Cross Creek to Wellington

I woke about 5am to the sound of wind in the trees and a brief shower. It was going to be a long, wet, windy day. The rain held off long enough for me to get packed up - no wet tent after a night in the railway shelter, thanks railway dudes - and have a good breakfast.

The first 5km is all uphill where the old fell engines used to use a centre rail with and horizontal wheels to clamp onto it to gain extra friction and climb the 1:15 gradient. I ground up it in first gear stopping every ten minutes or so for a breather. Pedallers Paradise's advice that the route is for lightly loaded bikes is pretty right!

After about an hour, two tunnels and a portage at Siberia gully, I'd climbed my way up to the Summit Tunnel which is 580m long and at the high point of the day's ride. Pulling out the torch I was surprise to see the silhouette of two cyclists entering the tunnel at the far end. Out here on a rainy day of all places? We met in the middle of the tunnel and exchanged hellos. they'd come up last night and were heading back down and off to the south Wairarapa coast. Good luck to them, the incoming southerly would make for a long day.

At the other end of the tunnel it was raining quite hard and I set off for the summit shelter about 300m away. There I found a grandfather, father and son up form Upper Hutt for a day's ride. they were drenched but cheerful and set off to explore the tunnel.

It's 10km of gradual downhill from the summit and I cruised most of it stopping briefly to find my gloves as my hands were getting cold. The showers came and went as did the wind. The threesome caught me up with about 2km to go to the road end and as happened yesterday I had helpful people on hand to help lift the bike over the two gates. How is it that I can cycle for hours and see no one and then when an obstacle presents itself there's someone right there ready to help?

The road for the Kaitoke end starts with a steep downhill and I had to stop part way down to give my arms a rest from the braking. With the rain and wind I wasn't keen for a fast run downhill. And there were some big, fast trucks once again.

From Upper Hutt I avoided the highway and followed the roads down the side of the Hutt River. It felt like each kilometre I got closer to Wellington the wind and rain grew stronger. The showers were heavy but thankfully brief but the wind did its best to hover between strong and gale force!

In Petone I didn't get my hoped for view of Wellington city. Instead of this....

I got this....

(I found the first pic on the internet. The second one, uncannily from the same perspective, is mine.)

I'd had about enough of the wind and rain and thought about heading to the local camping ground, but a call to my buddy Ed resolved it for me. I could stay at his. Ed is a very genial friend. I first met him at Ed's Juice Bar which he'd founded and we struck up a friendship of sorts straight off. We've spent many an afternoon trying to solve the world's problems whilst jumping from the wharf into the harbour or devouring endless smoothies and vegan delights at one of Wellington's many cafes. Ed's Juice bar is no longer and I'm not surprised - once Ed left it lost it's Ed-ness and, for me, that's what it was all about. Ed's since run for local office and now dabbles in the landscape gardening and building/decorating field.

My slog into the teeth of the wind and rain to Wellington was worth it. The wind at the Cake Tin (aka Westpac Stadium) and again at Bunny St may have stopped me in my tracks (and seen me nearly soil my dacks!) but getting to Ed's was worth it. We raced out for veggie curry and discussion on robotics and the philosophy of truth and then grabbed his painting gear to paint the Radio Active offices. Yep, my near 1000km ride to Wellington was capped off with a three hour, nighttime painting session. And that's what makes Ed such a great bloke...

The myPod started with a resounding version of Motorhead's 'Ace of Spades' with the Young Ones intro "To the station" ringing out, but soon turned to 'Wellington' by the Mutton Birds (today's myPod classic.) It's lyrics start "I wish I was in Wellington, the weather's not so good. The wind it cuts right through you and it rains more than it should" and today they were oh so right.