Rakaia (day 11)

The day began with 2 big climbs; one out of Duchevelle Bay and the other straight up and into the clouds – you couldn’t see further than 40m due to cloud cover!

After those I stopped in Little River, and then used the Rail Trail to avoid the main road. From here it was flat for the next 70K through farmland.

The day ended with the crossing of New Zealand’s longest bridge, somebody told me a few days ago that there was a walkway you could use, but there isn’t, so I waited till a stream of trucks went by and sprinted across to safety on the other side.

Distance today: 98.5Km
Distance so far: 664.2Km
Map: click here

Duvauchelle (day 10)

Very big hills today, 3 main climbs from sea level to around 500m, one on tarmac, one on gravel and one so steep you had to push the bike up!

Distance today: 41.3Km
Distance so far: 565.7Km
Map: click here

Charteris Bay (day 9)

I couldn’t resist another one of Grexel’s omelettes so I woke up early to allow some quality time there. Once my things were packed I loaded up the bike, and headed through the centre of town along Ferry Road towards Redcliffs.

Christchurch really is NZ’s cycle capital, there are bike shops everywhere (somebody mentioned that there were 37 of them!) and wide cycle routes on most roads, so riding out of town was easy.

The morning was rather cool so I wore a long sleeve top. Bicycles are not allowed through the tunnel, so I used Summit Road, which took me over the top, this turned out to be quite possibly one of the steepest roads I’ve been on for quite some time. But the vistas were quite something over Christchurch and out into the Pacific Ocean, so it was worth the effort.

After the decent through Evans Pass I arrived in Lyttelton, where I stopped to have some fish and chips which were very good. The Blue Cod was lightly bread crumbed and chips were golden in colour. Then I had a look around to find some information about the ferry crossing into Diamond Harbour on the other side of Lyttleton Harbour.

I’d just missed the ferry by a minute or so, which didn’t matter as it would return in half an hour. So I waited in the nearest cafe till the next one. When it arrived I loaded the bike on and we were off across the waters at high speed bouncing over the waves as went.

On the other side, at Diamond Bay the Godley House Restaurant, I didn’t stop here, but it looked like a good place to spend the day, in it’s English style gardens. Aside from this, there wasn’t much to see so I made my way to Diamond Harbour to meet M&J who were house sitting and allowed me to spend the night with them. They are keen cyclists and after dinner we went for a swim down in the bay.

Distance today: 28Km
Distance so far: 524.4Km
Map: click here

Christchurch (rest day 2)

After a night interrupted by three snoring chaps (I stayed at the YMCA) I decided to take a stroll into town centre to make up my mind whether of not to spend the rest of the day in Christchurch. On doing so I stumbled upon Grexels restaurant and ordered an omelette. This clinched the deal and I decided to give Christchurch a second chance.

There is not much here, but what they do have is quality. The gallery is small, but you’ll learn about Kiwi artists such as Alfred Walsh, John Gibb, William Watkins, Edmund Norman, and Nicholas Chevalier, who all painted landscapes of New Zealand. Entry to Christchurch Art Gallery is free and open 10am – 5pm daily except Wednesday when it closes at 9pm.

The rest of the day was spent shopping and visiting other places like the cathedral, and town square. Along the way I bumped into a solicitor from Inverness and she was pleased to hear about her home town, and like me was also surprised to see the closure of one of Inverness’ finest bakeries.

Christchurch (day 8)

The Trans-Alp train was scheduled for 1:45pm so the ride into Greymouth was a time trial. With one eye on the road and the other on the clock I made the dash to Greymouth.

Once in Greymouth I walked around looking for a coffee place and spotted two bikes outside a place, they turned out to belong to a couple from Oz who were riding around the South Island and looking at their route there looks like there wasn’t a place they hadn’t visited, they practically visited everywhere!

Once the bike was loaded I relaxed in my window seat, it was great to be transported for a change, and take in the landscape from a different view point. Shame some of the tourists weren’t as happy to be on board, they all looked so miserable. It’s strange as the views outside were amazing.

On arrival in Christchurch I checked into the YMCA, I wasn’t that impressed with the place so I only booked in for the night.

Distance today: 54Km
Distance so far: 496.4Km
Map: click here (morning)
Map: click here (afternoon)