Alex Hallatt 4/6/21 Alex Hallatt 4/6/21

Living in New Zealand: Alps2Ocean on an Ordinary Bike: Day 2: Twizel to Lake Ohau Lodge

The centre of Twizel is a little confusing in a Land Rover because of the way the road snakes around it. But it is really easy to walk or bike around and the central village square has a great café called Hydro. Next to it is a tiny little bookshop and an awesome independent shop called Jake’s. Jake’s sells everything you might need. They have more biking gear than my local cycling shop, plus hardware, toys, gardening stuff and a lot more.

The weather forecast was bad with rain and wind. It was windy with gusts and we had some small rain showers, but it wasn’t that bad and we had good views. Early on in the day I stopped at Loch Cameron to swim. I wish I had decided to swim every day on the trail as there were amazing wild swim opportunities. I regretted not swimming at Lakes Tekapo, Pukaki and Ohau.

I met Sue at the loch. She was only a year younger than me (50) and was also doing the Alps to Ocean on a non-electric bike. She had a mountain bike with suspension, but more gear, as she was bike-packing and camping along the way.

Good purpose-built track around Lake Ohau

We stopped at the Maori pou for lunch but should’ve stopped 100 yards ahead where there is a picnic table. The lake was beautiful and there was almost enough surf to swim in. The only other riders I encountered on this day of the trail were in a group of twentysomethings who insisted on broadcasting their music from a phone as they rode. Very annoying and I’m glad we weren’t riding with them. I was mostly riding on my own but occasionally stopped with Sue.

It was a day of beautiful mountain scenery, fantastic clouds and lots of birds (very few native).

You could see where there had been the massive fire. There was a lot of green regrowth and now finally people are taking down the big pines around buildings. Maybe they will plant some natives that are less likely to burn.

Because of the poor weather forecast, we had changed our camping plans to the basic accommodation at Lake Ohau Lodge. $125 got as a fantastic little room with an ensuite. And the lodge is great fun with a good bar (beers are less than $10 a pint and a big plate of nachos was $15) and hot tubs that you can use even if you are camping. Unfortunately I shared the hot tub with a very unfriendly woman from Blenheim (originally French, "from all over France"). When asked what she likes to do in Blenheim, she answered, “lots of things”. Every question was viewed with distain and answered so that she gave nothing away. Which was a shame, as she was walking the length of the South Island on Te Araroa trail. But I guess she was doing it to get away from people.

The lodge was one of many businesses along the trail that have been kept afloat by the Alps2Ocean. Otherwise its main business is the ski season.

Departed 9:30 arrived at 1:30. Time in saddle: three hours.

Alex Hallatt 4/1/21 Alex Hallatt 4/1/21

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).

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.

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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.

Alex Hallatt 3/24/21 Alex Hallatt 3/24/21

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?⁠⁠

Quick Kale and Cashew Stir Fry

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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

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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.

Alex Hallatt 2/26/21 Alex Hallatt 2/26/21

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.

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