Back home safe and sound

Christchurch was fun. I love the exhilaration of cycling in the city! It's like an urban jungle, dodging cars parked in the bicycle lane, feeling the traffic wooshing past, and the satisfaction of overtaking cars stopped at traffic lights....

The three days in Christchurch were spent catching up with friends and shopping. We were thinking about cycling over the Port Hills to Lyttleton but used the excuse that the weather wasn't good enough...

At the airport I think Erin and I started to drive Julie nuts by trying to compact our luggage into two large bags - Air New Zealand's new Piece luggage policy means that we avoid significant Excess Baggage if we check in fewer pieces. This required a bit of fiddlling to get all our luggage into the santa sack Erin was carrying; yet still be under the $25 limit. Julie said "I am happy to pay the $15 excess baggage". Needless to say, we didn't need to...

It was a little strange arriving home to my house and garden that had had a month's summer growth. The lawn was surprisingly short, and the vege garden was almost unrecognisable. What had been knee-high sweet corn when I left was now towering! The courgettes had gone mad; huge plants occupying far more than their share of the garden! The tomatoes are a rambling mess and the potato plants sprawled over the paths. It was fun hunting for courgettes and potatoes and discovering cute baby cucumbers and capsicum. Matilda has finally worked out she can jump into the vege garden, so a few plants had been uprooted, and she'd spread mulch from the mulch pile all over the place. Today her wing got clipped...

Christchurch!

We reluctantly left the lovely hostel in Methven. It was a headwind all the way to Christchurch so we took turns draughting behind each other. About 15km before Christchurch we stopped at a winery for a wine tasting. After about 6 rather generous tastings we had to sit on the grass outside and eat in order to be fit to cycle! We carefully loaded 4 bottles of wine in our bike bags; Julie snuggled hers between her sleeping bag and bed mat.

After over 1400km we are proud to say we haven't had a single puncture between the three of us. Julie says that Murphy's Law states she will get one on the way to the airport on Friday.... Erin did manage to topple off her bike today though; it looked a bit like a demolition derby when Julie stopped suddenly while we were travelling at very slow speed and Erin's bags caught on Julies bags and sent her in a slow motion topple to the ground; still clipped in.

It was great to arrive at Erin's friend, Andrew's house in Hornby, Christchurch. We will spend the next 3 days catching up with various friends, and shopping!

More Plain Canterbury Plains

About 3km out of Geraldine Erin spotted a wild plum tree and we went crazy picking the grape-like plums from the trees; half going straight in our mouths. We arrived in the Geraldine backpackers where there were more plum trees; the manager complained they were like weeds. We dumped our things then got straight back on the bikes to explore town before the shops closed. We went to the Barkers factory outlet store with free tastings. I was in heaven. They had Barkers juices (ok); apricot spread (devine); all sorts of jams, sauces, chutneys (onion marmalade was particularly good). I bought 3 jars of 98% Apricot spread to take home (admittedly it will be well-travelled spread - it has to go about 180km on a bike then jump on a plane - but it is worth it)

The next day we checked out more of the Geraldine shops. One particularly memorable one was the wool and 1066 Mosaic shop. Out the back is a mosaic made of small pieces of metal (nearly 2 million pieces); done over 20 years by one guy. He was there in the shop and enthusiastically pointed out various bits of it. It looked disturbingly like the Bayeaux tapestry in France, and he said that it was a replica of it! (The Bayeaux tapestry is 100m long). I immediately asked to see the 'Chick on Stick' - my favourite part of the bayeaux tapestry. He was immediately able to find it for me. It was just my warped sense of humour that enjoyed the whole roast chicken skewered like an iceblock...

He then showed us his CD he has put out - he showed us his Perfect Square that took him 2 years to figure out (it's a cube of numbers that every line in any direction will add to 2052). What was really cool about the CD is he has scanned loads of books (mainly about medieval history) and they are really well done - high quality scanning and to turn the page you just click on the corner and it appears to turn like a book, even with sound effects. He also has loads of games on the CDs, including ones he made up himself. All in All quite eccentric! I bought the CDs...

The ride from Geraldine to Methven along "Scenic Highway 72" wasn't very scenic. I guess the low cloud hiding all the hills and mountains was to blame. We had a couple of nice stops at cafes. The highlight of the day was arriving in the backpackers (Alpenhorn Lodge) in Methven. It is gorgeous. Homely, spaceous; a real haven for tired tourists. (Not to mention free coffee, free internet and spa!)

