September 28, 2019
Today we caught a bus from Queenstown to Clyde to start the Otago Rail Trail.
The first European settlers in Central Otago came to the district in the 1850s as sheep farmers. People flocked to the area after the discovery of gold in 1861. The region prospered and in 1891 work began on a railway that would link Dunedin, then the country’s largest city, to the goldfields.
The ‘mile a year’ railway …
It took dozens of labourers, stonemasons, blacksmiths and engineers 16 long years to build the 150km of railway from Middlemarch to Clyde. The railway linked economic and cultural life throughout Central Otago, bringing essential supplies to one of the countries most isolated regions.
We were hiring bikes from shebikeshebikes. They altered our seats and gave us a safety warning for the track. I was worried about mum she hadn’t been on a bike in years.
We have a rail trail passport and at each old railway station we pass we get a stamp.
We left Clyde and when we arrived at Alexandra we had second breakfast at the Tin Goose Cafe.
We started riding the track was dirt road. I climb up one of the signals.
There are marker posts along the way. These mark the distance to Dunedin. The last 10km was uphill today, Grace was finding it a bit tough.
There was snow on the mountains, but it wasn’t cold. It was great riding weather.
We rode 37km and my BUTT BONES HURT! But to help my butt bones there is a spa so I am getting in it now!
By Finn
