Our first kms…

So after having spent a lot of time in Auckland (too much time to Vera’s taste, she got all cranky about it, which wasn’t helped by the never-ending shower-rain pouring along) we finally have been cycling a bit!

As we wanted to start our journey on the south island (as it is said to be more beautiful) we took a bus down towards Christchurch. After 11 hours on a night bus in the pouring rain, we embarked on the ferry (still in gray weather and with clouds all filled up and ready to pour some more) where a miracle happened: on the 3-hour trip, the further south we got, the better the weather became to finally make space for a completely blue sky and amazing views on the beautiful fjord-like landscape close to Picton. We wanted to start cycling right here and now, but unfortunately that would mean our busticket would be canceled completely without refund, and as New-Zealand hasn’t been cheap so far, we decided to get on the bus and enjoy the weather from in the bus.

The landscape we drove by was just amazing: the beautiful blue ocean with seals and dolphins and the beautiful yellowish autumn colors glimmering in the sunlight. And the further we got, the more our feet, legs and actually our whole body started itching: we wanted to get out and cycle! So when the bus-driver stopped halfway to Christchurch to have us have a look at some seals warming up in the sun on some rocks pretty close to the road, we just couldn’t keep it anymore and asked him if we could go out here. He was a bit surprised at first (“You want to go out here?”) but then happy to help us and our bikes out. So there we were, standing on the side of the road, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, not really knowing where we were on a map (the bus driver had mentioned “about 15 minutes from Kaikoura”) but with this all-present motivation to get on our bikes as quick as we could. Ok, it turned out to be still 25 km to Kaikoura, but we had beautiful views on the ocean, spent half an hour observing the seals swim and sunbathe and were just happy to be moving by our own manners. Our first kilometers… :-)

:-)

Vera & Jean-Christophe

2 Comments

  1. Posted May 8, 2008 at 14:04 | Permalink

    I’m so happy to hear you finally got to some cycling. I was worried that the rain and cold would make you change your mind! I hope you stopped in Kaikura to see more seals and the cool rock formations, and the rest of your trip on the south island is sunny and gorgeous. Good luck!
    -Kristi

  2. Vera
    Posted May 9, 2008 at 7:27 | Permalink

    @Kristi: Well believe us, we sometimes think of “changing our mind” but then there is always something good that makes us go on… :-)

    Vera