With a big day ahead of us, Will and I get ourselves up at an ambitiously relaxed time of 8:30am. To be fair, he was riding until 8:30pm last night. Connie and Anna are long gone and Will is upset to step outside of our motel room to learn that it is cold. We make ourselves some breakfast and our new pal and bikepacking enthusiast Luca, who has been camping outside with his partner, gives us some snacks to fuel us for the road ahead.

We set off at 10am and finally get to enjoy a morning ride in the sunshine. We’ve broken the day into bite sized chunks and begin with a 27km stint to ‘The Salmon Cafe’. They do a lot of salmon. They also farm salmon. I’d rate it for those who like salmon. Unfortunately, Will is allergic to fish, but we still each enjoy a brilliant breakfast and he rates it as the best cafe on route so far. Unfortunately, his meal is enjoyed with chilled lashings of anxiety, because upon arriving at the venue, he discovered that he has broken a spoke on his rear wheel. With 200km to Wanaka, the location of the next bike shop, he is jolly grateful that we are on sealed and not gravel road today. We had better hope that this wheel holds out.

The next 30km stretch takes us along a flat section of road with an intense climb at the end – the upshot being that at the end of said climb there is a nice viewing point. It amuses me that before even looking at the view, we each take a moment to suncream up and gorge on some snacks. It’s good to get the admin done first. The view is adequate. Definitely nice, but this is New Zealand – there’s a high bar.

Now for another 30km push. This starts with a climb (the climbs are killing me now) and is followed by an easy stretch, before taking us into Haast and hitting us with a headwind from hell. We push along with all of our might, maxing out at about 13km/h. It is demoralising. All of the bridges around here are single lane and queues of traffic take turns to pass. The bridge we approach right before Haast is long. To my relief, it has passing bays, which we rest in. I’d hate to imagine the road rage induced upon a Kiwi driver if they had had to wait for us to cross the entire bridge at once in that wind.

We exit the bridge and eventually cycle onto a spot shielded by some trees. The road out of Haast is somewhat in the opposite direction, so at least that wind will start looking like a friend later. We arrive in town and stop at the first pub we see. I get myself an epic veggie burger and Will enjoys a bolognese. As we are leaving, Connie and Anna stroll in, somewhat amused that it is 6:30pm and we are 46km away from today’s finish line. They have done their ride for the day.

Evening riding isn’t so bad. The roads are a lot quieter and the temperature is significantly friendlier. We cycle along, chatting away as we do so, taking only the occasional break to nibble on some sweets and take in the scenery. We pass many signs reading “something Creek” or “Bluff something”, with my favourites being “Bullocks Creek” and “Bluff Douglas” (Douglas being the name of my teddy whom I am soon to be reunited with briefly). All of these bluffs, but not the one we want. The real Bluff, the end point, is still about 550km away.

Shortly after the sun has set, Will’s bike starts making a noise. It doesn’t sound great. We pause to check it out. His wheel has deformed enough with the broken spoke that it has started rubbing against the mudguard. We take some time to assess the situation. It is in fact a very short amount of time before a bright green “jucy” van pulls up. Inside it, a couple from Seattle, Kim and Fletcher. They take pity on us and kindly offer Will a lift with his bike to the campsite. They only have room for one and I have no excuse to stop pedalling, so I continue on the road for the last 7km, arriving just a few minutes after them (flexes).

It is 9pm and already dark. Will’s issue is a tomorrow job. For now, it’s time to set the tents up, wash our armpits at the sink and sneak in a cheeseboard before bed. In the distance, I see the first mountain of the trip that is capped with snow. I shall look forward to seeing it properly tomorrow when it is light again.

I wake up the next day to find Will dismantling his mudguard. I get chatting with Kim and Fletcher who are still very interested in the situation. They have a daughter who is something off a maths whizz and now working for Microsoft and take joy in learning of my shared enthusiasm for the subject. They offer to take Will’s mudguard for him and drop it off at our campsite in Wanaka tonight. With his wheel being in a bad way, we realise that any weight we can take off it would be useful, so they even take his panniers. They also offer to take mine, but in my delusional state, I say no and power on. If I can do Big River with them, I can handle Highway 6.

