Sara: “just googled images of the St Mary’s range….check this out…decision made…I am DEFINITELY going…you in??”
Me: “Yes! I’m in!”
Sara: “Well that was hard ;-)”
And with that brief conversation, we were signing up to mountain bike up the Awakino ski area with a group from the Mountain Biking North Otago club.
Neither Sara nor I had any prior knowledge of this area, so we were stepping into the complete unknown in terms of terrain, the people we would be with, the facilities or the tracks themselves.
So off we set at the reasonable hour of 8.15am in order to meet the rest of the group in Kurow for the ride up (another group was going to be meeting us up at the ski lodge itself). The Awakino ski club field sits to the side of the wee township of Kurow, Otago, which is just over two hours from Dunedin, and about an hour from Oamaru.
I was kind of mentally prepared for the hills we’d face, but did pale a bit at the height we were going to. Kurow is about 300m above sea level….. And I was looking at a ridgeline that was about 1900m asl. And all within about 15km.
After a (too short!) flat gravel road, we were riding uphill…. with few flat bits or descents. It’s not often I get off and walk my bike – but knowing that the climb was long, and we had more riding in the afternoon (and truth be told, my butt hurt!!) I got off and legged it. Which actually isn’t a bad thing if you are out in nature – it certainly gave me time to enjoy the sights and sounds (quite a few babbling brooks), including what I think was a New Zealand falcon (kerearea).
Up, up and more up; valley floor to the mountains – photo by Sara Richardson
Finally made it to the Awakino ski lodge (1100m asl). A very quick bite to eat and we were on our way up, up, up again to the base of the actual ski field (about an hours walk/bike pushing). From there, a bit more bike pushing on the right hand side of the ski field up towards the rope tow. Then a very long descent back to the ski lodge!! A bang up dinner was cooked for us (Bliss!!! I didn’t have to cook!!!) then a lot of socialising. The ski lodge has about 40 bunks, flush toilets and showers, so we were well facilitated!
The next day dawned fine and clear (sorry for the cliché! But it certainly applies). Again, breakfast was laid on for us, as well as lunch making items. Then the plan was to head back up to the base of the ski field, but this time heading to the left and towards the ridgeline that made me feel a bit weak at the knees the previous day! We pushed/rode our bikes up a relatively wide, flattish rock path to the ridge. Stopping along the way at a lovely clear stream fed by snow melt and filtered over the rocks. This stream was safe to drink from (no animals up there!), and I have to say it was amazing – and refreshingly cold!! I remember being able to drink from streams pre-giardia, so it was quite a treat to be able to do so again!
Sara breakfasting on the deck of the Awakino Ski Lodge, with the Waitaki Valley below
We carried onto the ridge, and it was well worth the effort. From the top we could see over the valleys that back onto Naseby and North Otago, and then on our right, towards Central Otago. A quick photo opp, then we traversed the ridgeline that gradually headed up towards Mount Kurow/Te Kuhurou – the highest peak in North Otago at around 2000m. By this time, a thick mist had rolled in (not uncommon up there!), but the wind stayed away.
The St Mary’s Range ridgeline, heading towards Mt Kurow/Te Kuhurou; misty but no wind thankfully! – photo by Sara Richardson
The landscape along the ridgeline was fascinating. The only animals I saw were fuzzy black spiders, the only vegetation was ground hugging plants, and the rocks were scree/slate arranged vertically in circles (hard to explain, and strange to see!). A quick stop/bite to eat, then it was back down the hill. The weather was really starting to clag in, and we had a very long descent back to the ski field hut, then further down into Kurow itself. Hoofing it down the hill, we didn’t quite escape the thunder and hail, but we made it intact to the lodge (I was very conscious of being a high point on a ridgeline with thunder and lightening around…). Then it was all downhill to Kurow (ha, all that uphill the day before was finally paying off!) – 15km of downhill isn’t too bad (and thankful that my brake pads were nearly new). The crazy part was going from 10 dec C to 27 deg C in the space of one downhill run as we went from mountains to valley floor.
Heading down from the ridge, eastern side – photo by Sara Richardson
We filled up on ice creams from the local shop (and cold beverages in the cool of the local pub) whilst we waited for our gear to arrive. The last bit of socialising done, Sara and I headed back to Dunedin. On the way we reflected on the awesomeness of the views, the people and everything else – a great weekend – and (almost) in our backyard. We are lucky, lucky people in NZ eh 🙂
#seeyououtthere
Products that were fabulous to use:
Clif bars (Peanut butter!!)
SIS bars – I’ve been a big fan of SIS gels for years, and their bars are just as good!! I loved the Blueberry flavour
My new Shimano XC5 shoes were amazing
Torpedo7 Heavy Duty duffel bag (65L) – room for a sleeping bag, plus overnight stuff and has some handy internal mesh pockets
My trusty hardtail (XTC Advanced 2 with a dropper post) – it really did the business (Maxxis Ardent tires front and back)
Camelbak L.U.X.E (14L)
Go Native 24 hour food pack – these get you sorted for the whole day – they include a brekky, lunch, dinner, tea/coffee, a sudoko and quiz (true!!)
Written by Torpedo7 athlete – Merrin Brewster
