Nearly Neutral Travel

Ever since the start of our trip last August, we’ve been aiming to complete a hiking or cycling trail from end to end, but then find we are short of time or have other ambitions, so ultimately spend just one day getting a taster of what it has to offer. See, for instance, Turkey’s Lycian Way, Georgia’s Mestia to Ushguli multi-day hike, Jeju’s Olle trail, and NZ’s Great Taste Trail – there’s been a few. But finally, finally, after nearly nine months of travel, we’ve done it! Over four days, we cycled the Otago Central Rail Trail, a 152 km route that follows the course of the old Otago Central railway, built following the gold rush of the 1860s.

But first, we had to get to the trailhead. This required a seven-hour bus journey between Christchurch and Cromwell and then a quick hop between Cromwell and Clyde the following day.

We all thought that the Christchurch to Cromwell leg was going to be a long, boring travel day and had downloaded podcasts, books and planned blog posts to work on to keep us busy. None of this was necessary as it was an utterly epic ride! This culminated in the bus taking a lunch stop at the most spectacular spot overlooking Lake Tekapo, where we couldn’t resist celebrating with yet another Tim Tam Slam.

Day 1: Clyde to Omakau (41 km)

The one with Oli’s gravel moving service

After taking the bus from Cromwell to Clyde, we picked up our bikes, loaded our panniers and set off towards the first town en route, Alexandra. Rather than join the main trail immediately, we decided to take the alternative riverside trail, which had come highly recommended and really was beautiful, undulating like a rollercoaster through the trees next to the bright blue Clutha River.

This added 4 km to our route, bringing our daily total from 37 km to 41 km, but at this point, we confidently believed this wouldn’t be a problem. After a second breakfast in Alexandra, we set off on the trail proper. We soon realised two things:

1. We were pretty much the only people on the trail without e-bikes
2. The gravel surface was going to be really hard work, especially on the uphills (i.e. nearly all of days 1 & 2)

Halfway through the afternoon, as we slowly climbed the steepest hill on the trail, Oli grumbed that he was basically providing a gravel moving surface, where his tyres sent the stones rolling down the hill while he remained in the same position. It really felt that way!

We were relieved to make it to our accommodation well before sunset and I couldn’t stay worried about how many kilometres were ahead for too long, since we were staying in a cabin next to a pub with local wine on offer and two fluffy black cats in the carpark.

Day 2: Omakau to Wedderburn (42.5 km)

The one with the highest point

Yesterday had been a tough day and I was quite nervous for today, where we had a similar distance to cover but much more elevation.

Our apprehension wasn’t eased when we stepped outside our cabin to find that our saddles had frozen overnight! We moved our bikes into the sun and they were partially thawed by the time we’d eaten our breakfast and groaned our way back into our saddles for the day.

In fact, it turned out to be one of our best days on the trail. The gravel wasn’t quite as deep as yesterday and we passed over several bridges and viaducts spanning dramatic scenery. We also felt our way through two very dark tunnels (where I pretended to be in The Railway Children, obviously).

Around 3pm, we reached the highest point of the trail, and Oli and Mario celebrated by sharing a lively can of beer that had been rattling along in Mario’s pannier. I had eaten too much guilt-free cake at our last rest stop and couldn’t join in!

As well as the rugged scenery, great food and feeling of accomplishment, our second day was also marked by our growing (and entirely irrational) hatred of the many groups of e-bikers, who smugly overtook us on the hills while barely pedalling. Unbeknownst to them, they became our sworn enemies, particularly those who had the audacity to call out pleasantries as they passed!

That evening, we stayed in a lovely cabin a long way from the nearest town (but thankfully within walking distance of a pub) and had more amazing stargazing opportunities. In fact, Mario crept out after the moon had set and said it was even better…

Day 3: Wedderburn to Waipiata (21 km)

The short one

We woke up to another flawless morning and had less than half of yesterday’s distance to cover, all downhill, so today was about embracing the distractions along the trail. Even after a late start (because Mario and Oli were battling each other in a game of giant chess) and many stops to look at farm animals, rusting railway infrastructure, and planets of the solar system (more on that later), we still reached Ranfurly by lunchtime. This was two-thirds of our daily distance, so we passed some time roaming around the town looking at the architecture and scouting for cats. For a town that’s known for its Art Deco buildings, we didn’t do very well and only found one!

