A2O Cycle Road Trip 06–Kaikōura Trails
Finally got “Rapid Rob’ out of the car and, from this photo, it is pretty clear why I need to take both wheels off to get it in!
It was warm enough but there was lingering low cloud, or sea fog, which I hoped would burn off. The plan, as far as it went, was to explore the town and waterfront before heading south to try some of the single track trails on offer. It wasn’t going to be a big ride, more fun and sight seeing while being careful not to do anything stupid and fall. Last thing I needed was an injury just before the real ride!
Evidence of the earthquake on the Kaikōura esplanade. What was once the Mayfair Community Theatre is now just a façade waiting for a rebuild (new cinema) on the same site. A sad loss for the community but there is a strangely appropriate movie set look to what remains.
There are cycle trails north and south of Kaikōura. I headed south after exploring the town and waterfront.
After following the coast south from South Bay the trail heads inland at the Kowhai (river) Bridge. There is a mix of forest and river bank trail for about 15km towards Mt Fyfe.
Although mid-week I did see a few other cyclists on the trail.
Evidence I’m terrible at selfies…
I rode back to South Bay for lunch. It wasn’t quite the sunny stop by the seaside I hoped for but notable for the strangely calm seas and lack of wind.
The low cloud still lingered, this was taken about 14:00 and still looks like it did early morning!
By the time I got back to the motel had ridden about 56km but my GPS tracker (Fit 2 band) had not followed much of it. I don’t know if that was due to the weather or terrain as have only rarely had it happen before.
Sun on the way to dinner
After cleaning the bike, and myself, on the way out to find dinner (ended up being a repeat of last nights) the sun finally emerged, just in time to set!
I headed back up to the lookout I had visited by bike earlier in the day. While the views were well worth it the wet white (lime?) gravel carpark created a mess in the car. The black carpet drivers mat took quite a bit of cleaning, glad I had put the older set (I have two) in for this trip!