Our day starts with a roughly 500m climb in one hit – Haast Pass (I’ll give that a hard pass). We gently take it in stages, resting where we need to, and reach the top without having exerted ourselves too much (with a fully loaded bike, I have definitely exerted myself more than Will).

We then enjoy the fast descent that follows, having reached the summit. I go slowly, fearful of the current state of my rear brake pads (possibly non-existent). We glide into Makarora and take a rest at the first restaurant in town. We are on a time limit today. The holiday park we are staying at closes reception at 8pm and Will needs to be there by then to collect his bags. It isn’t very useful that we have to wait so long for our coffees. After enquiring, we learn that the staff made our coffees, left them on the side and forgot to tell us. Following a cold cappuccino, we are about to set off when several other cyclists pull in, all enthused and ready for conversation. I enjoy socialising and we make pleasantries, but then set off, keeping in mind the deadline.

We enjoy a tailwind and slight downhill boost as we head for our next checkpoint. The scenery has made a sudden change since passing over the summit and we are now treated to endless views of mountains, with many more capped in snow. We arrive at our rest point and are immediately caught up by the wonderful Kim and Fletcher. It is good to see Will’s panniers still in their van and not instead listed on eBay. I trust Kim and Fletcher a lot, but one has to entertain the idea that they could just be excellent thieves.

We then set off before the tour buses arrive, with Kim and Fletcher passing us shortly after. Our next leg is tough, with a lot of hills. Towards the end of our last climb, we are overtaken by two men in their 70s. I find this pretty devastating until reuniting with Will and them at the top and realising, upon closer inspection, that they’re on e-bikes. It’s a short journey to the next town, Hawea, where I take rest and drink one litre of mango juice in about three minutes. I need my hydration. I need my sugar.

Will and I part ways for a bit as I (mostly) take the official route and he opts for the road, given his wheel (and 8pm deadline). This section is fun, but Will made the right call. His wheel might have faced total annihilation here. Having struggled to keep up with him today and having somewhat tuckered myself out in doing so, I take it slowly and pause to take in the views. Wanaka is breathtaking.

Will is keen for the pub. I am up for a drink, but don’t think I can stomach any more chips for dinner. I never thought this day would come, but I, George Macaulay, have eaten too many chips. I suggest curry and Will is dead keen. We find a spot in town, cycle over and feast on an enormous shared platter between us. Holy moly, it’s what we needed. We then cycle back to the holiday park along the cycle trail and straight into the path of some sprinklers. I see the droplets of water glistening through the light of my head torch early enough to swerve in time, resulting in just a slightly damp elbow. Will is not so lucky.

It is 23rd February. I wake up feeling increasingly fatigued now. We have 325km to go with three days of riding ahead to do it in. Today we are going over the Crown Range, reaching our highest point on the entire trip. But before that, we need to get Will’s bike sorted. He takes it into the shop first thing and then returns by foot to pack up camp. I then head to the bike shop to deliver his mudguard, having learned that they will reinstall it for free. Whilst I am there, I figure that I may as well get my brake pads looked at. It turns out that they don’t need to be replaced at all. There is nothing to replace. I have no rear brake pads left. Coming in today may just have saved my life (given the fast 700m descent following the Crown Range later today).

I pop into the supermarket and get some food for the road ahead, as well as a multipack of doughnuts which I demolish in about five minutes. This is something of a stomach liner before heading out to breakfast right after and treating myself to a bagel and slice of passionfruit cheesecake. Will joins and we book our accommodation for the night ahead. With the bike shop confirming that his steed is ready for collection, we have set ourselves the goal of Queenstown. With it being 1pm and only having 1300m of elevation ahead of us along 88km of sealed road and cycle trails, what could possibly go wrong?