February 24 - Geraldine to Methven - 70 km

Well, maybe complaining works - I was whining and snivelling about the rain yesterday.  Today we woke up to a cloudless sky.  But it was chilly.  OK, it wasn't snowing (sorry Pat & Ben) but this is summer - we aren't supposed to see our breath!

Once we got going the bicycling was great.  70 km of almost no traffic on pancake flat roads.  We made excellent progress.  First picture is of a church in Methven in the mornig sun.

We cycled along to Mayfield and took a break.  Mayfield wins the silly sign award today.  The "welcome' sign describes the size of the place ("Blink and you will miss it").  The coffee shop offers "Orgasmic Ice Cream" in the flavours listed.  We had a Cappucino.

I missed a sign on the way into town:  "Mayfield - Home of the World Famous Racing Pigs."  Another something to look up on the Internet.

This is farming country.  Sheep, cattle adn various crops (mostly winter feed for livestock?) are grown.  There are extensive irrigation systems installed.  We saw a lot of irrigation channels.  We are on the Inland Scenic Route.  On the one side are beautiful fields with hills in the background.

Look the other way and we have - Manitoba!  Flat like a pancake.

 So, we are in Methven, in a "Holiday Park."  We've developed the following accommodation rating system:
1 - It's all good.  Clean sheets and comfortable beds.
2 - Hmmm.  Not so great, but what the heck, it's only one night
3 - We're getting skanky.  Better use our own sleeping bags.
4 - Really skanky.  Set up the tent in the room.
5 - Forget about the room - set up the tent in the woods.

This is a picture of our little abode for the evening.

Here is Laura's rating.  And that's generous.

Maybe she was trying to tell me something else with her fingers.

Quake update.  When we biked into Methven we were surprised to see an "Earthquake Victim Reception  Site" set up.  We are now being affected by the quake insofar as there are almost no accommodations available.  Tourists have been shopped out of Christchurch to the surrounding areas, filling up everything available, including the homes of volunteers who have space.  We'll have problems finding accommodation for a couple more days, probably until we are north of Kaikoura.  This is as far away from Christchurch as we can travel, as we are are hemmed in by the mountains.  

Our plan is to continue north, biking to Picton, catch the ferry to Wellington and flying back to Auckland.  Biking to Christchurch airport is an option (Air NZ is flying people out of CC for $50 to anywhere else in NZ), but we rejected it because we have time and we have options (ie. we can tent).  Also, I doubt they would want to take our bikes.