When we set off again, we continued to track the planets of the solar system, which were presented at a scale of 100 million to one across the length of the trail. This really brought home just how much space there was between each planet, given it took us several days to cycle to the sun!

We managed to faff our way to our 2pm check in time and then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the pub in the tiny settlement where we were staying. Despite its remote location (so remote, in fact, that our rooms didn’t have locks!), the Waipiata Country Hotel was famous for its pies and the pub was BUSY that evening. We joined in and sampled a pie each from their ridiculously big selection (and made some loud comments about how we’d earned them with our pedal power).

Day 4: Waipiata to Middlemarch (52 km)

The one with the deadline

Not only was this our longest day in kilometres, but we also had to be at the finish line by 1.30pm in time to catch a shuttle to Dunedin. Theoretically this was easily achievable, but we’d heard ominous tales of a powerful headwind on the final stretch so we started early to give ourselves the best chance of making it. As we crept out of our accommodation before sunrise, we saw the row of gleaming e-bikes on charge. Mario wickedly suggested we could unplug them as a final act of sabotage, which really made us laugh and was much more tempting than you might think! In the end, we decided to settle for beating them to the finish line instead.

It was a very frosty start until the sun rose above the mountains, but we made good time and soon came across a tiny shelter filled with homemade goodies and an honesty box. We knew there were no cafes or shops along this stretch so we rounded up all our change and bought ourselves a few treats.

Even with these snacks, we still ate our packed lunch at 10.30am! Then just after 1pm, we rolled into Middlemarch, victorious.

It was SUCH a fun few days. We thought it would be super easy given the trail’s gentle elevation changes (it was built as a railway, after all) and the comfortable temperatures this time of year, but the gravel track really did slow us down and it turned out to be just the right level of challenge for us. When we looked at our route relative to the size of the South Island (below), we were actually pretty impressed that we’d cycled a noticeable chunk of it!

After our cycling adventure, we made our way to the city of Dunedin for a couple of days of street art, penguins 🐧 and debating the plural of albatross. Albatrosses? Albatri? Either way, we were very pleased to meet them.

From Blenheim, we hopped aboard the Coastal Pacific train for the 311 km journey south to Christchurch.

This train was just as comfortable as our stint on the Northern Explorer, but this time the ride had ocean views almost the whole way. We passed the time between gazing out the windows with a few more Tim Tam Slams, and while our antics did evoke a little nostalgia from our captive audience, they also politely implied that it was more of a children’s activity. Mario defended our snack choice by referencing a photo of an adult clearly slamming a Tim Tam on the Wikipedia page, but I’m not sure they were convinced.

We had two full days in and around Christchurch, the first of which we spent seeing the city centre. On the second, we took a road trip to the Banks Peninsula.

Day 1: Quake City

Arriving in Christchurch, the effects of the 2011 6.3 magnitude earthquake were evident almost everywhere we went. This was clearly a city in the midst of a full reconstruction, but on a vastly different timescale to what we witnessed in Gyumri, Armenia. We visited Quake City, Christchurch’s earthquake museum, which covered the initial impact and response, as well as the the reconstruction effort since. It was pretty shocking watching and listening to first person accounts of how the earthquake completely reshaped their city, and how the residents’ attitudes to the city have changed over time.

While I naively expected the decision to repair Christchurch’s buildings to be straightforward, reading about Christchurch Cathedral (whose collapsed spire made headlines around the world) tells quite the opposite story. Initially, there seemed to be little agreement on whether the original cathedral should be restored or a new cathedral built in its place. In 2012, it looked set to be completely demolished, but since then the original building has been stabilised and restoration work is now in progress. In the meantime, Anglican services have been relocated to the Cardboard Cathedral, a building made from 98 giant cardboard tubes and constructed in less than a year.

We also saw plenty of street art, either on the exposed sides of old brick buildings or as part of the restoration effort. Note that the building in the photo on the right below actually has a flat frontage, despite the the perspective trick!

One local institution that has stood the test of time is C1 Espresso, despite having needed to relocate to the old post office following the destruction of their original premises by the earthquake. This cafe is famous for delivering (some of) their menu via a network of pneumatic tubes, which connect the kitchen to each customer’s table.

