13. Lug it to Luggate 17th March

Another crisp morning promised a beautiful day for a fairly flat ride along the banks of the Clutha River to Luggate

First order of the day was coffee and getting Erica to her bus on time

I'm not sure Vogue is going to give you a call back today John

Along the shore of beautiful Lake Wanaka

Outlet track

How many Wee Tiki Tourers can you fit on a bike, six in this case but I'm sure we could do better, a challenge for next year maybe

We got a visit from this puppy that came down to the track for some attention

       

The water of the Clutha River really is as the guide books say emerald green

Lunch at the Luggate Hotel

Jans handle bars got caught in some vine on a down hill section and she was thrown over the bars onto rocks, we were all surprised and Jan most of all that she was uninjured and her bike undamaged

Jan has got this bike lift thing sorted!

With a little bit of help from her friends :)

Awwww 

 It got a bit hot on the way home, time for a dip in the lake

While the others headed back to town Andrew and I did another loop of Deans Bank including some wheelie practice, a newly acquired skill on my part

 Andrew and I then took the Hikuwai Loop but someone had been through and stolen the signs on the end near the Motor Camp and it was impossible for us to navigate our way through the warren of tracks without signs and we ended up getting dropped back onto the Outlet Track

Being the last night of the tour proper it was time to thank our fabulous tour organiser Madam Julie

There is always one in the group who gets a cramp at the dinner table, the rest of us don't laugh...much

The Easter Bunny visited our rooms during dinner leaving eggs and some of my favorite pegs which I have only been able to find in NZ, even though I originally bought some in Aus back in the 90's :)

14. Queenstown AKA Adrenalinetown 18th March

With the Wee Tiki Tour drawing to a close it was time for us to head back to Queenstown where Jan was catching a plane in the early morning which was a good thing as it got us moving even though we didn't want the adventure to be over

We said our goodbyes to Jan and it was time to get the bunny rolling

After breakfast by the Lake in Queenstown we said our goodbyes to Julie, Kees, Julian, Alice and Phil. John, Richard and Sue biked around the southern side of the Lake and did a bit of adventuring on the way back to our digs at The Sherwood

Sue rides the seesaw, way to go Sue!

Andrew and I had a play in a fantastic tree house by the water then we hit the trail with Jane to spend the day riding the Gondola

Yep Andrew got 11 runs in, Jane and I got our moneys worth doing 9 runs, we only saw Andrew on our 1st and last run but he was bouncing off the walls for the next week so I know he had fun!

The Gondola runs up the hill in this picture and the mountain bike tracks thread their way down through the pine forest

Jane and I with our tickets to ride, unlimited trips for four hours with no queue, pretty excited!

Getting on and off the Gongola is a streamlined process with the bikes being loaded and unloaded by lifties

Views of Queenstown and a Bungy jumper out the window of the Gondola

Jane having a blast on the berms

A very brief stop for a mushroom photo, there were lots of mushrooms but the riding was just too good to waste any time on mushrooms, that's how good it was!

Heading down Thundergoat with the Remarkables as a back drop

Jane and I had the time of our lives riding every green and blue track multiple times and even a black track which was thrilling to say the least! The riding was so much fun that I am still dreaming about flying down those hills and around those berms.

Our lodging for the night was the rather quirky Sherwood Hotel

We found the dinner menu challenging and our waitress even more so, despite the quality of the food I couldn't recommend the place as the ordering process was...well...interesting, each time we ordered something the waitress looked at us like we were out of our minds and when she finally left the table we weren't sure if we were going to end up with enough food for an army or not enough to feed a super model, in the end we got just enough delicious food no thanks to the waitress as in the end we ignored her shocked looks and took a wild guess which payed off

Interpreting the Wine Map kept us occupied while waiting for our meals

15. Balmy Queenstown

We awoke to a hot and sunny day, time to pull our bikes apart and repack them for the journey home, Neville (a friend of Julie and Kees) kindly collected us from our hotel and delivered us to the airport, thanks Neville it was very much appreciated

Six people with bikes and baggage makes for a very full trailer and car

Statues outside Queenstown airport

Filling in time at the airport waiting for check-in to open

That's it another Wee Tiki Tour over and done, once again an amazing trip. We are so lucky that a love of mountain biking has brought together a bunch of people of different ages and life experiences who can live in each others pockets for a week (2 weeks for some of us this time) and still enjoy each others company. Thank you Julie for all your effort in organising 12 people with food, lodging and entertainment, thanks Kees, Julian, Phil and Alice for putting us up and for driving us around, Jan for medical attention when required and everyone for being easygoing travel companions, your mums would be proud :)