rifraf wrote:I've been rereading some of your blog.
It brought back memories of Dunedin, which I used to visit regularly when I lived in Christchurch after staying in Karamea.
I remember the beautiful railway station but can't remember the tracks down Taieri Mouth way which is one of the places I used to stay, as well as Ravensbourne heading in the northern suburbs - a sign of ageing I guess.
I do remember the cold windswept beaches though and appreciating the coal range heated kitchen and the smell of the bread invariably made to accompany most meals by my friends lovely wife.
Its very early here at approx 3.22am.
I was wondering if the Fargo sported the C19 saddle for your trek?
I started to peruse your blog again to see if your mentioned summery post had been added.
I spotted your mention of a Tardis which I seem to have spotted elsewhere mentioned and supposed it was a bike bag which raised the question for me of where did you leave it when your travelled.
Could have saved myself some time by simply asking in the first place instead reading into the wee hours but there you go.
Oh and whilst the questions are flowing freely, what width tires were you running?
I spotted that you'd swapped out some for the journey, likely within this thread.
I'm surprised you find my journal so engrossing that you were reading it into the wee hours.
The journal was edited using Google's Blogger app on an iPad Mini, but I discovered too late that it has not been updated for several generations of the Apple iOS, and it crashed repeatedly. It made for a very frustrating process, so my posts were all fairly short with only a few pictures. But you probably noticed I have been correcting, enhancing and adding pictures and also added a post to cover the last couple of days. I still have not done the summary post yet, but it's coming. I'm thinking to add bike and gear review post as well.
The rail line branches not far from Taieri Mouth at the Wingatui Racecourse, soon after passing the site where the Carisbrook Stadium, once stood. And I know what you mean about the windswept beaches - I've been to St Clair and seen them myself. I don't think coal burning stoves are allowed anymore - at least I didn't notice that familiar smell of coal smoke. Except at the Millers Flat holiday park, where the hot water was produced by a coal-fired boiler.
The
Tardis is a bike bag from Ground Effect in Christchurch. Usually I take a photo of the packed bag, but not this time unfortunately. Anyway the Tardis folds up quite small, so there are a couple of options for storage - one is to send it to myself
poste restante, but since I was entering and leaving NZ at the same place I just made sure the Dunedin hotel I booked offered luggage storage facilities.
Yes, I did use the C19 this tour. It was fairly comfortable, but I'm yet to decide if it is more comfortable than the C17. I am pleased to say I wasn't troubled by saddle sores this time around, so maybe the C19 is the winner.
The tyres were tubeless 2.1 inch Vittoria Mezcals. I was very happy with their performance, they rolled quite well on sealed roads and gripped nicely on the dirt. I can't recall any moments, a single slip or slide from them. They were fairly cushy too, so absorbed the bumps nicely. And they held pressure so well I only got the pump out once to check during the whole tour.