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Day 8 - 8th November 2012
Cheviot to Kaikoura
71 kms
Cheviot to Kaikoura
71 kms
Interesting New Zealand facts:
Capital City: Wellington - the southern most capital in the world - aka: 'The Windy City'.
Largest City: Auckland - 1.25 million and growing - aka: 'The City of Sails' and
'The Jewel of the Pacific'.
Capital City: Wellington - the southern most capital in the world - aka: 'The Windy City'.
Largest City: Auckland - 1.25 million and growing - aka: 'The City of Sails' and
'The Jewel of the Pacific'.
PREVIEW:-
Today could be interesting!! We’ve only got 68 kms to travel, but the total climb and total descent is the largest for the trip!! I am picking this could be quite a tough day on the bike!! I don’t recall many towns through this stretch, and I am positive it will definitely be single file riding as we ride through the Hundalee Ranges.
I am hoping that somehow the elevation gremlins may have been at work on this profile. I did find when I crossed Australia that some days didn’t really ride like the elevation looked! Actually – some rode more easily and others harder – just have to take what comes!!
I am sure all the climbing of today will seem worthwhile when we arrive in the pretty seaside village of Kaikoura for the night.
Today could be interesting!! We’ve only got 68 kms to travel, but the total climb and total descent is the largest for the trip!! I am picking this could be quite a tough day on the bike!! I don’t recall many towns through this stretch, and I am positive it will definitely be single file riding as we ride through the Hundalee Ranges.
I am hoping that somehow the elevation gremlins may have been at work on this profile. I did find when I crossed Australia that some days didn’t really ride like the elevation looked! Actually – some rode more easily and others harder – just have to take what comes!!
I am sure all the climbing of today will seem worthwhile when we arrive in the pretty seaside village of Kaikoura for the night.
REVIEW:-
Predicted 68 kms - actual = 71 kms
We unlocked "The Jailhouse" door and all breakfasted in the camp kitchen prior to readying ourselves for the ride over the Hundalees. We must have been keen we were ready to head off before 8:00 am.
Bye bye to Cheviot - on towards Kaikoura. Surprisingly there hadn't been a frost - although the temperature felt very cold. Must have been something to do with the weather, but we all required a loo stop not too far along at Parnassus Roadhouse. Some of us were going to buy some snacks, but our first request was if we could use the toilets - blue roadside signs had indicated they were here!! We weren't quite prepared for the negative tirade we were then given - about "cyclists" using their toilets blah blah - so we felt our proposed food purchases were not welcome and left! Perhaps it is that all our other hospitality experiences have been so wonderful - we were quite shocked - but it is not going to be an experience that we will let mar our journey so we moved on!
We commenced the "climb" and we seemed to go up and down, up, up and up, down, down, up, up up, down, up, down, up, up, down, up, down and after several times of thinking we had made the top - eventually saw a sign that confirmed we were in fact - at the top!!!!! Several times we had needed to get up off the seat to pedal - and what song kept coming into our head??????? ....... the songs we had dined to the previous night in the Cheviot Hotel where the Gideon meeting was held .................. "Stand up, stand up for Jesus" ............... we may have changed the words a bit (Stand up, stand up to pedal) - but it helped us up the hills ........ "Onward Christian Soldiers" (Onward weary cyclists) ............. !!
Great delight, tired legs, hot bodies, but a real sense of achievement that we had made it without walking!! The views had been amazing - and the hills absolutely golden with the flowering broom - it might be deemed a "weed" here - but at the moment it looks amazing.
Perhaps Tony had used reverse psycology on us - he had told us we'd all be walking and that even though we only had 72 kms to go today that it would take almost all of the day! Feeling incredibly chuffed with ourselves, we headed downhill - glimpses of the beautiful blue of the Pacific Ocean and wonderful views of the heavily snow-capped mountains around Kaikoura.
Midway through the trip Pat spied farmers working so stopped to see what was going on. Docking and crutching was taking place and she was offered lambs tails - now that doesn't sound like something I would like to eat - but she assures me it is a delicacy, and had she known there was a BBQ on the beach opposite the Blue Seas Motel she would certainly have accepted them - yuk!!
Next stop was at Goose Bay - to the wonderful property owned by Trevor and Susanne - I think we all fell in love with their view, and their beautiful gardens - absolutely adored their "retirement" property. I forget the exact "stat" that was quoted - something like 95 crays in the last 3 months had been caught? We enjoyed a most welcome cup of coffee with home-baked cheese scones and the most delicious bacon and egg pie - made with home-produced eggs! On leaving a parcel was pressed into Pat's hands ................. and upon opening on reaching our destination - 5 large cray tails for dinner!!
