Christchurch

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Christchurch

We took the shuttle to the door of Mark and Elaine's house in St Albans, a part of Christchurch and made very welcome again.

Next morning it was blowing a real gale but very warm. We needed a new saddle and some bits so we set off for town to find it more or less closed. We got the saddle and then set off to do the Gardens' Tour of the city. A lovely place obviously trying to be a little bit of England but pleasant all the same with rivers and parks all over the place.

Next morning we caught the 7.30 bus to Lake Tekapo and got the bike to take a whole (of three) compartment of the bus. Some cyclists wanted to get on at Fairlea but could not because of space. They were lucky and the driver put the bikes on the bus behind.

Lake Tekapo

We eventually found a motel room where we were to settle for one nights. Walked to the lake just in front and saw the cloud close in. We intended to eat in town but decided we did not want to get soaked and ate baked beans instead!

Aoraki Naturally

Having waited for the rain to stop on the next day, Tuesday 3 January, we cycled up to Aoraki Naturally for the start of the Mackenzie Muster, a national gathering for the naturists of New Zealand and elsewhere. There are three UK couples with the rest of the 70 coming from down the road or mostly south island. One man is coming from South Africa as we met him at Te Marua, Wellington.

Yesterday was very cool but sunny quite a bit. Today is scorching. We can even still see Mt Cook from the grounds near the caravan we've hired. We've tried to get a helicopter flights to land on Mt Cook and the galciers but we need three or four people.

Today is Friday and the Muster starts this evening with a shared supper and then entertainment in the marque. We'll see how it goes. Should be good.

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