Daisybank to Dunedin

We arose early with hopes that we would make it to catch the 11:45am Taieri Gorge Train to Dunedin. The rails-to-trails officially ends in Middlemarch, 36km (22mi) from Daisybank. The train actually leaves from the next town, Pukerangi, which the map indicates is another 20km (12mi). So this looked like an easy day, yet didn't leave much room for error. The ride was fairly flat to Middlemarch though we knew that we needed to push it to make the train departure on time. We continued on without very clear directions to Pukerangi. We followed a winding road for quite a distance with a few climbs to a turn off onto a dirt road with a sign reading Pukerangi 12km (7.4mi). This was at 11:08am and we are averaging about 10.5mph. We began riding with some hurried pedal strokes, finally I suggested I go ahead and arrange our passage. MJ agreed. Around the next bend was the steepest climb we had experienced. I burnt my legs out going up the hill including 3 false summits. Just as I arrived at the train at 11:38, a van was leaving. He congratualted me on making it ontime but I mentioned MJ was yet to arrive and asked for his help. He scurried off and I was met with all sorts of questions from train passengers stretching their legs. Pukerangi is a stop in the middle of nowhere with nary a tree in sight. We did not want to spend the next 5 hours waiting for the next departure!!! The passengers rallied around our cause and said that they would not reboard without MJ. The conductor with a forboding look announced that they would be leaving in five minutes regardless, I told him confidently she would be there. I was watching the horizon anxiously with the other passengers and with two minutes to go the van crested the hill. They wound down the road and arrived to cheering passengers from around the world. We made it!! Not such and easy day afterall.

We enjoyed the trains easy pace back through the Taieri gorge watching the countryside change from arid bleakness to rugged slopes with trees and then to grasslands in the Dunedin outskirts.

We arrived in Dunedin at the historical Otago Railway Station, "the most photographed building in the South". We found our way to the i (information center) and rambled down to the riverside campground at the north end of town.

Sorry, no pics due to our rushing around.