March 2 - Pedallers Rest to Seddon - 32 km

Only 32 km!  What a lazy performance!  Here is the explanation.

We woke up at Pedaller's Rest to lots of wind (headwind of course) and rain.  So, we hung around for the morning.  The weather report said it would improve.  They pay those guys lots of money so we believed them.  We tidied up the place for Jim & Denise (the owners), since they had been so hospitable the previous evening.

About 11 a.m. we took a short ride out to the highway and convinced ourselves that the weather was improving, so we packed up and headed out.  Two km down the highway the skies opened up - rain and headwinds - my favourite!

We slogged on to Ward, where there was a coffee shop so fueled up on a bacon and egg pie.  The weather did improve, it stopped raining, but the wind was still strong and in our face.

The scenery is hummocky grasslands, similar to yesterday afernoon.  We ahve actually crossed into the Marlbourough area of the South Island, which is famous for wine.  So, here's a picture of one of the vineyards.

It was tough pedalling, with the headwind, some areas of thin to non-existent shoulders and lots of traffic. To make matters worse, the wind swirelled occasionally and would tend to blow one onto the roadway.  We decided descretion is the better part of valour and pulled off the road a number of times.  At least the sun had come out but the wind stayed fierce.

The little town of Seddon appeared ahead, so we decided enough was enough and we would go no further.  When I say small, I mean it.  Here's the entire main street, with about 3 streets of residences behind.

We pulled into the backpackers (one of two choices for lodging, the other being a campground) and inquired.  They were completely full up with temporary vineyard workers.  Our only option was a tent space, so we took it.  So, whoever bet against us using the tent in NZ lost the bet.  And here's the photographic proof.  We actually were able to see three wireless networks from the tent, but couldn't connect to any of them.

It turns out that the vineyard workers are from Vanuatu, over here for a 5 month contract.  They were very friendly and we had a few nice chats.

I am sitting in the tent after dinner composing this, and it does sound as though the wind has dropped.  We have 25 km to get to Blenheim or 55 km to Picton tomorrow.  The wind is usually less in the morning, so if we get 3 or 4 hours of calm we'll get some kilometers under us. 

It's getting dark and the computer's battery is low, so Good Night.

March 1 - Kaikoura to Pedallers Rest - 77 km

Onward and northward today.  Our usual early start north from Kaikoura on a flat coastal road.  Here's Laura in the beach mist.

It's not even 08:00 and we came across these surfers at one of the beaches north of town.  I actually took the photo for the view.  A couple of the guys must have spent the night in their vehicles as they were still asleep.

Looking back toward Kaikoura.

The road follows the coast along with the railroad, with various tunnels.

Seal colony.  The info boards say that males grow to 2.5 meters and 200 kg (bigger than our seals) while the females are 1.5 meters long and 40 - 80 kg.

Another view of the mountains over a riverbed.

Eventually there was a bit of a flat plain between the mountains and the sea with mostly  grasslands.  It's very dry country in spite of being next to the ocean.  

We stopped for lunch at a tearoom at Kekerengu Point and had a pretty good carrot cake for desert.  We've been sampling carrot cake ever since Leddy, Laura and I had the world's greatest carrot cake in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.  We haven't equalled that one yet, although I've made one that's close.

Our destination today was Pedaller's Rest, about 55 km south of Blenheim.  It's pretty basic, but in a great setting.  This used to be a sheep shearer's hut. 

Unless there are some late comers, we're the only  tenants tonight.

Last photo is of the resident lawn mowing crew.  the owners of the property are pretty much out of the sheep business now and have converted some of the land to grapes.

Tomorrow's target is Blenheim, only 55 km further along.  However, the wind has gotten up (they are predicting gales overnight), so we'll see.

February 28 - Around Kaikoura

So, this is a spoiler alert!  If you don't want to get upset about us having a great time in paradise, don't read today's entry.  As I said yesterday, it's just another shztty day in paradise.

After a sleep-in (07:30) I got up and did a little touring along the waterfront.  I met this friend having a snooze out at the point. The NZ seals seem to be larger than our local variety.

