Our last full day in Stewart Island and we rented Electric Bikes or as we say Electric YIKES!
Nancy Lee CarlsonWhat an adventure today was, as you can probably tell by the title! The couple before us getting bikes rode off into the sunset with no problems. He was a mountain biker – enough said. We got our helmets first, studied a map with the sales person and learned how to turn on the electric and what level to pick and how to downshift and upshift. Are you getting all this because obviously Bill and I missed some of it! Let’s just say we had a very steep learning curve! That brings me to the hills which were also very steep but we won the battle and victory was ours. We visited Moturau Gardens, stopped at overlook to Butterfield Beach then headed to Bragg Bay were Bill decided it was time to get his feet in the water. Brrrr! Then back down to the town of Oban for lunch where I had a well deserved ice coffee and sandwich while Bill opted for a long coffee and scone. Having payed for 4 hours and not to be defeated we hopped back on and headed up Elgin Terrace. It’s the gravel roads not the paved ones that unnerved us. Made me think of my childhood and skinned knees! Four hours in we returned the bikes and after all that pedaling we needed to walk up our hill to the B&B which we did, very slowly. Lots of water and feet up or at least reading on the porch to relax until dinner time. Then back down the hill to the hotel for dinner, back up the hill for packing and maybe another try at Kiwi spotting tonight!
