Beautiful McKenzie Country and .......maybe a Salmon!

Looking up the Ahuriri Conservation Area

Cycling around the Bay in Timaru

With summer moving along and before autumn hits with it's cooler temperatures, we decided to head back into the McKenzie Country to do some more cycling and maybe for Bill to catch a salmon or two.
Leaving Christchurch we made it two hours south to the big smoke of Ealing (well it was once with it's own railway station and school). But these day's only the school building is still there and now used by NZMCA Motorhomes as a park.  It's a lovely quiet spot considering how close it is to Highway 1 and the Main Trunk Line. Most of the traffic passing through Ealing these days are fellow motorhomers and milk tankers on their way to the numerous dairy farms.
With talk of a cyclone due to hit the West Coast and cause windy conditions on this side of the divide,

Quirky wall art in Waimate - Stella deserved more than life
membership for washing rugby jersey's for 35 yrs
and all without a washing machine!

we decided to stay on another day catching up on some reading etc as it had been quite busy in Christchurch during our 3 week stop over.
Moving on from Ealing ( the predicted weather event not really an issue) we headed to Timaru before driving inland. Far Lap Raceway is a POP (park over place) for Motorhomes (and a racecourse of course 😏) just outside of Timaru. A nice location to ride into Timaru from for a look around, a bit of lunch and return home 26km later. Found the "freezing works" Butchery where we bought some lovely Southern lamb chops - nothing like Southern Lamb. (My Mum would have loved them!) The area allocated for us to park up, was right in front of the race track which was perfect to watch the horses out training, they are such graceful creatures - it was a lovely sight.

Who knew this?

Bill checking out the lines at Pleasant Point

Moving on inland from Timaru we headed through back roads which took us to Pleasant Point which we hadn't visited since 2002. It looked like it had downsized even further with the Cafe (Best Custard Squares ever!!) and Hotel now closed, sadly being unable to sell these business's. However, the Workshop Shock and Frock shop was pretty busy, and with the other Cafe in town also recently closing too, they are hoping to start selling coffee which I would have loved a cup of while wandering around all the memorabilia with Bill.  Hopefully next time. The Frock shop is perfect for the Hot Rod / American Car female clients. Not quite someone like myself! Living in a bus 😄

Not many shops remaining in Pleasant Point
but a very interesting Frocks & Shocks shop/workshop

The area of  Earthquakes

We put some money into the local community but felt a bit ripped off! I put 10c into the slot in a window by the Train Station to watch miniature trains move around the display only to watch "nothing" happen. We were Robbed. Shortly after, we saw a man enter the Train Station so we let him know the display wasn't working. He informed us it wouldn't as there was no power until he turned it on, which he then did,  BUT alas he had done that while we talked to him, the B@#%& Train had done it's thing by the time we wandered back to the display!!😢
So after all this excitement, and a walk through the local cemetery, on the hill with the best views in town, it was time to move onto Waimate (the birthplace of my mother - but not exactly sure exactly where).
Not too much excitement in Waimate but a lovely NZMCA camp that must have wonderful volunteers that look after the grounds. When we came here over 5 years ago we thought the camp was quite a distance out of town but now with all the new homes being built in the area, the town has come out the camp. It's a lovely town that services a large rural area and with large sections at $130K, some  Aucklanders would do well moving down here.
We continued travelling through the back roads through some stunning rural vistas before we had to come back out onto the main road. The South Island is very fortunate with much rural countryside and very little population. Probably doesn't help with our GDP but nice for travellers. 

Spot Bill trying to capture that elusive Salmon!

An area on our map (yes we still have a physical map so we can record our travels) we hadn't been through before was Earthquakes. Have you heard of this place? A must do on your way through to Duntroon from Awamoko where we spent the night at another NZMCA Camp.
Earthquakes was the name given to this area under the mistaken assumption earthquakes had caused the amazing geology exposing so many fossils in the limestone area. But in fact the land had slumped from underground rivers millions of years ago. Well preserved remains of whales, dolphins, penguins and sea shells have been found through this valley. Bill was in his element here and up the road when we visited the Vanished World Centre at Duntroon. Amazing formations & history revealed.

Huge open areas on the A2O Cycle trail
Mt Aoraki in the back ground.

Finally we made it to Twizel, parking up along the Canal once again to try and catch that elusive salmon.🤞
This time round we noticed the increase in Motorhomes here and that have been on the roads. Retirees and others out and about on the roads, the shoulder season certainly a busier time now.
But we have also noticed the decrease in the number of tourist buses and Chinese tourists a result of  the Coronavirus outbreak. It will be having a huge impact on this region along with many other New Zealand tourist spots.

