February 25 - Methven to Oxford - 78 km

I must have upset the weather gods because it's raining again.  Not cold, but certainly wet.  We both actually slept reasonably well in our cute little Methven hovel and hit the road at 07:30.

Our target for the day was the Ashley Gorge Holiday Park, about 8 km out of Oxford (87 km total).  One advantage of holiday parks - they always have space for another tent if everything is full.

In spite of the rain, we made very good progress.  The roads were flat with minimum traffic, no wind and it wasn't cold, so we sloshed along quite nicely.  We crossed two river gorges (Rakaia and the Waimakariri) which were both pretty, however the camera didn't come out in the rain.

Our route today took us about 10 km from the surface epicentre of the Sepember 4 earthquake (under
a town called Darfield).  We stopped for a coffee near there (in Glentunnel) and had a nice chat with the owners.  The September quake shook all the merchandise off their shelves, but the structure (wood frame) wasn't damaged.

A morning highlight - a pickup stopped and the driver hopped out and asked us if we wanted a ride.   We were near Oxford, so we thanked her and continued cycling.

We blew into Oxford just before noon (almost 80 km in 4 hours!) and stopped at a cafe/cooking school for lunch. Talk about service - they immediately took our jackets and put them in a dryer and gave us a towel to rub ourselves down.

Laura noticed a B&B sign in the cafe and enquired about it.  They were fully booked due to the
quake but had just had a cancellation.  So we jumped at it and are in a wonderful B&B.  Heated floors, heated towel rack, huge room and big, comfy bed.  We totally lucked in.  Since I didn't take any scenery pictures today, here's a shot of the bed.  Definitely a number 1 on the Room Rating Scale.

Don't show the owners what we are doing with their heated towel rack!

I was out for a short walk and snapped a photo of the original Oxford Jail.  Cute.  They also had a 

set of stocks, but Laura wouldn't pose for the camera.

Tomorrow we will make our closest approach to Christchurch as we pass through Rangiora, and then we
turn north.  Hills and a river prevent us from taking any routes further inland.  We'll go as far as we can depending on weather (supposed to clear but become windy), our energy (should be good after tonight's rest) and the availability of accommodations.

Quake update - Unfortunately not too much good to report:  no victims found alive for the past two days, some looting happening (200 Aussie police in town now), idiots abound (trying to sneak into the closed areas), secondary effects starting to occur (due to bad water, infection, etc.).  They are starting to make progress on power and water, but it will be a while yet for many people.

A comment about Search & Rescue - Yes, I am trained in Search and Rescue, but not Urban SAR which
has additional requirements over wilderness SAR.  Even if I showed up to volunteer I wouldn't be accepted as I have no proof of qualifications, no equipment (volunteers have to show up with at least full personal safety gear), and they want specialists, especially those with sniffer dogs, listening gear or demolition type rescue equipment.  I would be treated as an untrained volunteer, of which they have many.