Month: February 2024

The excitement builds as we are collected from our hotel by Daryl, our guide for the next five days on our Alps to Ocean cycle ride. 300 kms in five days!

After a briefing at Tuatara Tours headquarters in Christchurch, we hit the road. Twelve intrepid travellers, with four Kiwis and eight Aussies.

Morning tea in Geraldine, lunch in Lake Tekapo township then we mount our bikes and are off. The ride to Twizel is 55kms, and the weather perfect. We check into our comfortable accommodation in the Lakes Motel, scrub up and dine at Poppies restaurant, which is excellent.

After a great breakfast, we are back on the bikes and make our way to Lake Ohau. The weather is perfect, and an idyllic ride around the lake to our destination, Ohau Lodge. After lunch, it is back on the bikes, and a 17km ride to the historic Quailburn Woolshed. A tough uphill ride .. thank heavens for e bikes! Daryl is there to meet us, and transport us back to Ohau Lodge for drinks, dinner and bed.

Day 3, and we awake to very strong winds at Ohau. Daryl decided the best course of action is to do Day 4’s ride today. It will involve a fair bit of driving, but so be it. After a visit to the nearby Clay Cliffs, we motor out past Otematata, and commence our ride. We stop at Kurow for lunch, then continue to our destination of Duntroon. The wind is very strong, but mostly at our backs, which is appreciated! It is then back to Omarama, and our very comfortable Sierra Motel. Dinner is at a local restaurant and is top quality.

Day 4, and with the weather now fine and calm,we can do the Day 3 ride through Omarama and around Lakes Benmore and Aviemore. These are lakes created on the Waitaki River by the hydro electric schemes of the 1960’s. The track around Benmore was steep, rough and quite spectacular! A great days riding, with some of the group opting for some tasting at a local winery. It was then on to our accommodation and dinner, at Waitaki Braids.

Another perfect day weather wise, although a tad cooler. This is our final day on this epic bicycle journey. It is from Duntroon to Oamaru, a distance of 54kms. We pass the Elephant rocks, ride through on old railway tunnel, across farmland and down into the attractive township of Oamaru.

This has been a really enjoyable tour. The weather, accommodation, food and fellow travellers were all excellent. Tuatara Tours do it very well, with a special mention for our guide and leader, Daryl. He was terrific .. very capable, nothing phased him and a great bloke.

So on to Christchurch, and after dropping off our rental car, we check into the Muse Art Hotel on Manchester Street. A nice hotel in a perfect central location.

The weather is warm and windy, and in fact there is a fire blazing out of control in the Port Hills. A wander around the city features lunch from the busy Riverside Markets.

Dinner is at Rascal Bistro and Bar, literally around the corner from our Hotel. They specialise in small plates, and the food is excellent.

After breakfast at the Hotel, we walk through the city, the Botanical Gardens, back through the city then to Little High for lunch. Warm, sunny day and lots of people around, creating a vibrant atmosphere. Lots of construction going on in central Christchurch, including the new Rugby and Events stadium.

Dinner is at Francesca’s Italian Kitchen, one of our local favourites. It delivers once again! We are all set for our cycle journey, starting tomorrow.

Our accommodation in Hanmer is an apartment in the Clear Ridge complex, which is spacious and comfortable. It is very centrally located.

We build a thirst by walking up to the Conical Hill lookout and back. Dinner that night is the Spice Village, an Indian restaurant which ticks all the boxes.

Another glorious warm,sunny day, and after breakfast at Salt and Pepper cafe, we go for a walk around the perimeter of the town. Lots of new houses.

In the afternoon, we head to the famous Hanmer Springs hot pools. It is quite a large complex, with several hot mineral pools, a “normal” pool plus hydro slides and a couple of fun slides using two person rafts. Good fun!

The OldPharts many months ago booked the “Alps to Ocean” cycle tour with Tuatara Tours. This is a 300km cycle ride from Lake Tekapo to Oamaru. Done over five days, on e-bikes, the tour company provides food and accommodation. Needless to say, the adventurers have been doing their preparation, and are making their way to Christchurch, where the tour begins.

Rather than flying direct to Christchurch, they fly to Nelson, then three nights in nearby Mapua. A great chance to catch up with local residents Cameron and Maria. The former is an old school friend of Blair’s and the two couples have had many ski holidays together.

After a very pleasant barbecue dinner and catch up at Cameron and Maria’s home in Tasman Village, the next day the troops decide on a cycling excursion.

After breakfast and coffee at Alberta’s (superb), Cameron, Sue and Blair catch the Mapua Wharf ferry across to Rabbit Island. A really good bike ride, almost out to Richmond and back.

That evening, a beer and catch up at the Golden Bear brewery with Cameron, Maria, old school mate Doug Hall and his partner Mariette. Then fish and chips from the Smokehouse.

The next morning, after breakfast again at Alberta’s, we drove into Nelson and visited some art galleries. Sue splashed out from a local artist, and we then went to the Suter and lunch.

For a final evening, it is over to Cameron and Maria’s and home made pizzas via their portable Ooni pizza oven. Delicious!

As per usual, a really enjoyable stay in Mapua. Our accommodation at Terra Nostra is perfect, and there is so much to see and do in the area.

We load up the rental car, and drive to Hanmer Springs.