May 11
Ranfurly

Not a brilliant night's sleep as my hip hurt a lot, causing me to take a horse pill in the early hours but, by breakfast time I felt pretty good.

I shared the breakfast room with two other expat poms and a retired local farmer. It was all very jovial. One of the poms was the chap who was also walking the Trail, about whom I had been told at the Wedderburn Pub. He attacked the full breakfast - which was HUGE. I contented myself with scrambled eggs, which sat in my stomach like a lump of concrete for most of the morning.

On the dot of 8.30, Toni arrived with the taxi and whisked me off to Wedderburn. There, it was dull and dark but neither cold nor wet. Ideal for walking if not for photography. The old warehouse here has been made famous by Graeme Sydney but he imagined better light for his painting.

Toni the taxi	It was better for Graeme Sydney
Wedderburn Station
Not very exciting country	Only the occasional curve

I had read that the section of the Trail from here to Ranfurly wasn't very exciting. That assessment was entirely correct. It is very flat, very straight and, in this weather, very dull. No cliffs, no rivers and no major bridges.

I made good time, rattling off the kilometres - about four and a half to the hour - and exchanged pleasantries with lots of cyclists. There was water on either side of the Trail - although still nothing drinkable in the taps - and some snow on the distant peaks. I was told that this had appeared at the weekend.

The Raggedy gangers' shed had some maps of the surrounding mountains but it seemed unlikely that they would come out well in photographs. This proved to be correct. The Trail at this stage was incredibly straight, about five kilometres without a deviation. There were a few sheep, a few flowers and a minor bridge but nothing really exciting to look at. The main point of interest was that the forecast rain hadn't yet appeared.

Straight - as far as the eye can see	A few flowers ...
... and a minor bridge	Maniototo gangers' shed

An hour later, I reached the Maniototo Plains gangers' shed, which was exciting in that it was more interesting than the long and unwinding road. It didn't have much else of excitement to offer.

The Trail crossed a small raging torrent and then continued on its merry way. The good news was that my assorted joints were all holding up and I felt good, definitely up for lots more kilometres.

The gateway to Ranfurly	Slightly more picturesque Ranfurly

Ranfurly commences with the power plant, not very picturesque. I had been on the Trail for less than three hours, felt good enough to walk further and decided so to do.

Ranfurly Station

Having crossed the road from the station to the pub, I organised my taxi for later in the afternoon and went to the cafe next door for a coffee and a sandwich. After about a 20 minute rest, I re-joined the Trail, heading for the Waipiata pub, about 8k away.

The Trail leaves Ranfurly through an avenue of trees, passes a display of derelict bikes and a timber yard, and continues on the straight and narrow. Yet again, this is not exciting country.

Through an avenue of trees	Past the bicycles ...
... and the timber yard	Another apple tree

There was another apple tree, not as heavily laden as some along the Trail, and I eventually reached the Ranfurly Straight gangers' shed. This was almost half way to Waipiata and I was well on schedule for a beer at two o'clock.

On the outskirts of the village was lots of water, with an apple tree growing in the middle of a lake. If it had been sunny, the reflections had been very interesting, but it wasn't so they weren't. The Trail then crossed the largest bridge that I had encountered in two days, and passed a most unusual building with a very militaristic sounding list of products.

Floating apple tree	The final bridge
Tanks, Killing Sheds, Trucks, Posts	Waipiata Station
	At the station, I took the obligatory photos of the sign and also ones of the war memorial and the clever statue. Left: The end of The Trail - for now
Interesting statue	Waipiata War Memorial

I then entered the pub and found myself in splendid isolation. The landlord appeared a few minutes later and gave me a pint of Emersons, which vanished quite quickly. He was very welcoming & showed me one of the rooms in case I wanted to stay there on the next leg of my trip. The second, smaller, glass helped me to digest a packet of pork scratchings, good ones, and to while away the time until Toni arrived to ferry me back to Ranfurly.
The Waipiata Country Hotel	Reward for a tired traveller
The Waipiata Country Hotel	Toni's taxi - back at home base

After a shower and a change of clothes, I still felt good so went to the cafe for a coffee and a chocolate slice, prior to going into a corner of the pub bar with my laptop to do some work. This part of the process, however, was delayed as I started to feel distinctly tired and returned to my room for an hour's lie down before heading to the bar.

It was busy there, with several large groups of locals including lots of children. The pub obviously serves as the local community centre. I planted myself on a high table near to a power socket and spent an hour working on the computer. The wheels of industry never stand still and the office was better than my usual one. I finished at 6pm and as the sun had crossed the yard arm, I had my first wine of the day, a local cab merlot. It wasn't very good, definitely in the plonk category.

A very pleasant office

I fought my way through the rear end of the hotel to my room, dumped the computer and returned to the bar for dinner. The scallops were off - the suppliers had sent Chinese and not New Zealand ones - so I had the leek & potato soup, very good, followed by the bangers and mash, also very acceptable.

With the soup I had a glass of Naked Lady, a pinot blush wine. There wasn't much left in the bottle, only about a glass and a half, so I had that for the price of a glass. A good start to the evening. Most of the wines of this type that I have had have been a little sharp. This one wasn't. The chef came to ask about the soup and I had to be polite as he is a large lad. Luckily, this didn't involve telling any untruths.

Soup ...	... and sausages

It has to be said that the food at most of the pubs in this area seems to be very good. I had a couple of local pinot noirs, neither of them outstanding, read my book for a while and went upstairs to bed.