Canterbury Plains

Having the whole dorm to ourselves meant Julie and I could have 2 mattresses each - making a super-soft bed that your body sunk into and got stuck in!

The next day had just as much low cloud but wasn't as windy. We decided to explore the Hooker Valley and then treat ourselves to a bus to Tekapo. Despite no views of the Alps (except a peak when the clouds parted at one point); it was a nice walk up to the Hooker Lake and Glacier. We could only get within about 400m of the glacier. It was pretty striking - like usual it wasn't a clean crisp white block of ice; rather it was covered with grey shingle and had varigations of grey running vertically through the ice; making it look a bit like a funky dessert (food on the mind as usual!). The lake at the base of the glacier had icebergs floating in it. If it had been a clear hot day it would have felt really odd standing beside them; but it was a cool day with a cold wind coming off the ice so it all felt rather appropriate.

The 4pm bus ride to Tekapo was heavenly. It felt amazingly good to sink back into the seat and watch the kilometres melt away.

Accomodation in Tekapo was fully booked as there were 2 weddings at the famous little Church of The Good Shepherd. Good thing we had our tents. We stayed at the YHA, which had a tiny chaotic kitchen for the number of people staying there. I ended up on the wrong side of the Free Food scheme - I unwittingly put our cheese and yoghurt in the fridge in the Free Food area (somehow didn't see the later very obvious sign) and within minutes it was gone!! Frustrated by my mistake, I hunted through all the food bags in the fridge and reclaimed our cheese and yoghurt - and left the japanese guy a note in his food bag explaining why 'his' cheese had gone missing.....

From Tekapo we rode to Fairlie, then into Mackenzie Country back roads to stay with Erin's friend, Erin. It was 13km up a country road, with 7km of gravel. It was exhausting and it wasn't until we came back along the same road the next day we realised how much uphill we had done.

The cycling through the Canterbury Plains isn't nearly as interesting as the hilly Fiordland or Catlins - just lots of dry grass with irrigation systems running. We will be taking the inland route via Mt Hutt which should be slightly more interesting.

Today we are biking to Geraldine; then Methven; then Christchurch. We will have 2-3 days to go shopping in Christchurch before we fly back to Rotorua. I'm looking forward to going shoe shopping!

We are currently in Pleasant Point, a village 20-30km from Timaru. I've just eaten a 'world famous' Dunheath custard square - have to admit it wasn't as exciting as I hoped (I'm sure I have made better).... One of the best things about cycling is working up an appetite so easily; and my sweet tooth really comes out!

Mount Cook

From Omarama we cycled north towards Mount Cook. We could see the white-capped alps in the distance, and grey ominous clouds behind us. We stopped at a salmon farm and fed the salmon and i bought a fillet. By the time we got to SH 80 (the mount Cook road) the clouds had caught up with us and blanketed all the hills and mountains. It was a hard slog up to Mount Cook Village, despite the tail wind. We finally arrived; having done over 95km to the Youth Hostel, to find it had only 2 beds left. They told us we could stay in an Alpine Club Lodge, just 2km back down the road. At that point there was no way we could face turning around and heading into the wind. So we went to a cafe. We parked out bikes outside the glass-fronted cafe, watched by every patron. I ordered a Magnum AND a pot of tea! Erin had 2 cornettos. Julie bumped into a guy she went to university with, in Aberdeen.

After an hour or so we felt revived again, and the backtrack to the Alpine Lodge wasn't nearly as far or as bad as I thought it would be. The Lodge is fantastic - like a souped-up backcountry hut. Plenty of room (we had a huge 14-bed dorm to ourselves); large friendly lounge area with books. Probably a nicer atmosphere than the youth hostel; and great views though the huge windows. There was a group of climbers who were getting prepared to spend 2-3 weeks around Mt Cook, climbing various peaks. They had boxes of food - a stack of king-sized chocolate; boxes of muesli bars... Apparently they were going to get them choppered up to a hut. Dinner was fish chowder and crumble II (even better than the first) for dessert. Julie's friend came for dinner too and was impressed with the homecooked food "I usually live on pasta when travelling".

Unfortunately the cloud is still really low so we probably won't be doing much exploring of the Mount Cook area; there are a few walks but seems a bit pointless when we can't see anything.

