Day 4: Rakaia Gorge to Geraldine Holiday Park

It was a surprisingly quiet night on Rakaia Gorge, the wind is known to howl, but it was whisper quiet all night. We woke up to the chorus of birds singing that welcomes sunrise and started our day in good spirits. The camp host came by one last time to wish us well on our journey.

We packed up and headed out, straight in to a very steep climb out of the gorge. It was about 175m in 2km and we had to stop a few times on the way up. The wind was blowing but we had trees on both sides shielding us from the brunt of it.

As we summited we were treated to the beautiful scenery which is the reason we are in New Zealand. The plain that we are on stretches several km and then large hills rise from there and in the distance are rugged snowcapped mountains. After that we enjoyed several long straight roads that were flat or slight declines.

Eventually, the wind really picked up, and we enjoyed an amazing tailwind and a slight downhill. It’s times like these that really make you glad you’re on a bicycle. We cruised into Selvin (? Check this later) where there’s a little café (thanks for the heads up, Blair!) and had a coffee and spinach filo. Pam learned that New Zealanders take their coffee different than Americans, and if you want something similar to drip here, you have to ask for an Americano. New Zealanders like “flat white” coffee, which has milk, but is not foamy like cappuccino. The hostess was so helpful sorting us out, and we really appreciate friendly people like her!

The short day yesterday was definitely a good call. I guess as we get more experienced with this touring thing, we have learned to listen to our bodies. In the past we might have pushed on, and pushed too far, and then enjoyed the ride less. But, instead, we gave our bodies what they needed, and today they responded by taking us as far as we wanted to go. We’ve also learned to make adjustments to the fit of our bikes before little problems become big ones. We’ve never ridden this loaded on these bikes before, and we really need to dial them in to get the perfect fit. Pam’s still tweaking her seat, but she’s almost got it just right.

The tailwind turned into a crosswind, and then a slight headwind. But we still made great time, and paused for lunch at about the halfway point. We took advantage of a little picnic area on the side of the road, which even had a toilet available. Very nice! While there, we saw Pico pass us, and we waved. We caught up to him about 16 km from Geraldine.

We’ve been passing through farmlands, mainly sheep and cows, but we also passed by some paddocks full of red stags (You were right, Parker! There are red stags in New Zealand!).

We rode into Geraldine around 1630, and found a supermarket just down the road from the Geraldine Holiday Park. We decided to shower first and venture back to get some groceries, and stock up on snacks which we ate up today. We’re trying to be proactive and eat as we ride before we get hungry, which is usually a sign that you’ve waited too long to eat.

We pulled into the Geraldine Holiday Park and inquired about a tent space for the night. The Geraldine holiday park is nicely located in town and has a very friendly staff. One of the hosts showed us to the tent area, which has soft grass and a picnic bench. The bathrooms were the cleanest and nicest that we have been to yet, with free hot showers. There’s laundry facilities, and a kitchen area where we cooked dinner. They even had pots and pans available for the guests to use which is a nice change from cooking in our camp stove pot. This is a great place to stop if you are cycling near Geraldine. Today the park was quite full, as the holiday weekend draws near, but the crowds didn’t deter the hosts from greeting everyone with a smile.

Pico was in camp ahead of us. It’s fun to tour alongside others, and see another friendly face when you get to camp. I’m sure he’ll pull ahead of us tomorrow, as we plan on making a shorter ride.

One of the things that we’ve noticed as we ride these back roads through the countryside is the lack of litter on the side of the road. Once we got out of Christchurch, we’ve seen practically nothing, and there are no signs telling you not to litter, either. Nor are there signs for “Adopt a Highway Litter Pickup” like you have in the states. I guess the people here just aren’t in the habit of littering, and it sure is nice to not have to make your way through a minefield of glass on the shoulder of the road, especially when there’s not much shoulder to speak of.

After dinner Pam set up camp and Matt ran to the supermarket. It is really nice to be in a real supermarket, the small town grocery stores were barely cutting it for food that is easy to make on the go. It is also one of the places were you really feel like you are in a foreign country, nothing is in the same place as it would be at home, and most things have slightly different names or flavors. We have found that the New Zealand items tend to be somewhat blander than the American varieties. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as most American food isn’t considered good unless the flavors smack you in the face which is typically accomplished with fat, salt, or sugar.

Other minor notes, Matt’s inside front right knee has been getting a little sore, but moving his seat forward about a centimeter seems to be clearing that up. Pam’s left knee is causing some pain, but there are a few possible causes, tonight we analyzed her pedal stroke and moved her seat forward and down a little to bring her knee inline with her pedal spindle and reduce overextension at the full down stroke. It is always challenging when touring to recognize what is just tenderness from overuse, and what is from needing to tweak your seat position.