Saturday's ride started off early with the topping up of the Tenere in Kurow just before 8 and then pointing her up the Hakataramea Valley.

The road started off sealed before narrowing up a little and eventually turning to some nice fast gravel.  I had the camera on for a lot of it but there was plenty of fog around to spoil the view.

Soup's up
Some braking was involved when this poked up outta the fog
Sign has made a few enemies in the past
Towards the middle of the run the road got a little tighter and there was the odd rougher spot around a few small fords - nothing too tricky.  There was also a bit of wildlife to avoid (check the video) and a gate to deal with.

Eventually the fog burned off and there were some nice views out across the giant valley.
bye-bye fog
Tenere country

Snowy peaks for DomAnd then all of a sudden (surprisingly quickly it seemed to me) Hakataramea Pass ran out and I was on the seal of Haldon Road about 30 odd km from Tekapo.  A little of action from the pass below:

In Tekapo I stopped to for some pastry wrapped road kill and grabbed a sandwich for later on in the day.  I then headed West in the hope of riding Tekapo Canal Road up the Eastern side of Lake Pukaki but when I got to the turn-off the gate was closed and looking pretty locked to me - dagnabbit!

So, I had no choice but to turn around and head back to Tekapo and then try out Lilybank Road up the Eastern side of Lake Tekapo - so many lakes, so little time......