- Wanganui
- Wellington - then crossed to South Island
- Blenheim
- Motueka (taking in Nelson and Richmond)
- Kaikoura
- Christchurch
No major disasters have befallen us - although there was a minor earthquake tremor in Christchurch over Christmas, but we missed that thank goodness (no casualties either) - and we have continued to tackle ever more challenging bike rides. Generally the weather has been very kind and we cannot remember experiencing such an extended period of sunshine. Since we have been in NZ we have had perhaps one full day of rain, its been warm and sunny pretty much everyday. Our trip to see whales has probably been our most exciting and noteworthy event..more about this and our bike rides later.
Wanganui (or is it Whanganui?)
We spent a low key Christmas by the river bank in Wanganui in a Top 10 holiday park. We usually rent a self contained cabin on one of their sites which has all we need. The discounted rates - based on a cheap membership scheme- are reasonable and the sites are clean, quiet and well managed. Kiwis are pretty much to a man and woman, very friendly and Wanganui was no exception.
On Christmas day we went for a 30km bike ride along the river and out to the coast. We were looking for a nice bar and to raise wine glasses to absent family and friends, but the area was as quiet as the grave. So we returned to the cabin, prepared a traditional Christmas dinner there and toasted all and sundry with a glass of NZ fizz. We traded some modest presents and were enjoying a placid if slightly dislocated Christmas moment, pondering the contrast between our sunny quiet circs compared with the highly social and hectic time we usually have in UK, when we noticed that someone had set up their tent in the path of the sites tethered goat (which we had named Graham); the campers were however nowhere to be seen. Caroline had had mixed attempts to befriend Graham. On one occasion he had not hesitated to take shortbread of her, on another he had butted her when she offered biscotti and also broccoli stalks (which he did eventually eat). As we considered the advisability of pitching a tent in his path, Graham's tether was becoming entangled with the tent's guy ropes. Mark went to advise the staff of the situation, in the meantime Graham had taken to butting the tent and his horns had begun to rip the tent to shreds. When advised of the situation the receptionist giggled and quickly advised her managers of the situation - we had a sense that Graham is often at the centre of kerfuffles. A small group of staff with a 4WD and trailer arrived to tackle Graham and were slightly confused when we started talking about 'Graham'. In any event after several unsuccessful gentle efforts to tempt Graham on to the trailer he was firmly pushed and lifted on. As the track around the site is designed for safety it meant that Graham had to be driven the circumference of the place - it looked like he was doing a lap of honour - head in the air, standing tall. It left us wondering just how many similar incidents Graham had been involved with. We were sorry to see him go. The campers were given complementary cabins.
We subsequently learned that a goats most favoured food is custard creams!?
While at Wanganui we tackled a 40km ride which took in the start of the remote Wanganui River Road. We snaked up a hill of about 200m. At the top of the climb we were able to recover at a spectacular viewing point. We were joined by a German couple who were touring. They had tackled the hill fully loaded and so had done pretty well. These sorts of encounters are always a little awkward because unless you are a dick you don't want to share stories in a competitive manner so we did not mention the war and headed off back to Wanganui while they looked for a spot to wild camp (much to the grumpiness of Mrs German who clearly envied the comfort of our holiday camp).
Wellington
From Wanganui we headed for Wellington, the political capital of NZ. The road journey was bedevilled by high winds and torrential rain which nearly blew the bikes off the car rack. We stopped to restrap them, leaving the lights and the hazhards on for safety but in 10 minutes these flattened the battery so we had to call out the AA and they sorted us out.
We generally select cycling routes from Lonely Planet cycling guide to NZ. Once you get used to the density of information and take the plunge and use the guide carefully it becomes invaluable. We chose a couple of routes around Wellington that were very enjoyable - the scenic route which takes you all around the shoreline (about 40km) was pretty good. Wellington's harbour and shoreline area is pretty impressive - just the right blend of development, commerce, leisure and residential buildings. We were warned by numerous signs to be careful of penguins crossing the roads - this marked the beginning of our mission to spot some wild penguins ; so far this has been frustratingly unsuccessful but for Caroline is developing into a mild obsession.
While in Wellington we got the ferry across the harbour and booked a deferred New Years meal at a fab restaurant in a suburb called Eastbourne. Again a really lovely area. We also cycled along that bit of the coast along a very rough track right out towards the lighthouses at Barings head. The wind was so strong coming back that it blew us to a standstill - cycling in such strong headwinds is hard, sometimes comical and occassionally dangerous. We felt and probably looked like Wallace and Gromit in a wind tunnel. We learned that Wellington is renowned for its high winds.
