Blog 2

Met a lovely gentleman named Keith in the lounge who is involved in sports and computers. He has since contacted us and invited us to visit him in Auckland, which we plan to do!

We arrived in Christchurch on Thursday eve. It was quite a comedown from the Intercontinental to the Holiday Inn, but using points for 9 nights makes it much more affordable. The hotel is right in the middle of the city and all the Busker (street entertainers) events are close by. We went to sleep and John was woken by a 5.1 aftershock at 6 am—I slept right through it!

One would think it was winter-not summer here. It is blustery and cold! Given that, we had a leisurely morning, built our bikes and then went in search of friends from Oregon who were scheduled to be in town. We were able to meet up and scheduled to meet at the ice bar at 7pm. In the afternoon we went to a Busker show.

The ice bar is in a huge refrigerator (the ice was brought over from the U S—they say because it was cheaper). Anyway, everything is ice, including your glass, which is filled with vodka and juice, and tossed in a bucket when your drink is gone. It’s even light by a chandelier made of ice. Sculptures are fun and whimsical. You are given Ugg boots, a great parka and gloves, which you definitely need to hold onto your glass. It was a bit silly, but still fun. Had dinner that night in the Novatel. It was an excellent meal and it was fun to be with friends from home.

Saturday was a little less cold, but still cloudy. We went to a number of the venues for the buskers and got a feel for the city. John wasn’t feeling great, so I had diner with Charlotte, Gretchen and Howard at an Irish Pub.

Sunday was much nicer weather. The Oregon crew left early and we wandered by bike and realized that John’s bike had a problem. So, off we went in search of bike shops. At the first they didn’t know what they were doing and made it worse. At the second the young man suggested we wait until the main mechanic was in to look at it on Monday. So we left it and caught the free bus, which took all around the city.

Since it was only Saturday back in the states we called Bike Friday and explained the problem. They assured us that they could ship us a new part on Monday, should it be needed. We had a lovely pizza dinner at the Winney Bago that night.

One Monday it was back to the bike shop. They determined we’d need the part from the states, but they fixed it a bit until we could order the part the next day and wait for it to arrive next Friday. We spent the day, which was sunny and hot seeing all kinds of crazy acts. The best was the Black Street Boyz from LA. They were two black kids with a very funny act and good rapport with the audience.

In the evening we took the trolley restaurant car. It is a short trolley track and thus you go round and round downtown, but they cook the food right on the train, the service was excellent and the couple we met from England was just a delight. John then went to a burlesque show that he loved, but it had no interest to me. I went to the hotel and my good book.

Today, Tuesday, we both woke up to a strong “after shock”—the folks around town say they are getting used to them, but they are a bit disconcerting. We rode our bikes out to the train station to gather information about “popping” out to Graymouth, what is described as a lovely one-day round trip through NZ’s Alps. We also explored a supermarket and found lots of interesting products…they do love their pumpkins!

On Wednesday we again, went “busking” and biking. On Thursday we took the day trip to Graymouth. It was indeed a worthwhile trip. The train was ancient, but functional, the views amazing and it was sunny all the way—a special treat. We met another fun couple and wandered around Graymouth together.

Friday was our last day in Christchurch. We took a bus to Akarua. It was about a two-hour drive. The town has a French feel and we stayed in a lovely B&B. The wife was a teacher and we had lots to talk about.  ON one day we head a guy who ran bike tours take us to the top of a hill. He could not stay to “support” us, since his best mate was getting married, but he assured us it was almost all down hill and the little extra hill up was worth the view… well, I almost killed John, as it was our first day of riding hills and my decision to do the “extra bit” was nearly the straw that broke the camel’s back. Anyway, it was a beautiful ride—lots of ups, but then a great final “down” into town! The restaurant we found was perfect. We sat outside and the food definitely had a light French cuisine influence.

The next day was rainy and we took an earlier bus back to Christchurch. John had been told by Brendan’s friend that we had to find Hell’s Pizza—which we did. He is now a total addict.  We don’t think the names of the pizzas would fly in the US—example: Gluttony and Lust… but they are good.

Blog 3

So, today is Monday and we are on the 5½ hr. train trip to Picton and the 3-hour ferry to Wellington. The day was spectacular and we loved the ferry. John had Internet access the whole way across. He was in hog’s heaven.

A colleague of John’s who had visited us in Monterey met us and took us to the Intercontinental Hotel and then she and her husband took us out to a lovely dinner on the wharf. The snapper was to die for.

The next morning we again boarded the train for the 5½ hr. National Park. Train is comfortable, but very basic. There is a food and drinks car, which is nice!

The Chateau at National Parks is ancient but picturesque—they are in the process of restoring parts of it. The food was delicious. They had the best breakfast buffet!

A small gale was blowing, but I did manage to ride to the end of the road (6 km up) to the ski lift.  John decided that ten minutes up was just about enough… The ride down was freezing and I hardly needed my breaks in the gale.

The next day was our first day of pouring rain. I decided to ride the 25 km back to the train station, while John took the luggage and he back in the shuttle. All I can say is that in that much rain—Gortex is a joke!

Anyway, I had lots of time to dry out on the 5½ hr. trip to Picton and the Ferry. The ferry trip was wonderful. He sun was out the water calm and John had Internet for 3½ hrs.—he was in hog’s heaven!

We stayed in Auckland for a night and then rented a car and drove up to Omaha Beach, 1½ hrs. north of Auckland to stay with our new friend Keith and his wife. Their home is close to the beach and we finally began to experience summer. The swimming was lovely and the beach was white sand and went on forever. I had a great time biking although it was really flat, but there was no traffic. Dinner was a group cooking experience and the local produce made it special.

On Sunday we enjoyed relaxing and finally got our act together enough to head for a local specialty ice cream store and a beautiful sculpture garden and winery. We then drove back to Auckland.

On Monday we met up with our group for our Coramandel Bike trip. Talk about a small group there were just four guests and Alex, our guide. Heidi who was 61 was from the German speaking part of Switzerland and Gunther who was about 78 was originally from Germany, but has lived in South Africa for the past 40 years. They did not know each other before the trip.

Heidi was vivacious and charming, while Gunther had a hearing problem and did not interact much with the rest of us, although by the end of the trip he was more a part of the group.

There were two speeds in the group—mine and the other three. I did the hills and the others did the down hills… John was a happy camper—he had riding companions and no pressure from me. I was also content, as the scenery was grand and I could set my own pace. For most lunches we picnicked—Alex made a mean salad, using all local veggies and there were good cookies and chocolate—we were all happy campers. The mileage on a day varied and what each rider did varied as well. I averaged about 65-85 km a day. We had fantastic weather, except for the last day when the humidity was just about 100%.

We wound up the trip on Monday in Rotorua. It’s on a pretty lake and we stayed an extra day, just to relax and catch up on laundry.

WE decided to take the bus from Rotorua back to Auckland—that was our first travel mistake! It was hot crowded and ran really late. Burt we survived and our friend Elizabeth was again there to meet us. This time she took us to their beautiful home overlooking Karaka Bay. It is spectacular and it has wireless! We made a “grazing’ dinner and enjoyed a bit more of the local wonderful New Zealand wine.

Today is spectacularly clear, with a light breeze. Michael and Elizabeth are at work and John and I are catching up on correspondence—like this blog!

Miss you all lots, but wouldn’t trade this experience for anything!!!