Day 4 – Twizel to Lake Ohau Lodge

Twizel Village Centre

We decided that consulting weather forecasts did not provide an accurate state of the weather for any one day. The forecast today predicted rain for the trip. About the only thing that was accurate was the wind. It was sunny and warm. Wonderful weather for cycling.

On the way to the Pukaki Canal road

We slept like logs after the long day from Aoraki Mt Cook to Twizel. It was quite an effort we had made both physically and mentally. There is a deliciousness about feeling tired after a lot of exercise.

As this leg was a relatively short one we took our time. Bags had to be ready for transfer at 9am. We took the car to its resting spot for the following five days and called into a café nearby for a coffee before returning to the motel get our bikes and start our ride.

B decided that a narrower seat like on her bike in Sydney would be much more comfortable so we went back to the helpful mechanics at Cycle Journeys who rented a seat to her. Then we went into the little village centre to get some sunscreen and couple of other things. Since we were not in a hurry we had another coffee. It was lovely being able to have a look around.

Pukaki Canal

Twizel was built by the Ministry of Works for labourers on the power scheme that delivered Lake Benmore, canals, raised the level of Lake Pukaki and diverted much of Lake Tekapo’s water through Lake Pukaki. When the scheme was finished the idea was that the town would be sold off and dismantled but it refused to die and it certainly looks like it is prospering from the growing tourism in the area.

We're waiting patiently !

The ride to Lake Ohau lodge took us on the northern side of Twizel past some very nice houses, many on lifestyle blocks. Then we followed the Pukaki Canal until it met the Ohau Canal. Along the lower Ohau Canal there was a salmon farm., with fish in cages. I stopped to watch a fisherman reel in a large salmon from the canal. There must be a few wild ones around judging by the number of fishermen around. I was told there were also quite a few trout.

Lunch spot

It was a bit more work than anticipated due to the wind, which was blowing in our faces. We stopped for lunch alongside the canal which was reasonably peaceful. Traffic was infrequent along the canal edges and the vehicles gave us a wide berth. Just as we finished lunch, the Englishwoman, Jo, from Wellington came past and stopped to talk with us. She also took a photo for us.

Canal outlet from Lake Ohau

At the Lake Ohau outlet for the canal we joined the off road section of the A2O which wound its way around the eastern end of the Lake Ohau. After tarmac it was quite nice to hear the crackle of the wheels on the fine gravel. We both had an “oopsie ”moment on a narrow slippery part of the track reminding both of us that we needed to concentrate on the track and not look too often at the stunning scenery.

After about ten kilometres we joined the road leading to Lake Ohau Lodge. We had the wind in our faces which made it hard work despite being on tarmac. The ten kilometres to the Lodge seemed to take ages. Finally we were there, although we did have a little bit of a climb from the road to ensure we were prepared for climbing the following day. Our room at the Lodge is small but functional and they seem to have put most of the cyclists in the one block.

Tomorrow, New Year’s Day, we have the most challenging day where we have a bit of hill climb and technical descent.

The distance covered today was 40 kilometres, elapsed time about four hours and riding time 2h 40mins at an average of 16.5 kph.