Mountain Biking
Queen Charlotte Track
Portage Resort (Torea Saddle) to Anakiwa
Pushing out of port - for what seemed like forever
Day 3: April 28, 2004
Overnight, it continued to rain off and on. Although the trails would be wet, this last section of the Queen Charlotte Track didn’t look to be as impossible to ride in the wet as the last section did. Our morning forecast for the day looked good. It actually would be a typical New Zealand day – cloudy with a little drizzle in the morning, clearing into a beautiful day in the afternoon. It hardly mattered though, as I would have rode this last section in a monsoon.
True to Queen Charlotte Track form, our day started with a long and steep climb (this time on asphalt) back up to the track. Making a right at the WWII monument, we were off to a slow start. Our exuberance was great but did us little effective good – the trail begins a VERY steep, more often than not, impossible ascent up. I commented more than once that this particular 407-meter ascent from Portage the top of the first mountain is unridable by anyone. It is seriously that steep and that long. For a reference, it took Kelli and I approximately one and a half hours to push and ride our bikes up. Several false tops had me celebrating for victory pictures before I finally stopped posing at every knob and was certain that I was at the top of our first and highest climb of the day. When we finally reached the top, those low-lying cotton ball clouds that previously hung over the Sound were now blowing all around us creating a surreal but beautiful landscape. At the very top, we would spot our first glimpse of sunlight, beaming through the clouds on the other side of the Sound. It seemed as if it just might be a great day after all.
Once at the top it’s a downhiller’s and/or brave soul’s delight. Steep downhill track and often-precarious switchbacks are the reward for an hour of labor. We both enjoyed the respite. After that, several undulations cross into private land and begin a long, fast, steep and grassy descent. As I barreled down the wide track with every bit of abandonment I could muster, Kelli was having issue with the wet grass. I watched as she would over-brake the rear and send herself sliding sideways again and again.
From here we enjoyed a winding, but not steep descent into Davies Bay. The trail signs indicated that we had but 6 kilometers of more or less coastal riding to do before finishing the track. Fern forests lined the trail, as did huge trees. The coast is always immediately to one’s left. With the smell of the sea in my nose, and lush green foliage filling my vision, I was almost certain that I couldn’t take any more sensory input.
In all too short a time, we arrived at the southern terminus just outside of Anakiwa. Here we would ride the road to the only, and I repeat ONLY, establishment in Anakiwa to get refreshments while waiting on the ferry. At the Tirimoana House and Blistd’ Foot Café’ we enjoyed a hot “toastie” (toasted sandwich) and some tea, while reliving our great adventure and waiting on our ferry that would return us back to Picton.
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