Today, exactly as forecast, was a very wet day. It’s really not much of a surprise having one wet day over a six-day cycle trip in NZ. You might be familiar with the saying here: “Don’t like the NZ weather at the moment? Just wait an hour…” After breakfast, we assembled at the back veranda of the Waitaki Braids. It's cool and already drizzling. Quite the change from the unrelenting hot sun of yesterday's ride. We're off into the drizzle. We ride down Kurow's main street and quickly pick up the A2O trail. The drizzle soon turns to rain, and I’m glad for my raincoat. We ride along between the trees bordering the Waitaki River and adjacent planted fields or paddocks. The bikes Lisa and I are riding have fenders - not all of them do - and I’m happy for them, although they don’t completely stop the trail of mud thrown up onto the backs of our raincoats. We don’t stop often as the rain isn’t too conducive for sightseeing! I’m happy enough despite the wet and stay quite comfortably warm as long as I stay active and peddling! We do make one stop mid-morning at Takiroa Rock Art site. Our guides said it wasn’t that great so most rode on past but I love petroglyphs so had to stop. We find Louise there as well and we walk up to the limestone cliffs together to view the pre-colonisation art site. I read that the rock art was first documented in ~1850s; unfortunately, in the late 1800s, the decision was made to attempt to remove selected rock art. Much of the rock art was destroyed in this process but what was successfully removed is on display in museums across the country. We climb up to the cliffs, and the rock art is protected by a wire fence. Many birds are nesting in the holes in the cliffs above, so the ground is scattered with feathers. Sadly, some of the areas are defaced with graffiti, presumably before the fencing went up. Leyton was right that the best rock art had been removed, and some art was quite deteriorated, but there were figures remaining that depicted mythical Māori water creatures, a colonisation sailing ship, and numerous Māori motifs. All in all, it was nice to get off the bikes, and I’m glad we stopped. Soon after we resume riding, we pass through a wetland and then reach our morning tea spot, which has been moved inside a local café, the Flying Pig. 🐷 The café staff are a bit overwhelmed and slow, so I actually start to get a bit cold since we are wet and stationary. I get served the hottest flat white I’ve ever had - I had to ask for a cold milk top-up so I could drink it without scalding the roof of my mouth. After our hot drink, we stop by the van for a quick date scone and a briefing on the trail ahead. Lisa and I are still trailing the group but not far behind. We head out and soon start climbing through the rolling green hills. Near the top of a steady climb, we reach a green grassy spot called Elephant Rocks, where we park our bikes and walk around eroded limestone massifs that time and weathering have turned into large, interesting shapes. It’s a nice spot and worth a stop. Back on the bikes, we ride down and then climb back through a narrowish green grassy valley rimmed by interesting eroded limestone cliffs. We see signs along the path showing photographs of this valley filled with colourful round medieval tents, but it’s raining enough that we don’t stop to examine the signs closer. We hit a series of tight zig-zags that are challenging to ride up. About halfway up, I have to dismount and push my bike as I just can’t climb and steer through the rapid series of switchbacks! At the top, Leyton catches up and tells us this area (the valley below and nearby Elephant Rocks) was used as Aslan’s camp in the filming of the Chronicles of Narnia! Cool! We ride a bit more and it starts raining very hard. We can see the sky lighten ahead and I reckon we are passing through the worst of the rain front. We climb another hill to find the group huddled in a small wooden shelter where we are having lunch out of the rain. For once, I’m just not hungry so I have a hot drink and a piece of fruit. Post-lunch, we ride along some gravel farm roads through the lovely green hills before dropping onto an old rails-to-trail section that culminates with us riding (or pushing the bikes) through a long curved railway tunnel called the Rakis Railway tunnel. The Rakis Railway used to transport produce and limestone blocks between 1887-1930. Because of the curve, there is little or no light at the entry to the tunnel. I actually have a bright bike light on my bike and it gives ample light for me to slowly ride through. The trail levels out and one can tell we are approaching the coast. We pass lovely old historic barns and churches, picturesque weirs and then ride into the tiny settlement of Enfield where we will spend the night. Up until this point, we’ve not had any issues with e-bike battery range but today’s ride chews up the batteries on everyone’s bikes even though most of us never run the bikes on high except for the worst hills. I reckon it’s the cold wet trail chewing the battery charge up. Four of the ten of us run their batteries completely empty, including Lisa whose battery goes flat some seven kilometres out - making the remaining distance a bit tough to ride due to the heavy bike. Fortunately the terrain was mostly flat. It’s only half past 2 p.m. and we’ve ridden 71 kilometres; good time as it just wasn’t a great day for stopping much or staying stopped long. We’re staying at a lovely BnB in a converted school house from 1876. Lisa and I are in a separate cottage in the back that used to house the school canteen. Our guides hose off our muddy bikes, and, in turn, I spray off our muddy rain shells, and then we go inside for a welcome hot shower and a rest. We rejoin the group at 5 p.m. for a pre-dinner happy hour. The interior of the schoolhouse is lovely with expansive high ceilings and beautiful wooden windows. The owners, Blanche and Craig, are our age, and I find that Craig and I have a common industry work background, so we swap war stories for a while. Then we’re off to the pub for a well-earned feed! Carl / Pilgrim #cycling #A2O