Perfect spot for a selfie looking up to Aoraki

While parked up on the Canal fishing we also managed a couple of rides in the area. One ride to Tekapo B ( they talk of the turbines as A, B or C) along the Alps to Oceans cycle way to Lake Pukaki which was a 60km return trip. Very pleasant with huge vista's of Aoraki and the McKenzie Country, amazing Blue skies, yellow tussocks, beautiful scenery and colours.
Then after giving our butts a day off, we did the local Twizel River Trail which was only 29km but a pretty rough challenging trail which took twice as long as a normal smooth trail.

Spot Bill by the Ohau A turbines

At the end of our first week back here we heard on the local radio of the annual Salmon & Wine Festival.🐟🍷, which of course we thought was a must do.
It was a beautiful day, with the perfect location on Lake Ruataniwha where they hold the National Rowing regattas alternate years with Lake Karapiro in Cambridge.
Apparently the festival was previously held in town but changed to the new venue this year. Lucky us. The music was more country themed and went down well with the locals. I found a nice Rose from an  Alexandra Vineyard Weaver Estate and stayed with that, while Bill tried a cider but ended up staying with Wanaka Brewing with their craft beers. It was a lovely day and running from 11 am to 5pm seemed perfect length of time, It was an ideal location for us in that we had moved camp up the road to a nice spot still on the lake a mere 20 min walk. Great day and easy stagger back to camp. 😆

A perfect day for the Twizel Salmon & Wine Festival
on Lake Ruataniwha

We moved onto Lake Pukaki the day after the festival, having earlier spotted plenty of freedom camping along the lake when we rode to Tekapo B. It was the perfect spot to cycle to Tekapo on more of the A2O cycleway. Tekapo is the alternative start for the A2O cycle trail for those not wanting to start from Aoraki/Mt Cook and do the helicopter trip.
It was a very pleasant ride through to Tekapo. I had seen the sign for when it was windy - take the low road, and thought to myself that it must get bad through here but not today!
Anyway, we made Tekapo after 31km of fairly solid flat riding along the Canals. The only downside being half the ride was on gravel where the previously sealed road had reverted back to gravel with the various power company's

Splendid view back to Lake Ruataniwha

activities that go on along the canals. At least these roads are now bike/walkers only.
We had a lovely late lunch in Tekapo before our return trip. Just as well, we needed all that food for the energy required to ride back, even with Ebikes! The wind had come up and barrelled down the valley's, so at times the back of my bike was going sideways in the gravel. We definitely needed the lower road on the way back. What a different ride the return journey was. 😖

And from the top of the hill looking down to the canals
where we are parked up

After making a plan for the next 3 weeks to  head back to Nelson, we moved on to a beautiful location just out of Omarama. The NZMCA have some amazing locations that people are kindly offering (for a small fee) for us to park up for the night. Long Slip Station is a farm just out of Omarama and the Owners have offered a paddock that is kept mowed with the most amazing views up the Ahuriri Valley. When we had driven through the Lindis Pass previously,

Looking down to the Twizel River meets the Ohau River

Bill had always said he'd like to go up there and have a look. So as we had the time and were in the vicinity we decided to explore.
We stayed two nights so we could explore up the valley in the Suzuki and Bill try his luck fishing on the river that is touted as 10th in the world for best fishing. We did see plenty of smaller trout but unfortunately only 2 tiddlers were silly enough to jump on Bill's hook. They were put back ....the big fellows are far to canny.
But what amazing views. 😍😍 This country is so beautiful. Those of you that have a few thousand to spare for a nights accommodation ( yes we know one or two) - look up "The Lindis." Not that you can see anything from the road, but their web site for the luxury accommodation looks wonderful.

Cycling Takapo B Canal to Tekapo on the A2O trail

We had a lovely lunch of freshly smoked salmon (thanks to Bill- the salmon was bought unfortunately but he did smoke it beautifully,)
tomatoes, crackers and a beer, looking up into the Ahuriri Conservation Area.  Priceless 🤑
We continued our travels the next day onto Cromwell / Lake Dunstan. Time to do a decent shop and laundry.
With being out of coverage for a few days we missed a bit of communication - including our Tenants in our rental giving us a final date. Only just over a week away!! Change of plans!

Certainly earned the beer in Tekapo

It was to be back to Nelson, no longer the three cruisy weeks of Central Otago and maybe a bit of the West Coast. But back to Twizel on the way through just in case we can still get that elusive salmon!
We have a week to travel the 839 km home, before starting the renovations that will change our lifestyle for the rest of this year. Sad to finish our travels for now but a challenge for the rest of the year. Watch this space!

Our lovely Park Over spot just out of Omarama

Time to pack up and head northwards