After an early flight out of Brisbane we arrived in Christchurch at 1330 and caught the bus into town. After settling in to our hotel, we went for a walk around the city centre. The ruins of the cathedral stand as a stark reminder of the devastation caused by the February 2011 earthquake.
We were picked up at our hotel this morning by our guides Rachel and Vicki from Adventure South. Joined by 7 other cyclists from Austria, Australia, NZ and the United States, it was to be a long day today in our minibus with trailer in tow.
We started the drive in thick fog and drove for about an hour to the small town of Waikari where we adjusted our bikes and headed for a 25 km ride along a quiet country road to Greta Valley to check the bikes were ok. It was much hotter than we expected and we worked up quite a sweat going up the hills.
We then got back on the bus for a short drive to Cheviot for lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent getting to our motel in Blenheim. Unfortunately this part of the country suffered a severe earthquake in 2016 which closed Highway 1 for 13 months. The road is now open but there is still a lot of roadworks so the going was slow.
We had a short stop at Kaikoura to stretch the legs and check out the beach.
On the next section of road we saw where the seabed had risen 2m due to the earthquake and exposed new rocks. Seals basked on rocks while workmen stopped us regularly.
We arrived at Blenheim at 1730, looking forward to a hot shower and dinner at the pub across the road.
Our day started with a 16 km drive from Blenheim to Rarangi for a 16 km ride on bike paths back to Blenheim. Rarangi is on the beach and a popular camping spot.
We stopped at the Millenium rock on the way which had holes drilled in it to view sunrise on 1/1/2000 and the inland mountains.
From Blenheim we drove across the range to Nelson. This area is the heart of the famous Marlborough wine country and we passed many well known winery vineyards.
We passed through Nelson to Wakefield to cycle back on the start of the Great Taste Cycle Path. It was generally well signposted, compacted gravel or bitumen and went alongside the coast as we approached Nelson. Unfortunately Cyclone Gita damaged some parts which are still closed.
Our motel for the night (Harbourside Lodge) was on the marina at the port and we enjoyed the view from our balcony.
Today started with a visit to WOW – World of Wearableart and Classic Cars Museum. Wearable (just wearable, in some cases) art that is submitted for a yearly fashion show in Wellington. It is amazing the imagination and skill of some people.
It was then a short drive to start our cycle across Rabbit Island. We cycled on trails across the island 12 km to a ferry to take us across the inlet to Mapua and our cafe for lunch.
We were questioning the wisdom of a generous lunch as we began the cycle through Ruby Bay and over a steep pinch towards Tasman. The next part was on the Tasman View Rd – always a hint of climbing to come. I had to walk a couple of times (unlike Warren) as the steepness on the gravel surface proved too much.
We were rewarded with nice views at the top and a great downhill to the town of Motueka – 12 + 31km and 221m up made this our hardest day to date.
Today we drove to Abel Tasman National Park for a 4 hour hike to Anchorage Bay. We headed off under overcast skies dodging parts of the path destroyed by the recent cyclone.
We soon had our first showers of the trip, however the paths were good and the scenery spectacular.
The overnight rain meant all the streams and waterfalls were running and made for an enjoyable, if wet, morning.
Lunch was followed by a 3 hour sail back to Kaiteriteri in a 10m catamaran.
Our skipper Tim, took us into Falls Creek as the tide was high enough to cross the narrow bar.
We then went out to see some seals on a nearby rock.
With a 15 knot SE, it was cool and wet at times but everyone enjoyed the experience.
We finished the day with a wine tasting at Riweka River Wines before heading back to the Nautilus Motel in Motueka.
We started today with a short drive to Kikiwar for our ride for today which included a tough 3km climb.
We stopped for morning tea at the bus at the top of the climb before an exhilarating 20 km descent to Kohatu.
This was our final day on the bike – we had ridden 140km in total on the 4 riding days.
After a nice lunch in a cafe at Kohatu, we drove to our final nights accomodation in St Arnaud. Our guides took us for a walk down to Lake Rotoiti to see the eels.
This is a beautiful region with lots of walking trails.