Mountain Biking

New Zealand, South Island, Alps To Ocean, A2O, Cycling

Waitaki District, Canterbury, New Zealand

time : Mar 3, 2025 9:02 AM

duration : 5h 45m 21s

distance : 70.9 km

total_ascent : 430 m

highest_point : 351 m

avg_speed : 15.1 km/h

user_id : gstreet

user_firstname : Carl

user_lastname : Greenstreet

Today, exactly as forecast, was a very wet day. It’s really not much of a surprise having one wet day over a six-day cycle trip in NZ. You might be familiar with the saying here: “Don’t like the NZ weather at the moment? Just wait an hour…” After breakfast, we assembled at the back veranda of the Waitaki Braids. It's cool and already drizzling. Quite the change from the unrelenting hot sun of yesterday's ride. We're off into the drizzle. We ride down Kurow's main street and quickly pick up the A2O trail. The drizzle soon turns to rain, and I’m glad for my raincoat. We ride along between the trees bordering the Waitaki River and adjacent planted fields or paddocks. The bikes Lisa and I are riding have fenders - not all of them do - and I’m happy for them, although they don’t completely stop the trail of mud thrown up onto the backs of our raincoats. We don’t stop often as the rain isn’t too conducive for sightseeing! I’m happy enough despite the wet and stay quite comfortably warm as long as I stay active and peddling! We do make one stop mid-morning at Takiroa Rock Art site. Our guides said it wasn’t that great so most rode on past but I love petroglyphs so had to stop. We find Louise there as well and we walk up to the limestone cliffs together to view the pre-colonisation art site. I read that the rock art was first documented in ~1850s; unfortunately, in the late 1800s, the decision was made to attempt to remove selected rock art. Much of the rock art was destroyed in this process but what was successfully removed is on display in museums across the country. We climb up to the cliffs, and the rock art is protected by a wire fence. Many birds are nesting in the holes in the cliffs above, so the ground is scattered with feathers. Sadly, some of the areas are defaced with graffiti, presumably before the fencing went up. Leyton was right that the best rock art had been removed, and some art was quite deteriorated, but there were figures remaining that depicted mythical Māori water creatures, a colonisation sailing ship, and numerous Māori motifs. All in all, it was nice to get off the bikes, and I’m glad we stopped. Soon after we resume riding, we pass through a wetland and then reach our morning tea spot, which has been moved inside a local café, the Flying Pig. 🐷 The café staff are a bit overwhelmed and slow, so I actually start to get a bit cold since we are wet and stationary. I get served the hottest flat white I’ve ever had - I had to ask for a cold milk top-up so I could drink it without scalding the roof of my mouth. After our hot drink, we stop by the van for a quick date scone and a briefing on the trail ahead. Lisa and I are still trailing the group but not far behind. We head out and soon start climbing through the rolling green hills. Near the top of a steady climb, we reach a green grassy spot called Elephant Rocks, where we park our bikes and walk around eroded limestone massifs that time and weathering have turned into large, interesting shapes. It’s a nice spot and worth a stop. Back on the bikes, we ride down and then climb back through a narrowish green grassy valley rimmed by interesting eroded limestone cliffs. We see signs along the path showing photographs of this valley filled with colourful round medieval tents, but it’s raining enough that we don’t stop to examine the signs closer. We hit a series of tight zig-zags that are challenging to ride up. About halfway up, I have to dismount and push my bike as I just can’t climb and steer through the rapid series of switchbacks! At the top, Leyton catches up and tells us this area (the valley below and nearby Elephant Rocks) was used as Aslan’s camp in the filming of the Chronicles of Narnia! Cool! We ride a bit more and it starts raining very hard. We can see the sky lighten ahead and I reckon we are passing through the worst of the rain front. We climb another hill to find the group huddled in a small wooden shelter where we are having lunch out of the rain. For once, I’m just not hungry so I have a hot drink and a piece of fruit. Post-lunch, we ride along some gravel farm roads through the lovely green hills before dropping onto an old rails-to-trail section that culminates with us riding (or pushing the bikes) through a long curved railway tunnel called the Rakis Railway tunnel. The Rakis Railway used to transport produce and limestone blocks between 1887-1930. Because of the curve, there is little or no light at the entry to the tunnel. I actually have a bright bike light on my bike and it gives ample light for me to slowly ride through. The trail levels out and one can tell we are approaching the coast. We pass lovely old historic barns and churches, picturesque weirs and then ride into the tiny settlement of Enfield where we will spend the night. Up until this point, we’ve not had any issues with e-bike battery range but today’s ride chews up the batteries on everyone’s bikes even though most of us never run the bikes on high except for the worst hills. I reckon it’s the cold wet trail chewing the battery charge up. Four of the ten of us run their batteries completely empty, including Lisa whose battery goes flat some seven kilometres out - making the remaining distance a bit tough to ride due to the heavy bike. Fortunately the terrain was mostly flat. It’s only half past 2 p.m. and we’ve ridden 71 kilometres; good time as it just wasn’t a great day for stopping much or staying stopped long. We’re staying at a lovely BnB in a converted school house from 1876. Lisa and I are in a separate cottage in the back that used to house the school canteen. Our guides hose off our muddy bikes, and, in turn, I spray off our muddy rain shells, and then we go inside for a welcome hot shower and a rest. We rejoin the group at 5 p.m. for a pre-dinner happy hour. The interior of the schoolhouse is lovely with expansive high ceilings and beautiful wooden windows. The owners, Blanche and Craig, are our age, and I find that Craig and I have a common industry work background, so we swap war stories for a while. Then we’re off to the pub for a well-earned feed! Carl / Pilgrim #cycling #A2O