Motueka (South Island)
From Wellington we got the ferry to Picton on the South Island. The crossing takes about 3 hours. We amused ourselves in the loading queue by watching a very confident NZ toddler driving up and down the car lines in his go kart
taking no prisoners; the very definition of an 'ankle biter'. We called him the Stig. We did not see him again on the boat so assumed he was driving it.
NZ drivers have generally been okay although we are learning that they have a disproportionate problem with road casualties and deaths.
We stayed one night in Blenheim and then headed on a rather picturesque drive throught the wineries of Marlborough - including the Nelson and Richmond areas - to Motueka in the North West of the South Island. Motueka and the surrounding area (particularly Kaiteriteri and the Golden Bay area) is classic seaside resort territory. The site was by far the busiest we have used - like Glastonbury. Caroline was a wee bit poorly for a couple of days here but we managed to get one reasonable ride in of about 50km around the Ruby Bay scenic route, again the ride was made more demanding because of strong headwinds on the return journey. Mark tackled a substantial climb - Takaka Hill - which involved nearly 800m of climbing and the whole ride took about 6 hours. A self taken photograph on a mobile phone at the top of the climb, above the clouds, is a non to flattering picture of a 50 year old man in crisis! Thank goodness the return trip was mostly downhill.
Kaikoura
From Motueka we had an uneventful but long drive to Kaikoura, enlivened by the chance to see colonies of fur seals by the road side. We were able to get out of the car and stand 10 yards from them and their pups. They are wild but they are also used to humans so we had a really good look at them. Delightful.
We stayed at a holiday park, not Top 10 but fine all the same. Our main reason for visiting Kaikoura was to go on a trip to see Whales. We booked on a trip that promised refunds if whales were not spotted. We arrived on time for our trip but got boosted on to an earlier trip that had been delayed (due to choppy seas). We took our sea sickness tablets and reckoned we would be okay. A catamarhan sped 40 of us off into the wide blue yonder. The commentary was very informative and explained why whales come to Kaikoura - basically the geology just off shore means that they have the depths to dive for food. We saw 3 sperm whales surface from about 5 metres away, dwell on the surface for 10 minutes catching their breath and then dive. They arch their huge backs, their tale comes out of the water and then slip down into the depths. It was very impressive and well worth the trip. Needless to say that the waters were very choppy and despite taking meds, Caroline turned a luminous puce colour and Mark used up his quota of sick bags - the bonus being that a playful seal appeared to see what all the fuss was about (big thanks to Taunton Fiskes for this whale trip).
Kaikoura is a really chilled out place, well worth a visit. We did a reasonable sized ride from Kaikoura towards Waiwa which involved a climb to about 400m. One of those rides that to start with looks like flat but if you stop pedalling you immediately stop because of the deceptive incline. The ride was about 60km but as Mark's chain broke after descending the steepest climbs we started to trudge back. We were really blessed however when a Dpt of Conservation oppo stopped for us with a truck and he gave us a lift back. He also informed us of a creek, pool and waterfall that seals use to hide their pups when their mums are out feeding at sea. We went to visit but sadly did not see any pups.
Rest of stay at Kaikoura involved Mark spending time learning how to fix a chain and re-tune gears.
Christchurch
Christchurch is a lovely city and apparantly the most English of the big NZ cities. We did a short bike tour of the parks and gardens which was more like a map reading challenge - it was only about 20km but took us about 3 hours to do. We had a good rest before thinking about our next challenges; resting included watching the film "men who stare at goats" we felt it explained a lot regarding Graham's behaviour.
We concentrated on doing some big rides from here. In nutshell we tackled a climb on Banks peninsula near Akaroa which topped out at over 700m This was a monster that in some places was so steep we nearly fell backwards on the bikes. It went up 800m in only 6km. Akoroa is a fab place with a big French influence. The only cyclists we saw were coming down and they looked suspiciously fresh to us!
The other ride involved tackling Porters Pass which rose to nearly 900m. We chose the hotest windiest day to do this. Not only that but the wind changed direction just as we turned around off the summit so we rode into it on the way to the peak and also on the ride home. Mark took this extremely personally at first raging into it Lear Like. Caroline was the first to the top on this ride and the people in the few cars that were on the same road all gave her the thumbs up!. We have decided to seek out big climbs here as a test of fitness and also in honour of Graham - they bring out the mountain goat in us. We have just arrived in Dunedin (gaelic for Edingburgh) and we can seek out some monsters from here eg Crown Range and Milford Sound. We will blog again before we leave NZ for USA on the 1st Feb.
Love to all and thanks for being interested in what we do. xxxxxxC&M
