A wet start today with drizzle and cool temps. Luckily it’s only 36 kms up to Hanmer Springs where I’ve booked a room to wait out the rain from the cyclone.
I have to make comment on the drivers today. I think I’ve ridden enough roads here in NZ, to have a good impression. In a word … Pathetic.
Today half of the cars flew by a metre or less from my right shoulder regardless of any oncoming traffic. That’s not funny in the light rain when I have a flashing rear light and hi-vis cover on the rear bag. It seems previous cyclists’ opinions of NZ drivers are true. They’re certainly no better than Australians in terms of aggression and stupidity, and today they were far worse.
However, the truck drivers here are at another level of crazy. In Aus and in Asia, the truckies are the gentlemen (and women) of the road. In NZ, two out of three are reckless beyond belief. On a quiet road, they’ll give you no room. If I hadn’t got off the road so many times today, I doubt I’d be here.
It’s no wonder that 20% of road deaths in NZ involve trucks even though they form only 3% of road users (from Wikipedia). And it’s no wonder that road deaths here have been increasing since 2020.
Near Geraldine, I witnessed a super close near miss when a truck swerved to avoid a car turning off the main road. (I’d pulled over to avoid it just in time). Same situation as I had many times today – the truck simply didn’t slow down and react to a simple situation.
Phew. Now that’s off my chest…
I’m happily ensconced in a nice dry and warm hotel room in Hanmer Springs. The hot pools await 😁