In fact, this place came doubly recommended, by both the Lonely Planet and Tom Scott, who each insisted that a cafe like this can’t survive without the food and coffee actually being good too. We couldn’t agree more, and ended up visiting the cafe three times during our stay in Christchurch.

Walking around the town, we were really impressed to see Christchurch’s historic tram rattling across the main square and through narrow gaps between buildings. That was until we saw that the cost of a day ticket is 35 NZD (£17)! For comparison, a day ticket on Christchurch’s central bus network is 2.60 NZD. In my books, this labels the tram not just as a tourist attraction, but also a tourist trap 🙁

We did however thoroughly enjoy Christchurch’s Riverside Market, the permanent replacement of the city’s temporary Container Mall. It was jam packed with street food and local produce, with no shortage of excellent beer and wine either.

Day 2: Road trip around Banks Peninsula

The following day, we hired a car to explore the Banks Peninsula. This is an area which is pretty much impossible to see without your own transport, and with Mario filling a third seat in the car, we managed to justify the carbon emissions to ourselves.

I expected driving in New Zealand to feel fairly familiar given that they also drive on the left, and indeed it was straightforward so long as you can keep your eyes off the spectacular scenery long enough to check the road every once in a while. The only subtle difference is that the indicator / windscreen-washer stalks are on the opposite sides of the wheel relative to the UK. Despite noting this before pulling out of the car hire depot, I still gave the windscreen a good wash as I changed lanes on the roundabout on the way out of the airport.

We first drove to Lyttelton via the scenic Summit Road. Now, New Zealand isn’t short of natural beauty, but we’re always suckers for a bit of industrial logistics. We stopped briefly at a dramatic viewpoint that also overlooked a container port, and enjoyed watching the swarm of specialised vehicles moving containers from the dock onto a ship. And just before you raise your eyebrows, we weren’t the only ones at the viewpoint!

From Lyttelton, we continued around the Banks Peninsula towards Akaroa via another scenic route (also called Summit Road!) along the top of the volcanic ridge. Pausing for a packed lunch of goodies from C1 Espresso with a view, I tucked into my huge pork and apple sausage roll. This certainly made it into my top five sausage rolls ever, and even gave Hart & Lova (our favourite bakery in Kilburn) a run for its money, although Sara was less convinced.

We then dropped down into Akaroa, a charming coastal town that at first glance had a strange obsession with all things French. We later learned that the town was settled by 63 French emigrants in 1840, which went some way to explaining the French influence. I also had my first taste here of Hokey pokey ice cream, a popular flavour in NZ consisting of vanilla ice cream with chunks of honeycomb – apparently an important piece of kiwiana!

The last stop on our road trip was Tumbledown Bay – a secluded beach on the southern shore of the peninsula. We never would have found this beautiful place (it was a 20-minute drive down a dirt road!) if it wasn’t for the recommendation of an old colleague – thanks, Michael! Here, Sara and Mario threw caution to the wind and braved the cold waters for swim, while I held their towels. It was only once they were in the water that I noticed a playful herd of seals splashing around on the rocks and surfing on the waves just metres from where Sara and Mario were swimming. It really was a beautiful moment.

This concluded an action-packed, two-day stay in Christchurch, and we returned the hire car completely covered in dust, but with a sparkling clean windscreen. Special thanks to Michael for all his recommendations around the Banks Peninsula – we had an awesome time!

For our next adventure, we’re trading the hire car for a trio of mountain bikes and attempting a four-day journey along the Central Otago Rail Trail.

I can still remember when I finally accepted that it wasn’t just a myth that people could tell the difference between grape varieties just by taste and smell. We were sitting in our favourite Southampton pub at the time, the Gordon Arms in Portswood, and one of my friends passed me a glass of wine from the bar. It was love at first taste. After several years of drinking variously awful white wines that had probably been open for weeks in student pubs, this actually tasted good! Of course, my friend had absolutely no idea which wine they’d ordered, so it took a few more rounds to establish what I’d enjoyed so much, but after some perseverance (!), I discovered it was a Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough and I never looked back. My wine tastes might have broadened a bit these days, but ever since then I’ve wanted to visit Marlborough to see the distant vineyards and taste the wines at source. And we were finally here!

