As I mentioned, Karsten took pity on we shivering creatures at Boundary Creek and decided to buy us a coffee at Makarora. Basically it’s an outpost in the mountains with a lodge, cafe, little store, and an airstrip for scenic flights. Aircraft seem to be willing to take off from just about anywhere in this country. There were lots of dead truck and car parts out front too, giving the place quite the look.
While we were there another bike trip pulled in from the other direction. There was a road bike up there on that trailer – only one, but I was jealous. There was also a a guy riding solo with all of his gear. Wouldn’t have wanted to be carrying all that up these hills and against the wind. Funny thing was Catherine had run into him a few times while on the trip before. It became kind of a joke, because we kept seeing him over the next few days as well, but we were always in the van and he’d be out there braving the terrain and the elements. I think it made our Ironwoman feel a bit wimpy, but she didn’t let it bother her much.
Got inside and ordered a hot cocoa. While waiting for it, I went into the store and Catherine pulled me aside to show me a very fashionable (yea, right) sweater I should buy. It was made of the heaviest (and perhaps ugliest) brown wool I’d ever seen. I was reminded of the dense chain underlayer the knights used to wear under their armor when I touched it. The cocoa was great, but went down too fast. Spoke to a nice boy from Oklahoma working in the store. Yep – still not meeting many native New Zealanders, even out here.
When we got outside to hear the plans for the afternoon, Dave noticed a barbie out back. It was huge – constructed from a rusty old steam engine of some sort.