Overlooking the lake is a church with an amazing view – no doubt very popular for weddings.
At dinner our American friends Pat and John told us it was their wedding anniversary. Champagne all around to celebrate.
No more bike riding but we did have one more activity on the way back to Christchurch – the Natural Flames Experience. Guides Steve and Shelley drove us out of Murchison for about 40 minutes to start a 1 hour hike through a Conservation Park. Steve explained how they were trying to remove the “wilding pines” that are taking over from the native beeches.
To get to the walk we had to pass through private property, so we had the area to ourselves. It was very beautiful – over creeks, up and down the trail with ropes to assist on the steeper sections. The destination was a natural gas seep, discovered in 1922, that was set alight and had been burning more or less ever since.
Steve and Shelley made tea and pancakes for morning tea – much appreciated after our walk even if the tea was a bit smoky flavoured.
It was about 2pm by the time we got back to the bus and started the long drive back to Christchurch. We had a great tour with lovely companions in a beautiful part of NZ. Road closures created some challenges but did not stop our enjoyment over the 6 days.
We had 4 days free before our next cycle trip so decided to send the time in Queenstown. We had booked a car (a Corolla) before we left, so made our way to the nearby Thrifty to pick it up on Saturday morning. We were a little concerned when we were advised that they had to change our car to a mini – we did have a bit of gear.
It is nearly 500 km to Queenstown but we enjoyed the drive over the Canterbury Plains and then over the mountains. The Mini Cooper Countryman was fun to drive and we arrived in Queenstown about 5 pm.
We went up the gondola the first day and enjoyed the view and played like kids on the luge rides.
On the ride back on the gondola we met a local who had been up in the forest trying to keep the wilding pines at bay. He told us that he and other locals had been given plots of land to look after. It sounded like a good program but there are a LOT of pines. We wish them well on the task.
In the afternoon we drove out to Arrowtown, an old mining town about 20kms from Queenstown where we wandered the quaint streets, spent some time in the local museum and visited the old Chinese settlement.
On Monday we boarded the steamship Earnslaw for a trip across Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak Station for a demonstration of shearing and sheep dog herding and a great BBQ lunch. Warren was a bit concerned by the list the boat had but the Captain assured us this was normal.
On our trip back to Christchurch we went via Wanaka, a beautiful town on a lake about 70 km from Queenstown. Below is the famous Wanaka tree, apparently the most photographed tree in NZ.
Wednesday morning we are picked up in Christchurch by our cycle guides, Sue and Wayne and taken to Adventure South’s depot for a bike fitting and briefing. We then drove to Geraldine for a short stop before heading to the start of today’s ride – 20km into the small town of Fairlie for lunch. With the start of the ride on the top of a hill it was an easy start to the tour.
We then drove to and through the town of Tekapo to ride the first 14 km of the alternate start to the A2O. Sue suggested we ride back to town to avoid the wind that had increased. Good plan but still a windy ride.
Our accomodation for the night was in a holiday house we shared with new American friends Grosvenor and Wendy from Maine.
A pretty town by Lake Tekapo that is experiencing a building boom.
We started today with a bus trip to the point where we started yesterday’s ride – heading west instead of east this time. The A2O Trail is 301km and we will cover most of it.
Sadly the wind had changed and we had strong head and cross winds for the 29 km ride to Lake Pukaki. We rode beside the canal at the start passing a large salmon farm.
We then hopped on the bus and headed towards Mt Cook and Tasman Glacier. The weather was inclement and the summit of Mt Cook was covered in clouds but we climbed the 250 steps up to view Tasman Glacier which is receding at an alarming rate (450 to 900 m per year).
We then enjoyed a nice lunch at the cafe in Mt Cook village and visited the Dept of Conservation visitors centre which told some of the history of the early climbers including Freda du Faur, a Tasmanian who was the first woman to climb Mt Cook (skirt and all).
In the afternoon we went back to Pukaki to rejoin the cycle route, leaving the clouds and rain behind and enjoying the blue sky and waters. We biked 11 km to Twizel, a small town built to house the hydro electric workers.
