Head Wind! Kaikoura to Peketa - 10kms

Woke this morning to a transformed Kaikoura - grey skies, a strong southerly and very chilly. Showers are forecast, too. Warned of the change on last night's weather report.
Debated staying another night in Kaikoura until things improved, or battling the head wind to the next camp ground at Peketa. Decided we could handle 10kms of head wind  so Peketa it was.

Negotiating the hill leading out of Kaikoura was a nightmare - narrow traffic lanes, no road shoulder and very busy with big, heavy trucks and traffic. Walked the hill, us in the ditch and the bikes and trailers hugging the white line.

Back on the bikes, weathered against the head wind making very slow progress.

We spotted a CAFE sign as we passed Kaikoura Airport and stopped for a coffee.
The airport doubled as a Whalewatch Helicopter Centre. We watched as an excited family of 5 were being briefed, then took off in an 8 seater helicopter.
Chatted to the head pilot who told us that business was down 80% since COVID. He was now on reduced hours.
Bought a couple of mochaccinos and 2 protein bars for lunch then we were off again.
We arrived at the Peketa Beach Holiday Park as a large group of Maori schoolchildren were practising the Haka. Good, too! They are staying at the camp and seem to be preparing for competition.
The park is quite run down, but obviously quite popular. It's Waitangi weekend so lots of arrivals are expected in their campervans.
The park is right on the beach. 
It has a few basic stores and offers pies and chips on request. We requested!

Having scoffed the above we are now happily ensconced in our tiny cabin and plan an early getaway in the morning.
50kms to do tomorrow - and 20kms of them are hills! Yay!

Comments

  1. Harry WhorwoodFebruary 4, 2021 at 9:20 PM

    Just looked up the Treaty of Waitangi, didn’t know about it. You’re continuing to educate....

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Being Realistic! Resting in Invercargill

Image
11 years ago, at age 70, Del did his very first bike tour, Cape Reinga to Bluff.  Having just completed the South Island section with him, I now have the deepest respect for him and his amazing, solo achievement. Del's memories of that trip had faded over the years, especially the uncomfortable ones - like endless hill climbs! Unable to cycle overseas last year, we planned to cycle around the South Island on our electric bikes.  When we found that it was impossible to fly them by Air NZ, we decided, as we've done so many times before on our trips to Australia, to take our push bikes and trailers! We both love the thrill of cycling, at a good speed, when pedaling is almost effortless. On only 2 days out of the 24 days we've been away, have we experienced this thrill. The remaining 22 days have been physically demanding and very tiring.  Cycling in heavy traffic, handling the bikes and trailers over rough or non- existent road shoulders, negotiating river bridge...
Read more

A Weighty Decision! Milton to Balclutha - 26kms

Image
To date progress has been pretty slow - too much walking due to the hilly terrain and our weighty trailers.  We needed to do something to make the journey easier. We couldn't change the hills - but we could reduce our load - again!  We resolved to courier/freight the heaviest item, the tent, and any other item not used regularly, as soon as we arrived in Balclutha. With 26 kms to cover, we left Milton a little later than usual, at 8.00am. The road undulated through lush farmland - obviously serious sheep country. The undulations were enough though to get us off our bikes. We must have dismounted and walked around 15 times! That settled it! The tent and accessories had to go! Tall rectangular hedges, typical of the area, are often found stretching across hectares of farmland as windbreaks. We checked out the Old Sod Cottage on the way. I think that the old sod must have lived a pretty miserable life in this dark and dingy little home. ...
Read more

What a Cycle Path! Kaiapoi to Christchurch - 30kms

Image
The Riverland Holiday Park, where we spent last night, is adjacent to the Riverland Golf Club and seems to cater for groups of visiting golfers. Great facilities - motel units, cabins and camping areas. Yesterday we encountered a new, tarsealed cycle way into Kaiapoi. Today we found the continuation of it, just a kilometre from the holiday park.                                                A group of well endowed bulls watched us as we left and we passed one of the large irrigation systems that keep this area so green. The many arches span the entire length of the field. We quickly found the cycle track.  Wow! It is tar sealed, wide and runs beside the motorway, protected from it by a sturdy, iron fence. Apparently it takes the rider all the way to the city centre! We were enjoying it so much that we missed the turn off to Ho...
Read more