This is the coastline out near the point.  One of the early European settlers here was a fellow named John Fyffe (circa 1860).  When he brought his wife out she asked "When are we getting to the town," he replied "You are driving through it, dear."  They stayed for 40 years.  Kaikoura was a whaling station for a while, although to me it doesn't look like much of a protected harbour.

Here's the old wharf near the point.  It's looking  pretty decrepit now, and is slated for redevelopment.  The wharf at the whaling station is "Use at your own risk" - it's getting pretty  unstable looking.

A view of downtown Kaikoura.  I'm on the railway bridge as it goes over the main street.  The business district is one street wide.  Lots of funky cafes and bars along the street.

And here's photographic proof that I went swimming while in NZ.  It wasn't particulary warm, and it was saltier than Georgia Strait.

Meet Cedric.  I took out a mortgage and cashed in an insurance policy so I could buy him.  He's a crayfish (no claws) and is the famous seafood dish here.  I bought him in one of the few fish shops we've seen, and had an interesting discussion about the various types of seafood there.  Remember the salmon farm I told you about - this fish store was selling their product.  I had salmon for dinner last night, but was slightly disappointed as the flesh seemed "mushier" than our salmon. 

Small world department:  Leddy and Jerry - guess who pulled into town?  Adventure South Bicycle Tours with a group of Danish cyclists.  Their guide is a Dane, taking them on a special tour called "Willie's Trip.".  Instead of staying one night and then going to Christchurch, they will be staying 3 nights.  Their guide was busy organizing things for them to do.

Note - Adventure South runs escorted bicycle  tours, where the bus carries everybody's gear and the cyclists ride to a specified destination each day.

Today's humour corner is brought to you by www.wickedcampers.com.  They are a car rental company that rents small crazily painted vans.  These photos are of a couple I saw today in the town.  

Every time one passes us on the road I try to read the "words of wisdom" on the back end.  Some of the comments get pretty racy - I won't tell you the rudest I've seen.

Last photo - I saw this on the back of a great big garbage truck - I guess he was trying to calm down itchy drivers following him.

We're on the road again tomorrow, about 80 km to a biker's hostel called "Pedlar's Rest."  I'm watching the news on the TV right now - there's gale force headwinds going to happen later tomorrow.  They are predicting gusts of 90 km/hr Wednesday in Christchurch - those poor people just can't win.

We just came back from town after getting ice cream cones.  We spotted a contractor whose firm name was blazoned across the side of his van: "Well Hung Wallpaper Services."  These folks have a good sense of humour.

February 27 - Greta Valley to Kaikoura - 105 km

First, I'll apologize to everybody for this blog entry - you'll see why by the time you finished reading it.  How's the snow in BC?

The skies cleared overnight and we got a good start.  We are on highway #1, not too hilly and not a huge amount of traffic.  The shoulders range from wide to non-existent; unfortunately a lot of the edges have "rumble bumps," those annoying lumps of white paint that make your bike shudder.

 These first two photos are of the rolling hills early in the morning when the light is nicer.

Here's a contender for the world's smallest railway station.  

The road runs adjacent to the railway for much of our day, so the grades aren't too bad.

We pulled into Cheviot about 09:15 and had a huge second breakfast at the cafe there. Their baking goodies looked so good that I could have stayed there and devoured them all day. This picture is of the church adjacent the cafe - unusual as it is river rock & cement construction instead of masonry. The statue belongs to the cafe.

Further along I took this shot of a river bed from the bridge crossing it (railway bridge in the background).  This is typical of many of the river beds - very wide and gravelly with multiple river streams braiding their way along the bed.  I suspect when there is a lot of run-off the river fills its bed and becomes very impressive.

This one cracks me up.  This house is on its last legs - the roof is rusted and falling off, the paint is gone, the siding is worn.  But, check out the satellite TV dish!

We climbed a pass, but didn't realize it was a pass as it wasn't more than 200 meters high.  Coming down the other side we saw the ocean (I think for the first time since Milford Sound).  Note the heavy kelp close inshore.

