Driving to Christchurch

Friday November 1st

We are on the road at 8:30, a comfortable start after the worst of the traffic, but not wasting time. We make a slight detour to drop off Go clocks and are on the motorway by 9. The day is fine and traffic going south is light. We are on our way for real at the start of an adventure - this is a special feeling.

Just past Tokoroa, a road sign, “SH1 to Taupo closed. Take detour” We obediently turn right, wondering where the detour will take us. The road feels vaguely familiar, more so as time passes. We are heading for Whakamaru - yes, we rode here about two years ago when exploring the Waikato river trails and returned home along this road.

Lots of broom in flower. Nicer than gorse

Whakamaru dam is in front of us. A detour sign directs us left, towards Atiamura, SH1 and Taupo, but from here we are better to continue around the western side directly to Turangi.

Quick lunch stop in Turangi and drive on.

Wow, there is a lot of snow on the mountains. They're looking great!

Almost 3pm, we are near Hunterville. Will Internet reception be good enough for SauKeng to ‘attend’ her work meeting? Reception is good enough for SauKeng to find the meeting time was brought forward to 1:30 - 3pm and the meeting is over! Not a problem, she can watch the recording tonight.

Transmission gully, we are almost there. The road is leading us up into a dramatic looking black cloud. What will the weather be? ... Not bad, just windy. We find our accommodation in Newtown, 5 years ago Sau Keng and Shervonne were very near here for Shervonne's Toi Whakaari audition. For dinner we cook the half cauliflower we bought from home, adding it to fried rice from Levin and a very old packet of miso soup. Altogether a surprisingly good meal. Work for a couple of hours then hit the bed. Early start tomorrow, ferry check in is 7:15am. Outside it is very windy - what will our crossing be like?

Saturday

The alarm sounds at 6am. Early start for me. It is still windy but not as strong as last night, the morning looks good. Boarding is easy. We are on the BlueBridge ferry, which seems almost full. Cook strait is surprisingly calm. The wind has made a chop, but the ship is too big to feel this.

Driving to Kaikoura. Light northerly wind, quite warm, it's a nice day. Snow on mountain tops looks very good to us northerners. We stop to take a photo and talk to two German cyclists heading south. 3 weeks ago they landed in Auckland. They are riding faster than we did, but slower than the TA riders. Good, they are taking their time and looking around :-)

We stop at Ohau point to check out the seal colony. Last time we were here it was spectacular, but now there only a few seals and pups. The pups are very cute.

2pm we are close to Kaikoura. We want crayfish from the little roadside stall at the end of the peninsula for lunch. Sau Keng is uncomfortably hungry, it has taken us longer to get here than she expected. Kaikoura town is busy, lots of people, lots of cyclists even. When we reach the tiny stall at the end of the peninsula - in the middle of nowhere - it is busy too. Very. "3/4 hour wait" no "Sold out, come back tomorrow" :-(

We go to the hotel nearby. I order mushroom + coconut soup and a crayfish. Sau Keng makes a face at my soup order but it turns out to be very good. The crayfish is disappointing though.

It's a lovely day and I want to explore the end of the peninsula. Sau Keng will work on her email while I walk. The big carpark is full! So many people, but it's a perfect day. Lovely walking, warm & beautiful. I take my shoes off and walk around the clifftops barefoot. So nice. Down to shore, several kilometers of stone is too much. Shoes go back on. There are some seals around… it's such a big area, there are actually a lot of seals here - just spread out. I see 6 dead - is this normal? There are also seagull nesting area covered in birds.

Some people are swimming near a group of mothers and pups. Is this kosher? - the signs all say to stay away. It looks like it might be an organized group. It might be okay. I walk fast to get back to the car. I said I would take half an hour, it's past that already... When I get back I find Sau Keng asleep, it is so warm.

Drive 'home' to a motel unit a bit off the peninsula, we will stay here tonight. Work a couple of hours then head back to town for a simple dinner at Coopers Catch - fish and chips. It looks deserted, closed... We are leaving but see a person enter, so park again. Good meal though with no greens - never mind - we ate half a cauliflower yesterday.

After dinner we drive around exploring and find the Rd up middle of peninsula. The wind has changed to southerly, strong and cold. So different to this afternoon. We find a lookout, stop and struggle out against the wind. Wow! Cold! And strong, it's a very quick stop.

Drive back home, work some more then bedtime.

Sunday

Nice lie in this morning. Our room is warm - the air conditioning is on. I step outside - cold. But the wind has dropped from last night. It's actually a beautiful morning and the mountains … have more snow than they did yesterday! I did not realise it had been that cold last night.

We work a bit then set off for an early lunch - Crayfish at the little caravan at the end of the peninsula. We pass the German cyclists pedaling towards the end of the peninsula and exchange waves. The stall opens at 10, it's 10:15 we are second here this morning Good business!. We order a half crayfish (largish) and 6 garlic scallops. The crayfish is good, much better than the hotel's and the scallops are excellent. We are sitting outside, well wrapped up, but it's still cold - and we have to watch for seagulls. One swoops on a neighboring table and steals the toast from the young lady there. A very nice start to the morning.

Michelin man. Not for me

Driving to Christchurch is easy. It's a bright clear day and not too much traffic. At Christchurch we head to the Riccarton mall. I want to buy a new jacket. I like jackets that fully unzip, but the only one I have left like that is cotton - a bit heavy and not very warm. I find what I want in the Mountain Warehouse shop. Sau Keng finds two nice jackets and buys both.

We will be staying in the Airport Motel. Checking in seems like a reunion for Sau Keng, she has been here so often. We settle in then go for a short ride to buy a spare tube for the trike. It's further than I thought, we only just make it in time, but the ride is very nice, this is a pretty part of the city. Riding home Sau Keng gets cold and so is first to use my new jacket.

This motel has a good restaurant, we've both been looking forward to dinner and deliberately had just a coffee and cake for lunch so we would have a good appetite. The meal does not disappoint, they do a very good steak here. More of the team arrive, including Peter Hamilton and we have a long happy chat. So much for working after dinner.