Just driving today, Westport to Picton and on the Bluebridge Ferry to Wellington. Love the Buller Gorge road, great in any mode of transport but especially this one! I found LOVE on the side of the road at Inangahua Junction! The Upper Buller Gorge is higher! The obligatory stop at
I slept in a bit again, nice after the busy A20 and big drive days. Finally looked out the window about 8am to see blue skies and sun. What a contrast to last night’s overcast and drizzle! I’d come back to Westport as back in 2011 we cycled
After collecting AHBART in Christchurch late in the evening I drove out to Akaroa. There were three motivating factors for this; 1. I’ve never been to Akaroa 2. A former colleague has retired there and it was a chance to catch up. 3. I had been told it was
The last day of our Alps To Ocean ride started with breakfast at Burnside Homestead. Most large NZ houses of this era were laid out as rooms along corridors/wings. Burnside is unusual in having a huge octagonal centre parlour with most of the rooms radiating off it. It was
Cycling
Signs of more snow arriving on the hills overnight but seeing this sunrise, and blue sky, was a nice start to the day. After breakfast at Waitaki Braids we loaded up and drove back to Otematata to ride the best part of the trail we skipped yesterday. While waiting I
I had a late night watching F1 on my phone as mobile data was faster than WIFI. Awoke to grim weather, cold and wet, and it didn’t look like it was passing. At breakfast Bas suggested a change from the scheduled ride to Kurow. We jumped in the bus
Sunday dawned (very) cold and (comparatively) fine. After breakfast in Twizel our destination was Lake Ohau Lodge for lunch. I’d ridden in this area before, on road long before the trail, but was looking forward to revisiting it from a new perspective. Up early after staying up too late
The short walk to breakfast and view across Lake Tekapo was sufficient to see the forecast grim weather had arrived. The good thing about riding with people with extensive local knowledge is they know where not to go. Instead of battling head/side winds, and rain, on the first part
Adventure South
The start of the A2O Cycle Trip proper meant getting rid of AHBART for a week. I’d been offered a free secure park but it was on the opposite side of Christchurch from where I was staying so had an early start. Although Friday, workday for most, there was
Driving the Inland Route from Kaikōura to Waiau
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
Had a very early start for the interisland ferry. Other than it and getting to Kaikōura by the evening I had no other fixed plans for the day. Not much traffic on the Wellington motorways at 6:00am, even though it was a normal weekday for most. Bluebridge Ferry check-in
