Tour Journal
The first four days, getting to know New Zealand, and getting to know each other.
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The day I had been looking towards for so long was finally here. The start of the tour. The peninsula east of Christchurch City is called the Banks Peninsula. This goes out towards the Pacific Ocean. It is sandy, many hills, yet a great playground of activities. The kiwis had established a set of hiking trails on the outskirts of town. A philanthropist had built some wonderful "cabins for resting/warming. The first one we encountered was the Sign of the Takahe. Looking more like a chapel with stain glass windows, there was a restaurant inside and a man of armor. This rest stop is nestled in a charming neighborhood overlooking the city. I had no idea this country existed yesterday, even when I was in the bell tower. The roads roamed around the ridges coming to the second. |
Parasailing on the Bank's Peninsula |
rest stop - Sign of the Kiwi Along this building is the following quote from Shakespeare -
Jog on, Jog on, the foot-path way, And merrily hent the stile A Merry heart goes all day, Your sad tires in a mile
The sand and scatter rock terrain continued. For a holiday, New Years, there were not too many people about. In one parking lot I came upon a woman out for the day with her son. She lived in a senior's home and was really happy. There were some mountain bike trails that looked like fun, but not on my Serotta! This is where we saw our first sheep and the terrain was so hilly there was also a parafoil club out making the best of the day. The overlook view of the harbors of Lyttleton and Akaroa were spectacular. My photo of Lyttleton looks very similar to the postcard. This day's ride was truly spectacular scenery, and not at all what I expected to see. At last our uphill journey on Summit Road was complete and we had a nice downhill to the beach. This beach had some rock caves and many families building sand castles. The difference between this beach and one in the states, is that people were not all in bathing suits, many just playing on the rocks in shorts. This ride was about 30 miles, breathtaking in scenery and a couple grueling climbs. Returning to the hotel, it was about time to call those New Years Eve Parties we were missing.
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FARMLANDS |
Now the journey was really beginning. A train ride across the southern alps. A plush train where refreshments are served, headphones provided and a few tips on what we were seeing. After awhile the observation car opened. This was fabulous, A train car which was opened, we stood leaned over took photos, and let the brisk air give us lots to laugh about. Hold on to your hat! We crossed several glacial streams, there were so clear and blue, lupins lined the train tracks as well and produced a Monet photo with the speed of the train. At one point we could see Mount Cook. They let us out of the train for a 10 minute view and onwards to our destination Otira. |
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Belltower in Hokitika |
Sue and Tim had the vans that morning and drove our bikes and luggage to Otira. Jan, the Kiwi of the tour guides filled us with lots of insight into geography and other aspects of the trip. The town (just a few buildings) of Otira where we boarded our bicycles "downhill" was for sale. Any one of us was welcomed to buy it. Well, the down hill was a headwind. None of us could see or feel the downhill. However, that provide a great opportunity for many of us to ride together. Although we were not racing and creating large drafts, we thought we would try, albeit at 12-15 MPH. As it turns out I was the only one on the tour with a computer on their bicycle, so no one really knew how fast we were travelling, or how far we had traveled. For awhile we followed a river bed, until we met the Tasman Sea. It was kinda tiring, and after awhile, the group elected to stop for time off the bike every half hour. We were real happy to see the clock tower in Hokitika. So this is the vacation capital of the South Island? I laugh each time I see the photos and how few cars were around. We were starting to see more cyclist traveling in the opposite direction and noted several farm signs that welcomed cyclists. Jan helped point us in the right direction to look for green stone jewelry. That night a few people noted the Southern Cross before clouds rolled in. The problem was the days were long, At around 11pm the Southern Cross would rise in the sky, but beware to find the real Southern Cross as there is a fake one that rises a bit earlier. |
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Our little group (a kiwi called it a tidy little paceline) did so well riding together on Friday we thought we would stick together again today. Another find day, no news from the States, the big question was - Who won the Rose Bowl? Debby was a big Washington fan and wanted to know the result. Doug finally got hold of someone in the states on the phone and we had the result of Michigan's victory. Sky TV just did not carry that news. We crossed more single lane bridges over sandy and empty areas for glacial streams. We road through Ross - the gold town of New Zealand. When the price of gold goes up enough, they will dig the town up for Gold. There in the middle of the street was a Plunket Room. I had seen a building for the Plunket Society in Christchurch City and asked Jan . She told me Plunkets take care of children. So there was a building where a Plunket would visit Mondays 3-4:30 and Thursdays 11-12. No appointment |
TIDY PACELINE Chuck, Earlene & Rouel |
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The hike actually looked like this! |
necessary. Don't have a clue what one does on a Tuesday or Friday. Lunch was at Lake Ianthe, where we noted a family with their bonnets and clothes dipping in the water. There are sunspots in that part of the world, Jan told us it is quite easy to get sunburned. Children must bring a hat to school if they expect to play outside, apparently all the clothes protect the body from the sun. Arriving in Hari Hari, we passed a nice trail into the rain forest. Some of us hiked it when arriving, and most of us hiked it after dinner. The trail had some boardwalk on the trail The wooden pieces were covered with chicken coop fencing to prevent sliding in damp conditions. |
The trails were kept up remarkably. It too went uphill and provided a nice little view of Hari Hari. This little town consisted of a half dozen homes, a general store, hotel with dinning room, and a crafts store. The crafts store had hats, sweaters, nice shell jewelry among other trinkets. We passed several more bicyclists that day, and at least one camped on the grounds of the hotel for the evening. Besides cars we also saw some green buses labeled the Kiwi Adventure along Rte 6. The Kiwi Adventure allows riders to purchase a ticket, and drop off where ever they want, and then board again when they are finished exploring.
Another day in the Rain Forest and the morning started with SUN. We had one or two little climbs today, compared to the flats of the last two days, anything would be hilly! The weather did not last, as sprinkles started as we finished our lunch. We went to Okarito Lagoon, where a neat hike through the rain forest awaited us. The view over the Tasman Sea was worth the journey despite the limited visibility. It was neat to watch the waves rolling in. Soon however, the mist turned more to a rain, so everyone except Chuck decided to take the van to the hotel. Not sure if it was the rain, or the climb, we had traveled downhill to the lagoon, so we all knew it was uphill several miles.
Melanie, Toby, Chuck, Cindy & Earlene
The van had foggy windows with so many on board so viewing was limited, we did cheer Chuck as we passed him. Sue our tour guide was unclear what hotel we were checking into, so we went to the wrong one first. Not that their were too many hotels. We checked in and scheduled time in the jacuzzi, and Tim and Jan determined that we could get group rates at the omni theater, so many of us went to watch a 30 minute flick showing heli-skiing on the glacier before dinner. The rain continued to come down, and even with umbrellas, we were a bit soaked after walking a block into town. No helicopter ride over the glacier today!
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