Cycling in the South Island and other adventures

  Our Airbnb amongst the vines It rained heavily overnight but by the time we emerged, the sun was out, although it was very cold outside with a brisk wind adding to the temperature drop.     We had a very leisurely start with Bev’s niece coming around to introduce her two delightful young children.     Then it was back on the road again heading for Blenheim where we were going to spend a couple of nights.   The last time I   stayed in Blenheim was when I was a child. I was being cared for by my parents’ friends   while Mum gave birth to one of my sisters.   Those were the days when a mother stayed in hospital for two weeks and the only way we could see the new born baby was if Mum brought the baby to the hospital window.     We called into Greystone on the way through Waipara, hoping to have a light meal but they were anything but light.   Instead we chatted about wine and I got a couple bottles t...

After much research and consideration we came to the conclusion that if we could rent a car and drive to Nelson we could still do the   Great Taste Cycle Trail. It would mean, though that we would have to return to Queenstown to pick up the car. I checked with VW to see where they were with the car and was told that at the earliest I would have the car was on Friday.   Given that news, we decided to rent a car for a week or so and travel up to Nelson to do our ride.   We found that a Toyota RAV4 would enable us to put the bikes in the back of it and the cost was not too prohibitive even though all my instincts were saying from an environmental point of view it was a bad move.   I had worked out that as we were able to take the bikes it meant a significant saving on hiring bikes for the The Great Taste Cycle Trail which more than compensated for the additional rental car cost.  VW were somewhat relieved that the pressure had come off them so ...

  We were hoping the car might be finished today.   I had been told that the car was ok but when idling it apparently sounded like a tractor which had them worried.   All the fault lights were out so that at least was good.   They said they were doing more investigations and that they would let us know what would be happening.   The hotel gave us a late checkout, so we packed ready to go then wandered off to the boulanger in the shopping centre to have a snack and a coffee.   We had brought our books   to read so did that sitting in the shade (it was about 28 degrees).   Finally at 2:30pm we realised we wouldn’t be able to proceed with our travel plans for the day.   We wandered back to the hotel and informed them we were staying.   There was no problem booking an extra night.     The weather then decided to change as predicted and the temperature plummeted.   The rain came in but we were warm an...

Today was the day we were due to get the car back.   As the work was going to be done during the day we decided to ride the Frankton trail to Queenstown.   It was a perfect day for it and we wandered down to grab our bikes.   As I rode out of the garage it became apparent that I had a puncture.   Not a biggie and in no time I had the wheel off and the tube taken out.   I carefully checked the tyre for a nail or other sharp object but nothing was apparent.   I could not find the hole in the tyre either.   When I went to put in the replacement spare tube and pumped it up, it was apparent it had a hole in it too. Fortunately, there was a bike shop in the nearby Remarkables Shopping Centre, so we wandered off there with the wheel. A young man carefully inspected the tyre and found a piece of glass that neither Bev or I had spotted.   In no time at all he had the new tube in and we were wandering back to the hotel to put the bike...

Main street Arrowtown We took the bus to Arrowtown.   They have quite a good system in Queenstown where a journey only costs $2 and compared to Wellington you can be going quite good distances.   It does require you to buy a “Bee” card like the Snapper or Opal(for those in Australia) which provides the subsidy. It seems they want to encourage bus use but here everyone appears to drive and SUVs and Utes outnumber small cars like ours by about 4 to 1, I would think.   I have been to Arrowtown several times and it is certainly a pretty little village seemingly unchanged from a century ago.   However, the house prices we were told were astronomical with modest houses going for a million dollars or more.   We had a pleasant lunch of Blue Cod and chips at a delightful old cottage and then Bev went looking at the shops while I found a nice place to sit and read my book.   We then looked at a wine shop before going for a walk alongsid...

  Chard Farm Vineyard After a coffee and pastry treat at the nearby Boulangerie we decided to ride the Queenstown Trail to the Gibbston Valley.   The ride is classified as a Grade 2 to Grade 3 with a couple of rather steep hills to climb making it Grade 3.   On the Old Shotover Bridge Looking up the Shotover Shotover Delta The ride took us from the Kawarau Falls to the Old Shotover Bridge.   It was lovely ride along the river bank which was well used by walkers and cyclists (of all ages). There was a bit of a climb onto the old bridge and then we stopped for a little while to admire the views .   Next it was on what they call the Twin Rivers Trail which would take us to Gibbston.   The first hill was quite steep and I found I had to stop once as I ran out of steam.   It was seriously irritating.   However the climb was relatively short and I was soon at the top.   Of course Bev cycled up it seemingly effortlessly. ...

  As we were unexpectedly staying a bit longer in Queenstown, we decided that we might as well experience the   cycle trails.   There is one that goes from where we are staying in Frankton to Kelvin Heights.   This required us to retrieve some of our cycling gear from the car as we had not taken it out, optimistically hoping the car repair would be simple.   On the way back from the garage we spotted a Farmers’ Market called the Remarkables Market.   Not surprising it would be located there, as the Remarkables rear up behind the market and we also have a view of it outside our window.   We both had a lovely time browsing the market purchasing vegetables, cherries and nectarines, chutneys, jams and cheese.   It is so good we have a small and almost adequate kitchen in our apartment room. We also lapped up the sun and enjoyed some Vietnamese cooking.   The track from Frankton to Kelvin Peninsular was quite differe...