Bluff to *almost* Slope Point: 105km ↗️843m ↘️850m 🚴♀️
I had a lovely stay at the Bluff Lodge and then a resupply at the Four Square and I thought I better start moving again. I found a gpx of the Tuatara route which I thought might be good to follow.
Heading out of Bluff, I rode the trail back towards Invercargill and passed 18 Te Araroa Walkers. There were 17 who also stayed at the Lodge last night so there were a lot of people finishing around the same time. After that I turned off at Motu Rimu Rd and after a little bit of tarseal I got to the gravel roads. The first part is really fantastic - nice gravel and relatively flat all the way to the Waituna Lagoon turn off. There weren't too many views of the wetlands but there is a turn off to the walking tracks where you probably get the views. After this I followed an unmaintained road that ran parallel to the sea. Every now and again I would get glimpses of the waves crashing up against the sand but I had to keep pedalling. I eventually got to this shanty town type place near the river which I'm guessing could be hunting or fishing huts? It was kinda weird and the gps was going a bit nuts here and I couldn't find the road the gps was trying to direct me too. After some ring a rosey I eventually consulted my phone and saw on the Satellite image that I had to follow the river to a gravel road on the other side. That ended up being a mission as I had to push my bike along the tall grass alongside the river. This was definitely the route as well as I was right on the line.
After crossing a dodgy plank bridge, I was so glad to make it back onto something that resembled a road and rode out to the main road. I did have a scary run in with a dog but luckily the owner was there and called it back. After this I was pretty much on the road all the way to Fortrose. It's a really small place right next to the sea and I continued on the coastal route down to Otara and then the turn off to Slope Point where my accomodation was a few km down the road. Continuing the trend of the TA - the last 24km was filled with hill climbs and headwinds and I was pretty glad when it was done.
📷 Some great Southland gravel roads.