Living in New Zealand: Alps2Ocean on an Ordinary Bike: Day 1: Lake Tekapo to Twizel

As a middle-aged woman on a non-mountain bike, I thought that the Alps to ocean bike trail might be too tough for me. It's advertised as an easy to intermediate off road trail, but my bicycle is designed more for on road. Before I went on the trip I had my bike serviced and changed the 700×28 tyres for 700×32 ones. But there were quite a few guys on their mountain bikes who looked at my bike doubtfully. I’m happy to say that I did the whole trail without having to walk sections of it and I didn't fall off. So I think most bikes could manage it and also most cyclists. 

I began the Alps2Ocean at the alternative starting point of Lake Tekapo. I didn't want to waste fossil fuel helicoptering in to Aoraki/Mount Cook and you still see it a lot on the first day.

We took my bike down from Lyttelton on the back of Gertie the 1975 Land Rover

Lake Tekapo without the hordes of tourists you usually see around Church of the Good Shepherd

Lake Tekapo always used to be a terrible place to stop with an overpriced tiny supermarket and mediocre bars and restaurants. But now there is a little more choice and though the supermarket is still slightly overpriced it has a good selection as it is much bigger. We had beer at Mackenzies, which looks fancy but was actually cheaper than Our Dog Friday. ODF did an amazing variety of burgers. Fish burgers weren’t available so I went with the vegan Pardoner burger. I’m glad I did as it was really different, tasty and something that would’ve taken me a long time to prepare at home, for only $16.

The beautiful Mackenzie Country (without irrigation)

My bike. A specialized sirrus dating mostly to 2003 with a 2008 frame. The panniers were for wet and cold weather gear, tools, spare tyres, an Anne Tyler book, lots of food, water and a flask of Lady Grey tea. The essentials for day biking.

A lot of the first day’s cycling from Lake Tekapo is along the canals. This would be boring, but for the views of the mountains including Aoraki/Mount Cook.

There are salmon farms in the canals and a lot of guys try their luck, but I didn’t see anyone catch anything.

The best part of the day’s ride was the narrow bicycle track around Lake Pukaki. Good going and interesting terrain with amazing views of the lake and mountains. I had my picnic lunch by the shore, in the shade under the trees as it was really hot - 27 degrees C (March is the most popular time to do the trail).

Lake Pukaki at about 38 km from Tekapo

It was lovely to be off road going through the dry grass land of the Mackenzie through Pukai flats. There was very little road cycling to worry about on day one and the going was easy, particularly as there was no wind and the sun was on my back. Like most of the trail, it merits taking a packed lunch as there aren’t many options for stopping off except at the salmon farm shop.

Click to see options for using the image

A good trail through dry scrub and wilding pines

Because of weather forecast we gave up the idea of camping at Lake Poaka and stayed at the Twizel campground in a cabin for $72.

Time in saddle: four hours. Left at 9:30, arrived at 3 pm so stopped a lot.

New Zealand Garden Diary: What to Cook When You Have a Lot of Kale

My submission for Lyttelton's Harbour Kitchen cookbook uses something I have in the garden all year around (and store cupboard ingredients). Don't you love kale?⁠⁠

Click to see options for using the image

Quick Kale and Cashew Stir Fry

—

Ingredients (per person) 

Small handful of kale

One serving of noodles

Small handful of salted cashews

Dash of soy sauce

Dash of sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) or sweet chilli sauce

Dash of sesame oil and enough sunflower oil to coat pan

—

Method

If you want the recipe to be vegetarian, wash the kale. Then drain, pat dry and remove the big central ribs before cutting it finely.

Boil noodles until done, drain and set-aside.

Get the oils hot in a pan and stir fry kale until it all turns dark green, throw in cashew nuts and warm through for one minute.  

Add cooked noodles and soy sauces/sweet chili sauce,  stir through and serve.

Living in New Zealand: Dog Friendly Mini Break in Peel Forest

It's handy to have friends with holiday homes. We spent a weekend in one in Peel Forest. Our friends have a lovely big dog called Fred who tolerated Molly very well. Molly made herself quite at home.

Because there is a lot of agriculture in the area, you can't swim in the rivers. It's a shame as there is a beautiful river walk in Geraldine, but even the dogs aren't supposed to drink the water.

Geraldine river walk

At least there are a lot of dog friendly walks and Molly and Fred had a great time. Well, Molly did for sure.

The best part of the trip was going to see friends of our friends who have built a house in the woods. There is a QEII covenant on the land and we walked through a forest with lots of old native trees (checking trap lines that had caught hedgehogs and a feral cat). It was beautiful and Molly preferred it to swimming in the river

Molly, me, Fred and a kahikatea

Click to see options for using the image

Homebound puppy was exhausted

Living in New Zealand: Mini Break to the Hurunui With Off Leash Puppy

We have friends with a bach in the Hurunui in the high country of Canterbury, New Zealand and we joined them there for a weekend.

Molly loved being off leash

My other half went fly fishing but I had a lot more fun swimming in the deep water pools. It is fairly safe to do this in the high country as there is not so much run-off from agriculture, particularly as there are no dairy farms there.

Click for options for using this image

Molly learned to swim across the river, which she preferred to old rickety bridges. She taunted her new friend, Marlowe, who was not that keen to get wet.

It was a fantastic weekend…

…but it’s always good to head home.

Living in New Zealand: A Weekend in Moeraki

The alternative Maori explanation for the boulders:

I went to Moeraki for a weekend of walking, thinking and writing. I had to visit the boulders of course, but apart from that, there aren’t too many distractions in the area and it is a good place to mull things over.  It’s easier (I found out the hard way) to walk from the village to the boulders along the Millennium Track than it is to get there by scrambling over the rocks at low tide.

Bunnies in Moeraki

The other reason many people stop at Moeraki is the legendary restaurant, Fleur’s. You can get beautiful, locally-caught fish there if you don't mind paying a bit more (mains are $40 plus), but since I was on my own I went to the Fishwife to have fish and chips (less than $15). The blue cod was excellent.

And if you are on your own, I can recommend going to Fleur’s for coffee and cake, or a glass of wine before dinner. Unfortunately, the pub seems to cater more to the mass tourist crowd than to locals as you can't sit by the bar because it is a “working area”. A working area that is 15 feet long.

Because of Covid-19 there were very few tourists in town during the winter weekend and absolutely nobody in the water except me.

Very briefly.

I wish there was a saltwater pool in Moeraki. Though I’m happy to not see sharks.

More photos of the boulders, showing how they wash out of the cliffs. No dinosaurs seen to photograph on this visit.

Living in New Zealand: The Secondhand Bookshop is Lethal

Looking around the bookshop in Lyttelton is dangerous when my bookshelves are already stuffed with books unread. I used to read massively as a kid until I went to university and got out of the habit. I really should make more time for it now.

Any advice on how to do that would be gratefully received! 

Living in New Zealand: Emergency Services are Largely Voluntary

In 1870 fire destroyed Lyttleton's main street. It started in the Queen’s Hotel (which later became London Street restaurant, which had to be demolished after the earthquake, as happened to many of the historic timber buildings that had been rebuilt in brick to resist fire). Residents had to demolish buildings to stop the fire spreading as there was no firefighting service in the isolated town. There is now, and a siren sounds to call the volunteers when they are needed. I really don't like that sound.

The Order of St John (or St John's) is the ambulance service for most of New Zealand. It is voluntary, in the way that having an emergency health event isn't.