The ride out was dead into the wind; struggling to keep 15 km/h on flat ground. After what seemed like forever, I got to Kingston, and it is a tiny little town. One gas station on the corner of the highway and the main road into town. There was a sign for a cafe at the Kingston Flyer, so I rode up and discovered that the Flyer is an operating sightseeing train that goes along the river there.
I hopped off the bike and saw my 3 Argentine friends from the chocolate shop wandering around. A nice surprise; they were having a picnic and then going for a hike. They apologized for almost killing me as they drove past.
I got a lamb and mint sandwich, a scone with cheese and onions, and a Red Bull and walked with my plates to the beach to eat with the chicas. Brilliant riding food. Here's the view from our picnic spot:
(the only calm spot of water on the entire lake, too!)
And the chicas, enjoying their day off:
I took a quick dip, air-dried, shared some yerba mate, and got back on the bike. Quite a different story on the way back in...40-60 km/hr most of the way...yeehaw!
I took a couple quick stops for some pictures.
(Devil's Staircase)
(north towards Queenstown; awesome road, awesome lake, awesome mountains!)
(east across Wakatipu)
(south back towards Kingston)
It was a beautiful day to be out, despite the wind. Unfortunately, the chip'n'seal roads here are not so easy on the backside, and I can't imagine they're good for the bike either. A ride over these roads with nothing but a strip of tire for suspension is the kind of thing that gives NVH engineers nightmares!
Anyhow, I've now biked the entire paved shoreline of Wakatipu, and yes, it is very nice.
