, I concluded that there are much more scenic bike trails in New Zealand. I finished the trail just in time to see the results of the annual easter bunny bang in Alexandra.
Farmers in Otago have a big problem with rabbits which were introduced by Europeans. Lacking predators and enjoying the quick growing grass, rabbit populations here are massive. In an effort to control the population, hunters come to Otago from all over New Zealand to compete in teams in a 24hr rabbit hunt. Between 10,000 and 25,000 rabbits get shot annually!
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| Nice Shooting! Results from the annual Great Easter Bunny Bang in Otago |
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| The Alps 2 Ocean trail posed challenges but huge rewards for riding. I followed it for about 80km through the McKenzie high country. I camped next to this lake (Lake Ohau) and enjoyed a beautiful night of stargazing. |
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| Hydro power canals make for flat biking, and provide a source of clean, cold, flowing water for salmon farming. Massive canals connect a series of lakes in this area and provide the South Island with a huge portion of renewable energy. |
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| View of Mt. Cook across one of the hydro lakes - Lake Pukaki - from the A2O trail. |
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| The Canterbury plains. Where sheep once ruled, dairy operations are becoming very common. Milk is processed and sold to China for the most part. The water consumption and waste from cows is a growing concern for the environmental health of the plains. |
So I'm back in Christchurch now and starting a new part of my life. In the past 2 years I've spent 10 months bicycling about 18,000km across the USA, Canada and New Zealand. I worked as a ski instructor at Big Sky and baked tasty treats in a cafe. I spent 1.5 months in the Domincan Republic as a camp councilor. I'm excited to be settled in one place to make a new home. The repair work that needs to be done in Christchurch provides a great opportunity to learn about professional engineering.
I've been hired on as an engineer at a small engineering consultancy that specializes in geotechnical and water engineering projects. Right now, I'm doing geotechnical field work, analyzing the soil strength for foundations at properties around Christchurch.
I'm also staying with a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Canterbury working on a new way to view sustainability. I've never felt so motivated and focused in my life. There will definitely be more to come on that... Hope you've enjoyed reading about my trips. Stay tuned for more adventures of a different sort!
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| The completed map of my 5 month, 8000km bike ride around New Zealand |
