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Autumn skies late afternoon in Central Otago |
After a few nights back in Nelson to pick up the Bus with bikes and drop off the car, we headed off south once again. This time Central Otago to do the highly talked about Dunstan Cycle Trail.
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Marfell's Beach to Cape Campbell |
But first a couple of nights at our favourite beach - Marfell's. The weather was perfect for the 14.5km return walk to Cape Campbell- 3hrs. Not too hot this time of year.
Marfell's Beach Doc camp was surprisingly quiet. So plenty of room to park up, but an important consideration this time of year is the amount of sun the solar panels will get. No trees!
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Bill looking across to Shannon in Wellington |
The next day was as beautiful but we needed to head south and had planned a ride in Kaikoura, so we needed to move on. Unfortunately we didn't know we were heading into fog! Hard to spot Kaikoura. Amazing how the fog can just come into a certain area and be beautiful and clear just north of it. The restoration of the Coastal Highway after the 2016 earthquake has turned this road into a beautiful landscape, including the cultural artwork along the way, worth a stop.
Thankfully the next day was clear, although cloudy. But that was ok as we were to ride to the far side of Kaikoura to The Pier for lunch so needed a good ride which would warm us up and build up an appetite for our lunch. It's probably been a year since we last rode here, so it was good to check out Kaikoura and along with most parts of NZ, see all the building that was going on.
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One of the Pou along the Coastal Highway in the fog |
Lots of baches being renovated or new hotels/motels being built. We had forgotten it was Mother's Day! Everyone in Kaikoura must have decided to come to the Pier for lunch.
A quick stop over on the way through Christchurch to catch up with an old school friend I haven't seen for 25 years after loosing touch. But unfortunately she wasn't well on our way through, so hopefully catch up on the way back through. But we did manage a couple of good nights with Helen & Ralph and a little red of course.
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Bill & Ralph babysitting - no child in sight 😃 |
It was beautiful heading through Geraldine/Fairlie with the last of the autumn colours. By the time we arrived Lake Pukaki the sun had set and the fog was just starting to come in. By the morning it was hard to spot the lake! Thankfully we weren't after any photo's of Mt Aoraki - any tourists would have been disappointed.
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Lindis Pass |
As the day warmed up and we travelled over the Lindis Pass into Central Otago, the fog was left behind and we were into sunshine once again. We parked up in Cromwell fairly central this time as we wanted to do the Dunstan Trail in the morning through to Clyde and organised a shuttle to return us to Cromwell. From what we read, we didn't think we would have enough time to ride there and back.
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Bill at the start of the Dunstan Trail in the Historic Centre of Cromwell |
Next morning, cloudy and cold but not foggy, we headed off just before 9am. We decided to ride on a weekday (Friday) as we thought the weekends may be too busy after reading an article on the trail.
The Trail developers had hoped for seven & half thousand riders in the first year and were surprised with over eighty thousand! So from this we did expect weekends still to be quite busy!
Just over an hour into the ride, we came around a corner and found the lovely coffee boat just waiting for customers. What a beautiful sight 😍. Bill didn't think so of course, so didn't bother.
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Coffee anyone? |
The 55km trail is certainly scenic through the Cromwell Gorge and the cantilevered platforms are amazing engineering feats. I was wondering how I was going to cope with my fear of heights, but the fencing makes you feel quite secure, so my mind didn't play it's games. Even over the 85m suspension bridge as you were surrounded by hills.
We used our motors on our bikes for only small parts of the trail as we were conserving our power in case it was required further on. But we got through to Clyde after an easy 4.5 hour ride, including coffee stop and reading all the signage on the way through. We had time for a bite to eat, a look around Clyde that was buzzing with cyclists - all the cafes were busy which was great to see considering we were on the shoulder season.
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The 85m Hugo Suspension Bridge |
We met up with the shuttle and got back into Cromwell in time to ride back to camp before dusk - remembering the days are getting quite short down here. If we were to do the ride again (and hopefully we will) and did it when the days are bit longer, you could easily ride through, have lunch and return.
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Plenty of cantilevered platforms around the granite cliffs. |
We had a loose plan to get back to Nelson, so started
the return trip. We weren't quite ready to say goodbye to Central Otago so took another couple of nights before heading back through the pass toward Christchurch.
Took a chance to contact friend Jane who we hoped still lived down this way - and sure enough she was living in Geraldine. Next stop Geraldine.
With a nice flat road outside her home, it was easy to park up and enjoy a lovely roast dinner with her and Stuart. Nice to catch up where the kids are these days too. Drew living locally was able to call in and catch up too. Lovely catch up Jane and a look around Geraldine in the morning before heading back to Christchurch. Barkers have a new shop and cafe there, an amazing array of foods far beyond jams and relishes that we knew of. We will return.
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The photo doesn't do the view justice |
Returning to Christchurch we finally caught up with Dianne and Steve after 25 years - so wonderful, especially after Dianne has had some serious health issues but good to see you coming out the otherside. And see your new home in Brighton - not the Red Light District, but the Red Zone 😂- good to see all the green spaces after the devastation of the Christchurch earthquakes back in 2011. And room for the Bus! Next time.
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The Chapel of The Good Shepherd (Great to get a photo without all the Tourists) |
We also had a chance to drop in and see Michele & Nathan in their new home before baby arrives in September - it's all go you Two. Lovely to see you Both.
Then after a long day, it was time to park up with H&R once again, share another little red. And maybe a little Covid!
The next day we only got 26km's up the road to Kaiapoi - a place I had read about it's cycle ways and the NZMCA looking at a new camp site there. We were a few months early for the site, but the local Golf Course was convenient enough to park up. And as the weather wasn't looking great the next day, we decided to do the 15km Kaiapoi River Pathway that afternoon. The reflections were beautiful without a breath of wind and nice to see the Town thriving. We checked out the NZMCA site, which will be very handy to the central district. Will put this place on our list to return at a later date.
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The Kaiapoi River Pathway |
It dawned wet and gloomy the next day, so we moved onto Kaikoura for the night, where it wasn't much better. And then onto Marfell's Beach for a couple of nights before returning to Nelson. Fortunately the weather improved. But unfortunately, Bill's health didn't with a head cold. Day 3 tested positive for Covid just as we were to return to Nelson and catch up with friends for dinner. Perfect timing for parking up at our old home for two weeks to get into the gardens while the Tenants were overseas. Thankfully Bill didn't get too sick and recovered after a few days. And somehow, miraculously, I didn't get it. Pretty amazing living in a Bus - a bit hard to isolate!
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Our arrival at Marfell's Beach - just shot the mad cow in time for Friday Night BBQ 😉 |
But great timing to work in the gardens. Bill enjoyed getting his chainsaw out again - a bit of firewood for our return next year. We didn't quite restore the views we once had, that will have to wait till we return. Thankfully the weather was great for the first week as the sun hasn't shone much since.
Looking forward to our next break - Queens Birthday Weekend in Marlborough.