Queenstune

By Tyler Socash
IG: @tylerhikes

"I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike."  We sing a lot of Queen on trail.  We shout it at the top of our lungs, actually.  On top of Pirongia.  At the Waihaha Hut serenading Couples Retreat.  Along mindless road walks.  Bohemian Rhapsody is our absolute favorite, but from Lake Tekapo to Lake Ohau I hummed a different tune...

Alps 2 Ocean is a massive 301km national cycle trail linking the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean.  It happens to overlap with 100km of Te Araroa road walking.  Instead of pounding the pavement, Otis, Reyne, Bekah, and I opted for a new challenge: cycling 100km in one day, because darn it I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like!

The day started innocently enough with a casual late start as we soaked up free WiFi in Tekapo.  Fresh off-trail from a snowy climb near Mt. Cook, we were eager to update our families with our progress before moving on.  WiFi is a dangerous reclusive gateway.  It's the rabbit hole that's too seductive to neglect, especially when you're without a cellular data plan.  Once Instagam and Facebook updates reached their saturation points, we donned our helmets.  Finally feeling Under Pressure to get to Lake Ohau, the Bicycle Race was underway.

With mechanized assistance the kilometers melted away.  Goodbye Telegraph Hut!  Goodbye road-walking friends!  The enchanting waters of Lake Pukaki urged us down a long gravel road to a wonderful resting point.  We found a picturesque spot to belly flop into the glacially-created lake.  Otis belly flopped first with an epic two thumbs up landing.  His smile as he soared through the air gave us a good laugh.  Reyne and I followed suit.  The vibrant water color, caused by the high concentration of glacial flour, captivates every onlooker but fails to soften our landing.

Belly flops behind us, we detoured into Twizel's town center to see our friend Sebastien.  It was great to see him in such high spirits after suffering a broken cuboid bone in his foot the week prior.  We got a bit of a chuckle upon manipulating the medical terminology into "cuteboy bone."  Thru-hiking isn't accident proof.  Somewhere a sinister Geoff Chapple is thinking Another One Bites The Dust.  Resilience is the key, and Seb is resilient.  Sebastien will return to complete Te Araroa next year!

After signing his cast, we collectively realized The Show Must Go On.  Our bike seats felt much less comfortable this time, but we hopped on them to smash out the final 40km of biking.  Departing for this stretch was not without reticence.  If you are mining for ideas to improve your future Te Araroa experience, then please pay attention...

Wishing that we were all Fat Bottomed Girls to cushion ourselves, we followed Te Araroa dutifully down the Ohau River flood track.  Instead of a pathway we were greeted with character-building boulders, stones, and speed-impeding pebbles.  The gravel road shook us to the core and rawed our sore rumps.  We could hear the flood track mocking us, "We Will Rock You."  [Tyler, consider editing this weaker song title reference out before publishing.]  Making terribly slow progress towards Lake Ohau, we barely passed two brave SOBOs who were diligently walking this 100km section.  Our coccyx-crunching crew must have appeared quite pathetic as we had to walk our bikes uphill next to the walkers. 

When all hope had faded, we made it to Lake Ohau at sunset.  Bekah erupted with a series of celebratory dog barks upon spotting smooth pavement.  We laughed initially, but joined her in a glorious chorus of hoots and woofs.  We Are The Champions!  100 kilometers in one day!  Te Araroa has enough road walk sections, and we were thrilled to see that horrendous Twizel to Ohau flood track come to a merciful end.  Avoid riding there, and instead stay on the north side of the Ohau River or ride the length of Lake Ohau Road.

The largest South Island river without a bridge awaited us in the next section.  Reyne must have been thinking Don't Stop Me Now as he forded the Ahuriri above a series of dangerous rapids.  He made the crossing, but just barely through hip-deep water.  Otis went for an unannounced swim when the Ahuriri current proved to be too swift.  Bekah and I decided to walk 200 meters downstream where the river braided to make a safer crossing.

A TA highlight awaited us after the Ahuriri.  The summit of Breast Hill provided immaculate views in every direction, including a stunning 1,200-meter drop to Lake Hawea below.  "One should not neglect the Breast... Hill," someone quipped.  While hiking through the Timaru River on our approach, I fashioned a makeshift award for Reyne.  Today happened to be Reyne's graduation day, and he was to receive the "Top Student" award for his program in Quantity Surveying.  Breast Hill provided a worthy backdrop for his impromptu trail graduation.  Speeches were made, and instead of a paper certificate, I presented Reyne with a non-thruhike friendly etched rock.  He was pleasantly surprised, but perhaps a bit disgruntled when he had to hike out with his heavy and awkward award.

Reyne and I sat up there for over two hours.  When you get closer to the end of a journey you tend to give certain moments special significance.  Your last campsite, your last beach walk, your last impromptu trail graduation...  Reyne has been a constant source of fun and intellectual conversation for our trail family since Cape Reinga.  I'll miss this guy a lot.  He made singing Queen songs on trail a tradition.  He sparked my passion to have a continuous path from the Tararuas to Bluff.  He challenged me to be a better version of myself.  As we sat on Breast Hill, Mt. Cook appeared as a snow-capped giant far to the north, while Queenstown's Double Cone in the Remarkables was visible far to the south.  What a spot!  This was one of my favorite moments on the trail.  I'm glad I got to linger here awhile longer with a great friend.

Graduation celebrations continued the next day when Bekah, Reyne, and I hitched over 400km to get to Christchurch.  Bekah and Kate's commencement ceremony was filled with more obnoxious cheering than our 100km bike ride.  Our trail family reunited for an evening in Christchurch, which was absolutely awesome.  The good times were well-earned for the accomplished females in our group.  Congrats again to Bekah and Kate on earning your degrees! It was wonderful to see Kate, Dan, and Seb again before heading back to the trail.  A great surprise awaited Reyne after the graduation as his girlfriend Brooke plotted and planned in collusion with Bekah to return to the trail with us.  It's great to have Brooke as a new member of the trail family.  Her family helped us out tremendously in the North Island, and now we get to walk with her to Bluff!

Lake Hawea led to Wanaka.  Wanaka led to the Motatapu Track.  The Motatapu Track has huts that were funded by the revolutionary American singing sensation Shania Twain.  Bekah got sick in Shania Twain's huts.  The Motatapu Track led to an ambulance evacuation of Bekah.  We waited in Wanaka for three days for Bekah to return to good health.  Wanaka led to the Motatapu Track.  The Motatapu Track led to Bekah's second round of illness.  Tyler ventures out into Shania Twain Country (music) alone.  Tyler meets a man named Dene from Riverton who thru-hiked Te Araroa before it's official inception.  (Dene, as well as those walkers we passed on the flood track, will come into play later.)  Tyler hikes 55km to meet up with Bekah in the biggest New Zealand tourist trap of all... Queenstown.

When you can't find cheap accommodation because Queenstown has been booked solid for months and is absolutely overrun with gawking visitors, Queen's tunes are there for you as a welcomed distraction.  Hum any of them when you encounter life's rocky roads and you'll find yourself blissfully whisked away to a fantastical rock anthem instead.

I recently spent my last night in a hut along Te Araroa.  Martin's Hut has aged gracefully, and provides a rustic staging area for thru-hikers eyeing up their Bluff finish.  Most of the hut book entries are sentimental.  Nearly everyone loved their time in New Zealand, and they made lifelong friends and memories along the way.

My last hut entry reads: Is this the real life?  Is this just fantasy?  Caught in a thru-hike, our escape from "reality."