The 20 km ride from Goose Bay to Kaikoura is stunning, winding around the coastline and through the very cute tunnels. Shortly after being photographed riding through a tunnel - Don was the unlucky recipient of the second puncture to date!! After it was changed and repaired - we progressed into Kaikoura and on such a bright sunny day the place looked absolutely beautiful! Our room at the Blue Seas Motel is facing in exactly the right direction - straight at the mountains that are covered in snow - looking across the aqua blue sea, and sheltered from the cold easterly wind.
We got in about 3:00 pm which has been great, have managed to do shopping, I've managed to catch up to date with the words on here, and now we are about to have dinner.
Predicted 68 kms - actual = 71 kms
We unlocked "The Jailhouse" door and all breakfasted in the camp kitchen prior to readying ourselves for the ride over the Hundalees. We must have been keen we were ready to head off before 8:00 am.
Bye bye to Cheviot - on towards Kaikoura. Surprisingly there hadn't been a frost - although the temperature felt very cold. Must have been something to do with the weather, but we all required a loo stop not too far along at Parnassus Roadhouse. Some of us were going to buy some snacks, but our first request was if we could use the toilets - blue roadside signs had indicated they were here!! We weren't quite prepared for the negative tirade we were then given - about "cyclists" using their toilets blah blah - so we felt our proposed food purchases were not welcome and left! Perhaps it is that all our other hospitality experiences have been so wonderful - we were quite shocked - but it is not going to be an experience that we will let mar our journey so we moved on!
We commenced the "climb" and we seemed to go up and down, up, up and up, down, down, up, up up, down, up, down, up, up, down, up, down and after several times of thinking we had made the top - eventually saw a sign that confirmed we were in fact - at the top!!!!! Several times we had needed to get up off the seat to pedal - and what song kept coming into our head??????? ....... the songs we had dined to the previous night in the Cheviot Hotel where the Gideon meeting was held .................. "Stand up, stand up for Jesus" ............... we may have changed the words a bit (Stand up, stand up to pedal) - but it helped us up the hills ........ "Onward Christian Soldiers" (Onward weary cyclists) ............. !!
Great delight, tired legs, hot bodies, but a real sense of achievement that we had made it without walking!! The views had been amazing - and the hills absolutely golden with the flowering broom - it might be deemed a "weed" here - but at the moment it looks amazing.
Perhaps Tony had used reverse psycology on us - he had told us we'd all be walking and that even though we only had 72 kms to go today that it would take almost all of the day! Feeling incredibly chuffed with ourselves, we headed downhill - glimpses of the beautiful blue of the Pacific Ocean and wonderful views of the heavily snow-capped mountains around Kaikoura.
Midway through the trip Pat spied farmers working so stopped to see what was going on. Docking and crutching was taking place and she was offered lambs tails - now that doesn't sound like something I would like to eat - but she assures me it is a delicacy, and had she known there was a BBQ on the beach opposite the Blue Seas Motel she would certainly have accepted them - yuk!!
Next stop was at Goose Bay - to the wonderful property owned by Trevor and Susanne - I think we all fell in love with their view, and their beautiful gardens - absolutely adored their "retirement" property. I forget the exact "stat" that was quoted - something like 95 crays in the last 3 months had been caught? We enjoyed a most welcome cup of coffee with home-baked cheese scones and the most delicious bacon and egg pie - made with home-produced eggs! On leaving a parcel was pressed into Pat's hands ................. and upon opening on reaching our destination - 5 large cray tails for dinner!!
The 20 km ride from Goose Bay to Kaikoura is stunning, winding around the coastline and through the very cute tunnels. Shortly after being photographed riding through a tunnel - Don was the unlucky recipient of the second puncture to date!! After it was changed and repaired - we progressed into Kaikoura and on such a bright sunny day the place looked absolutely beautiful! Our room at the Blue Seas Motel is facing in exactly the right direction - straight at the mountains that are covered in snow - looking across the aqua blue sea, and sheltered from the cold easterly wind.
We got in about 3:00 pm which has been great, have managed to do shopping, I've managed to catch up to date with the words on here, and now we are about to have dinner.
PICTURES OF THE DAY:
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One of the best things about bicycle commuting is that it can mitigate the displeasure of having to go to work.
- BikeSnob NYC |
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