Dansey's Pass

There was blue sky when we woke up in Alexandra.  Unfortunately that soon disappeared and the cold rain began.  It wasn't much fun cycling the gravelly Rail Trail in the rain.  We stopped after 30km to warm up in Omakau.  I had met a guy on the plane who has a property in Omakau. After a coffee, then a pot of tea, we left the warm cafe and found the guy, Tony, at his house down the road.  He invited us in to meet his brother, sister and mum - which soon turned into an invite to crash there the night; which we gratefully accepted!  We had a very pleasant afternoon sitting chatting in the lounge with the fire belting out heat.  When the weather cleared a little in the afternoon we could see fresh snow on the Old Man Range!  Dinner was Blue Cod and Chips.

The next day was hard to leave as it kept raining on and off and it was cold outside and very cosy inside.  Finally; at 1:30pm we left, between showers of rain.  The ride through Poolburn Gorge was lovely as usual; through the tunnels and over the bridges.  We arrived in Naseby after 6pm, hoping for a cabin in the campground but they were fully booked.  Compulsory tenting.  I wore 3 layers of thermals and slept OK!

The next day was magic.  One of the trip highlights.  The sky cleared.  We headed up over Dansey's Pass, stopping at the Dansey's pass Hotel for coffee and cake.  I had a delicious date cookie... then went back for an afghan.  We spent over an hour sitting happily in front of the fireplace.  The manager joked that he didn't believe we would get back on our bikes!  The Dansey's Pass ride was fantastic.  It was a gravel road but nicely packed and very little traffic.  The twists and turns made it even more interesting.  It certainly wasn't as hard as we thought it would be (the tail wind helped).  We stopped at a newly opened Lavendar Farm and Shop; the grandchildren of the shop owner asked us if we were racing each other on our bikes...

We stayed at the Dansey's Pass Holiday Park, which was by a river.  You could hear the sheep calling out from the hill on the other side.  

today was a long day - 94km from Dansey's Pass Holiday Park to Omarama.  It was all uphill and into a mild headwind.  It was so good to arrive.  Erin picked some wild apples and pears along the way; plus we bought 1kg of plums and 1kg of apricots and 500g of cherries, so we had crumble and custard for dinner!  We had stopped for a wine tasting earlier in the day and bought a Reisling, so that got demolished too.  A japanese guy at the campground couldn't believe we were having crumble for dinner.  We gave him some too.

Central Otago, here we come!

We stayed in the friendly Bumbles backpackers in Queenstown. The next day they let us store our luggage after checkout and I hired a mountain bike to do Skippers Canyon. The girls stayed and shopped and drank coffee in Queenstown. It was a long hike on mountain bike to the start of Skippers - not helped by accidently taking the longer route to get there (scenic, but hilly!) - and mountain bikes are just not as efficient on the road as road bikes! By the time I huffed my way to the Skippers car park I was knackered. I sat and ate (what I usually do when knackered) and white things (suspiciously like snowflakes) were falling on me. I started out on the Skippers single track - a bit like a trip down memory lane as that was my maiden mountain bike track - my first time on a mountain bike ever; back in 2004. Unfortunately the brakes on the bike were awful - sticky and slow so I lost confidence (not helped by knowing you are in the middle of nowhere; out of cellphone coverage - and the schist rocks did look awfully solid). So I turned around and flew down the hills back to Queenstown. Erin took us to Dux Delux for alcoholic ginger beer (very nice) and then we caught up with some of her friends. At 6:30 PM (slightly later start than usual) we left queenstown for Arrowtown. it was a nice 20km ride in the early evening light and we stayed in a lovely small backpackers, Poplar Lodge (highly recommended).

Today we cycled 91km from Arrowtown to Alexandra. The wind was a nor'wester again which for once actually suited us and we flew down the Cromwell-Clyde highway. We passed some friendly tourists who were waving to us - before I realised it was Janet and Torrie!!! Rapid squealing of brakes and U-turn to say hello. Apparently they had been driving along and Janet was just talking about us and then not long later they spotted us on the road!

We bumped into Hannes the german cyclist again today; he had taken the bus to Dunedin and has just finished the Rail Trail. He is buzzing about it. We start tomorrow; probably to Ranfurly then across to Dansey's Pass....