Day 1 Christchurch to Rakaia

Finally we are making a move, albeit a preparatory one, driving to Burwood to leave our car with Diane, the neighbor of Sau Keng's workmate friend Clare. At Burwood we meet Diane. She will look after our car and the things we are not taking on our ride. She has also packed a lunch for us - a lovely surprise.

Bikes unloaded, car parked, non-riding gear stowed and Diane thanked we finally start riding. It's a beautiful morning, we feel happy and excited :-)

Google recommends a cycleway beside a highway. We decide to take a slightly longer route beside the Avon. Being a fine Saturday morning the area is very busy with runners, rowers, walkers and cyclists. We cruise along soaking it in. As we reach the city centre cafes are full, people are everywhere. It is very busy and alive - except for the

Cathedral, which looks fake and sad.

It is obligatory to have a coffee. We find a cafe behind the markets and indulge. Across a carpark a large building side has been painted with a realistic 3D mural of buildings. I'm pretty sure the wall is actually flat - but the 3D effect is very strong. Sau Keng assumed is was 3 dimensional. I have to check...

Yes, when you get close it is clearly flat. Very well done by the artists!

We plot our route from here to Rakaia. Surprise! 56 km! Sau Keng thought the entire distance was only 40 km, and we have already ridden 15. I could not remember and had not checked when she said this. (Later we checked, we had today's ride down as 56 km - from the city center because we did not know where the car would be stored.) Thankfully we have a nice tail wind, and of course it is flat here. 56 km should be fine.

Hagley park is picture perfect, right down to the cricket players all in white - running together to celebrate taking a wicket. It takes us a long time to get out of Christchurch suburbia - the city is very spread out now. Here's Waste Management, no it's 'WM' now. Sau Keng's friend and former workmate Teressa works here. We stop at the gate but she does not let us in ;-)

Finally we are in the countryside, but there is still quite a bit of traffic on our road. We lose it at last when Selwyn Rd turns into gravel. Sealed roads are nicer to ride on, but losing the traffic is worth it.

Rape seed (for making canola olt) behind a gorse hedge

I stop to photograph a silage pit being constructed then chase after Sau Keng. Surprisingly, she stops and starts riding back. "The glass has fallen out of my wing mirror. Not far back" I join the search - but a large tractor with huge wide wheels is coming up the road towards us :-( It passes, we continue looking, expecting to find broken glass. But there it is shiny as new :-)

Green cut grass being piled to create silage. The pile will be covered in plastic, held down by the old tyres. The grass ferments and the cattle find it delicious.

Sau Keng likes long straight roads - This is her Nirvana! Intersections are more common than corners but both are rare enough to be exciting.

At this corner is a sign "Ford closed" not good, might be too exciting. A tractor is stopped just in front of us, I catch him as he starts to drive off and ask about the ford. He studies our bikes, then says he is sure we can get through. "What is a ford?" asks Sau Keng. It's where you cross a river at a shallow point. I'm expecting a concrete base with the river flowing over it - but no, this is a braided shingle river au natural.

The first section is small and shallow. I'll ride over, and look at the larger stream, then come back and help Sau Keng... Wrong! The bottom is very soft, my bike stops instantly and I have a wet shoe. I walk my bike to the far side and return for Sau Keng and the trike.

Sau Keng does not want to try riding across - it's probably too soft anyway. She does not trust me to carry her - fair enough. She does not want wet shoes for the rest of the day. So barefooted she walks across with my help. I've accepted wet shoes, they will dry fast enough. Getting the trike across is not too hard, the stream is shallow enough for me to just wheel it across. I enjoyed crossing the ford. Sau Keng says never wants to go near another. We chat with a local, he says cars often get stuck here, and that it is unusual for the river to be flowing this time of year as normally the water soaks into the gravel. (Looking at a map later - Yes, it's a strange river, getting smaller as it gets closer to the coast.)

California poppies. These are an intense orange/yellow, quite spectacular, and yes - another recognized weed.

More long straight roads. I lead for a while, picking up the pace a little. Sau Keng follows. The wind has swung around and now is square to us, not helping. My pace feels comfortable - for a while - but now I am feeling tired and keeping up with Sau Keng is hard. It is still very pretty around here - concentrate on that!

Finally we turn and head towards SH1, we are close. But we are also riding into a headwind, progress feels so hard! But it is only for 2 km. Now we are on SH1 our direction is better and the wind helps a little. Rakaia bridge. Narrow. No footpaths. Long. Busy. Sorry! Cars have to wait behind us until there is a break in oncoming traffic and they can safely overtake. Sau Keng does her best and rides at 25 km/hr. It's all I can do to keep up.

The Rakaia river is huge, high, impressive. I'd love to stop and take photos but there is nowhere. Damnit, there is a tiny refuge where I could have stopped, but it's gone now and there is no turning back. Finally we are over, it took a while, this is the longest road bridge in NZ, over 1 km long. I want to look at the river and Sau Keng humors me, we ride down an access road to the riverbed but can't get there - the river has come to us! It's really high!

A small side stream of the Rakaia

About as close as I could get to the riverbank. The far side is about a kilometer distant

Our campground unit is self contained and comfortable. I'm very happy to be here. Shower and feel a lot better - but find I have a little chaffing in the groin. I'll use the chaffing cream for the next few days until the skin gets used to this.

We photograph the iconic salmon then have dinner in a local tavern. Very nice, the beer particularly. I was very thirsty, it has been hot today and probably I did not drink enough.

Access road to riverbed

Back home I go for a walk while Sau Keng treats her body and hair. I want to look at the river, but at both the access points I find the river has come to meet the road and I only have a restricted view. It is still impressive even though I can only see a bit of the first channel. This satellite photo shows how the entire river must look.

Not a bad start, though not as easy as I expect for a flat run with some wind assist.

Statistics

Distance 70 km

Climbed Very little

Time 7:30