The road snaked along the shore alongside the railway track, with numerous short railway tunnels in 

the narrow spots.  At one point there were 3 tunnels side by side - the railway and one for each lane of the highway (sorry, that photo didn't turn out).  And, another bonus, the winds stayed light; those nasty northeasters didn't materialize.

Closer to town the shoreline widened out and became predominently limestone.  One last hill and we came down into the seaside tourist mecca of Kaikoura.  The next photo is from the driveway of our motel looking north and the last is looking south.  See why I apologized (as you shovel)?

We're staying here for a day before we move on.  Have to play tourist, you know.  It looks like it is going to be another shztty day in paradise.

Quake update - Unfortunately no live recoveries since last week.  Fewer aftershocks, but they had a 4.1 (depth 5 km) aftershock which rattled people.  They are getting more power and water back to the affected parts of the city.

We watched an interview with a fellow from Adventure South Touring (Jerry & Ledddy's tour operator for their last trip?).  They are meeting tourists at CC airport and taking them out of town on their tours, so they are trying to operate as normally as possible.  He emphasized that it is only a small part of CC that has been badly affected and that the best thing tourists could do is come and support the NZ people and their economy by having a great vacation.  

So, if you know of anybody contemplating a trip here, encourage them to come.  It would be the best 

show of support for NZ that you could make.

February 26 - Oxford to Greta Valley - 92 km

It's hard to get up after stayng in a luxury B&B - I'd better tone down the accommodations or Laura won't do any bicycling at all.  She thinks she could get used to this!

We had breakfast in the cafe (Salmon Benedict!) and Laura got her doggie fix with Tosh (the manager told me they intended to have two dogs - Mac 'n Tosh.)

It was drizzzling just enough to convince us to don full raingear when we left.  Luckily, the drizzle disappeared a bit later and it was mostly dry peddling wihtout sun.  We headed toward Rangiora and noticed a number of helicopter flights overhead.  It turns out that they are ferrying hot food from volunteer kitchens into Christchurch.  A one hour drive is replaced by a 10 minute flight so the food stays warm.


A bit later I noticed my handlebars were loose (in the up & down direction, not the steering).  When we entered Rangiora I stopped to tighten up the headset bracket and found out it was cracked and broken!  I stared at it while Laura tripped into the library to hopefully locate a bike shop.  Out came Laura with a fellow who personally escorted us to the local bike shop, hidden behind a mall.  He works in Rangiora but lives in Christchurch - for the forseeable future he's moved back in with his parents in Rangiora as his place is in ruins.

So, another example of Kiwi helpfulness.  10 mintues in the bike shop and my bike,is good as new with a replaced headset bracket.

While in the shop we met a Nova Scotian girl now living here and got the lowdown on a route out of Rangiora which avoided the highway for 20 kilometers or so.  I programmed the new information into FRED the GPS, who only grudgingly accepted it.

Off we went through the countryside.  Nice flat roads through farming country, with a lot of vineyards.  The clouds were low so no photos, except for this one.

We made great progress to Amberley, bought some food and Girl Guide Biscuits (quite different from the Canadian version). Then off on state highway #1 north 30 km to the Greta Valley holiday Camp.  According to the Laura rating system, it's only a bare 2 instead of the stunning 1 from yesterday.  Below is a view of one part of the campground.  The two caravans on the right are also for rent - except I'd bet those are a 3, if not a 4.  Unlike the past few days the campground isn't full, so we may be north of the Christchurch exodus.

On the topic of keeping score I should update you on the FRED verses Laura contest.  I had told you earlier that FRED found a great route to Methven, cutting off 13 km from Laura's route.  This turned out to be true, as well as another 3 km shortcut on the way to Oxford yesterday.  So, as of this morining it was FRED 2, Laura 0.  However, today FRED slipped up since he missed the Inland route and also tried to send us down a dirt road later.  So, it's now FRED 2, Laura 1.

We're continuing north tomorrow.  The sky is clearing, the route is not very hilly, so hopefully we can get to Kaikoura.  Unfortunately, clear skies usually mean northeasterly headwinds.

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.

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.