The wrong end...

Well the last few days I've spent in Christchurch, getting over the saddle soreness and waiting for the rivers to subside from the floods. Today the conditions were almost perfect for salmon fishing so John (who has renamed himself the 'Master' since his recent lucky catch) and I went down to the 'Banana Hole' on the Waimak. Having put in the hours I was due my reward and hey presto, around 8 O’clock I hooked a prime salmon, fresh in the river. I was elated when it ran downstream and heard the cries of 'jeeze she's a whopper' from the guy fishing next to me. I was deflated when he shouted out 'but hooked by the tail mate'. Now there are certain standards to be had in salmon fishing, and one is that you can't keep a fish that's foul hooked. Actually it is a punishable offence, so reluctantly I put the fish back and cast my lure again. I say reluctantly, because it seems to my way of thinking almost a crime to put a magnificent creature like this through such stress for no purpose. Some people's purpose is that of 'sport'. They catch and release all their fish, but I can't help but feel that this is cruel. I suppose it is no less cruel to kill the fish, but if you eat fish, you have to accept that somewhere down the line an animal has been through a similar and usually much worse fate than this. I consider it far preferable to catch and kill a wild animal myself, knowing that it has led a natural and free existence, rather than leaving it to the vagaries of the food processing industry.

Anyway, none of this changes the fact that I caught a very reasonable meal which would have fed us for a week…… then discarded it!

And it rained...

...and rained and rained again!

I was up early and on the bus just in time for the first spots of rain to start hitting the windscreen. I was travelling nearly half the length of the country and had thought that things might cheer up a bit once over the Lewes Pass and on to the usually drier east coast, well it just continued, steadily and persistently. I rode the final 6km back to Avoca Valley and was drenched. The next few days I'd intended to spend fishing the rivers before getting back up to the farm, but they would be in flood, one thing you can't change in New Zealand is the weather which remains...changeable!

Onwards to Nelson...

Well after a very relaxing couple of days in the Riwaka valley I headed off to Nelson. I'd made quite a poor job of estimating distances and time, and though I'd got up here fairly easily in just a few days cycling, they had been quite long days and I hadn't really realized that going over the top to the Sounds and then down the east coast would be another 8 or 900km or so! The Sounds would have to wait, I booked a ticket on the Southern Link bus which can get my bike in the huge luggage hold and get me back to Christchurch for Saturday afternoon.

The actual ride down from Motueka to Nelson was quite alright, I had envisaged lots of fruit and logging trucks along that main road, but in general it was fine. At Richmond through to Stoke the road is lined by industrial units and I was not looking forward to the last 15km into town. It turned out to be a great ride, the road gave way to a tree lined cycle path built from the old-train track which took me hassle free almost into the city centre. I checked into a city centre backpackers, (one I had stayed at 18 years ago) and tuned into the weather forecast: Southerly>Nor'westerly>Southerly - that's cold rain>warm rain in the high country > then more cold rain!

Take me to the River...Again!

Well about 10 km up the road form Motueka is the beautiful Riwaka valley. Alex, a long standing friend of Steve has a property out there so I made the short journey up to say hello. The place itself is set in about 4 acres of beautiful native bush, with the Riwaka river flowing right through it. Alex has converted some of the outbuildings into some peaceful and relaxing holiday accommodation http://www.foleyscreek.co.nz/ I camped a few yards from the river and spent a blissful afternoon snoozing to the sound of the cicadas, the birds and the river babbling by.

Easy Rider...

Well I still wasn’t feeling 100% despite the day off, but I looked at the map and figured I could get about half way to Motueka then camp somewhere. Following the river was going to be easy! And so it proved to be, the day was almost entirely downhill and with a stiff tail wind, the ride could only be described as ‘a bit of a breeze!’ I was soon whizzing along at breakneck speeds, eating up the kilometres with hardly any effort at all.

It wasn’t long however, before my rhythm was interrupted by the sound of a police siren close behind… very close behind…. gosh had I really been going that fast? I’m sure there was a 100kmh limit on this stretch? It turns out I was being pulled over, not for speeding, but for failing to display my helmet in a correct manner. Yes apparently the cycle helmet has to be displayed on top of the head, not the back of the bicycle rack, it’s the law! I was also reliably informed by the very nice officer that failure to comply with this ‘helmet display law’ can result in a fine of $55. Cunningly I used the old ‘ I’m only here on holiday’ ruse, and any talk of fines was soon forgotten in favour of a detailed inquiry of the nature of my bike trip and how did I like the country…? blah blah blah!

New helmet display device in operation.

So without much effort at all I found myself cruising into downtown Motuake. I was last here 18 years ago when it was dubbed the ‘murder capital’ of New Zealand. This is one of the major fruit growing regions in New Zealand, so itinerant fruit pickers gather here during the harvesting season and I guess the hard drinking culture and their natural exuberance must have got out of hand that year resulting in two murders. There’s still a bit of a hushed excitement about the place. I checked into The White Elephant hostel, where I stayed last time, it seemed to have grown bigger and busier, much like the town.

The White Elephant backpackers hostel

Bimble down the lake...

Well I awoke with a bit of a soar throat and cough this morning, nothing like the full blown 'man flu' Steve had developed back in Christchurch, however, I decided to have a day off from cycling, give my body a rest and take a gentle bimble down the side of the lake.

It was actually nice to get back into the unspoilt bush. Travelling with a road bike makes it difficult to go anywhere a car can't go. I've been pulling off the road to find campsites and lunch spots, but it's always been within easy reach of a road and this usually means coming across the general detritus that some people who drive, seem unable to pack up into their cars and take home. I've noticed that it's very unusual to find any litter further than a 20 minute or so walk down a trail, so it was nice today to get back into the unspoilt bush even if it were only 4 or 5 miles.

Things weren't without their nuisances though, the wind had dropped a bit and the sandflies were out in abundance! Not only that, but I was just peaceably minding my own business when unbeknown to me a wasp crawled into my shirt and did what most wasps will do when cornered in a tight spot, while I did what most people do......... yelped in pain and swore a lot!

Riding the Buller Gorge

This morning the predicted rain actually did arrive, can't wait till the Ide's of March, might see'm sometime around September! Anyway, it was so light and the temperature so warm that I decided to get going. The route followed the Buller Gorge, one of the biggest rivers in New Zealand, though up this high it was in a fairly mellow mood however the road did rock and roll up and down a bit. I arrived at St Arnaud at the head of Lake Rotoiti, knowing I'd had a ride, and checked into a backpackers hostel there. I then walked down to the lake to fish for a while and with an eye on consistency I caught the usual zilch...zero...nothing!

I also took this opportunity to offer myself as a human sacrifice to all the sandflies in the area. Figuring this would give me good karma should I actually come back as a sandfly, I was disappointed so few of them took me up on my offer!

Well turned out nice again!