The Marlborough region’s vineyards stretch on for nearly 300 square kilometres, but we’d chosen to concentrate our efforts on a small area just to the north-east of the town of Blenheim, and to do so by bicycle. Although we arrived in the pouring rain, our full day to explore the region dawned with gorgeous sunshine, so we were feeling very lucky.

Honestly, I’ve rarely been happier! After a long break in Southeast Asia, Oli and I were starting to find our stride on a tandem again and our bickering was much reduced (Mario may disagree…), so I spent lots of the day hanging off the back of the bike (still pedalling, I promise!) and taking hundreds of photos of the orderly rows of vines against a backdrop of photogenic mountains. In between, we made stops at three vineyards and a brewery.

Stop 1: Allan Scott Winery

We began our day at Allan Scott, mainly because they had enomatic machines (essentially fancy wine vending machines) so you could build your own tasting. Of course, we couldn’t actually be trusted with this as we immediately got seduced by a ‘cat wine’ (i.e. a Sauvignon Blanc with a bespectacled ginger cat on the label), which wasn’t quite to our taste. They had three other Sauvignon Blancs on offer that I’m sure would have been much better, had we been less shallow!

Wines: 6/10
Bonhomie: 7/10
Setting: 8/10 (comfy beanbags in the sunshine with a vine view)

Stop 2: Picnic

With one eye on our budget and another on the fact we hadn’t got round to making a lunch reservation, Team Deli (i.e. Oli and Mario) headed into Blenheim in the morning to pick up a picnic from a fancy deli/cafe. We ate this sitting on the grass verge of a quiet side road, right next to the vines. Splendid!

Wines: 0/10 (just water with our picnic, we are sensible in our old age – although my salmon tart would have paired perfectly with a crisp white)
Bonhomie: 8/10
Setting: 9/10

Stop 3: Moa Brewing Co.

To thank Oli for indulging us with a full day of wine tastings, we popped into Moa Brewing for a cheeky post-lunch pint. Oli had a hazy IPA, Mario had a white IPA, and I had an alcoholic ginger beer. The beers were good, but it just didn’t feel right to be drinking them in the middle of Marlborough…

Wines: 0/10 (to be fair, it was a brewery, but I did have a slight sense of humour failure when they couldn’t make me a post-lunch coffee)
Bonhomie: 5/10 (post-lunch slump, plus see coffee debacle above)
Setting: 7/10

Stop 4: Huia Vineyards

Our fourth stop was at Huia, by far the smallest vineyard we visited. This was our only traditional guided tasting of the day, with a super friendly sommelier popping to our table every few minutes with a new bottle and explanation of what we were about to try. We really liked the relaxed, low-key atmosphere of this vineyard, and got talking to the friendly group sat next to us, who gave us lots of NZ travel tips. It soon became clear that ‘Trace’, one of the group, was much more interested in chatting and drinking the wine than the wine tasting itself. When the sommelier came over to pour them a tasting of Chardonnay, she asked them how they felt about it (apparently Chardonnay divides opinion the world over). “Yes, it was great,” Trace answered. “No, no,” her friends replied, “You haven’t tried it yet!”

Wines: 8/10
Bonhomie: 8/10
Setting: 10/10 (what a spot)

Stop 5: Forrest Wines

We’d been told by the cycle hire place that if we wanted one last tasting before we returned the bikes at 5pm, Forrest Wines was one of the better bets as most other tasting rooms shut early. However, they emphasised that we should arrive by 4pm or else they probably wouldn’t serve us. So, at 3.59 on the dot we screeched into the tasting room and placed our order. Despite having finished serving food for the day, they even agreed to put together a cheeseboard for us (we must have looked hungry). Kiwis are just too nice!

Alongside the cheese, we were each served a big tray of (tiny) glasses of seven different wines. After a very quick description of each, we were left to our own devices. This was partly good as we were free to be brutally honest about the wines, but bad as we immediately forgot what they’d told us about each of them. Despite a full day of tastings, we had our first classic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc here, so we bought a bottle to savour later. After all, we’d been given special wine panniers on our bikes so we needed to make use of them!

Wines: 8/10
Bonhomie: 10/10 (a day well spent)
Setting: 8/10

After a highly successful day of cycling, tastings, picnic and cheese, it was time to hop on our second (and final) NZ train that would take us all the way to the South Island’s largest city, Christchurch.