Around the world in six years: cyclists Öfele are plagued by major material problems in New Zealand
Created: 12/25/2021, 11:00 AM
From: Stephanie Uehlein
Michael Öfele found an “enchanting winter landscape” at the Julius Summit, but there he was slowed down by harsh snow.
© Öfele
Michael Öfele, a former teacher at the Weilheim grammar school, is currently on his bike around the world on the South Island of New Zealand.
There "Mike on bike", as he calls himself, struggled with material problems after a downpour.
More than five years ago, Öfele started his trip around the world from Germany, which will last a total of six years (we reported).
He has already been on the move on four continents.
Due to the pandemic, however, he has been in New Zealand for more than a year and a half.
The 45-year-old experienced very different weather conditions on a stage on the South Island of New Zealand, as the Globetrotter's latest travel report shows.
An “enchanting winter landscape” presented itself to him at the Julius Summit.
But Öfele could not continue his way from there to a hut, the Angelus Hut, because, according to him, he would have needed special equipment because of the harsh snow.
Therefore, he then cycled to "pleasant spring-like climes more than 1000 meters below," as he writes.
Material problems after a downpour on Old Ghoast Road
His journey later took him to the Old Ghost Road, an "impassable and narrow path that winds along the mostly vertical rock face at the edge of the steep abyss," says Öfele.
In memory of the frequent use of the connection during the gold rush of the 1860s, the wayside is like an open-air museum "lined with rusted mining utensils such as shovels, buckets and sieves that made one or the other lucky guy a millionaire".
Also read: When Michael Öfele cracked the 40,000 kilometer mark
For Öfele, the Old Ghost Road brought not only physical exertion, but also material problems: on a "supposedly easy section", a downpour completely disabled the bike brakes, the pads of which were worn.
The result: the globetrotter had to push his “buck”, as he calls his bike, almost continuously over a distance of around 85 kilometers.
After a young local had brought him to Karamea by car, he received the urgently needed brake pads with the help of a restaurant operator from a town about 100 kilometers away.
Palm trees on the Heaphy River: That was one of the facets that the Heaphy Track had to offer the 45-year-old globetrotter.
© Öfele
On the way on “jungle-like paths” in the dense rainforest
Without a bike, Öfele went on the multi-faceted Heaphy Track for a few days. This offers sandy and rocky beaches as well as dense forests with gnarled trees. The 45-year-old then explored the Oparara Basin on his bike, a “natural gem”, as he writes in his travel report. "On jungle-like paths that lead under criss-cross trees, I roamed the dense rainforest, in which amber-colored streams and rivers make their way," says Öfele. "Over the course of millions of years, porous limestone and even massive granite have been hollowed out to form gigantic tunnels - such as the 200-meter-long, almost 40-meter-high and 50-meter-wide Oparara Arch." After visiting the Oparara Basin, the globetrotter returned to Karamea.
The Globetrotter (website: www.mike-on-bike.de) announced in his travel report that he would use his newly granted visa until mid-January to cycle south on a panoramic road on the west coast.
Read more about Michael Öfele's exciting world tour: When your feet feel like lumps of ice
