Day 6: Geraldine to Fairlie

We woke up rested and ready to tackle the ride to Fairlie. First order of business-breakfast. The café down the street served breakfast beginning at 9 am. So, we headed down there at 9, but there was no activity inside. Also it seems rather common in New Zealand to not have hours posted for when stores open, so we wandered down the street a ways. The only thing open seemed to be a Subway, so we checked out what they had to offer for breakfast. It ended up being the most reasonably priced meal of the trip, a couple of sandwiches with egg and cheese. One thing we’ve found is that the New Zealand word for peppers (like green peppers) is capsaicin. Which is interesting since those kind of peppers actually have very little capsaicin in them (it is the spicy part of peppers, and pepper spray).

Breakfast done, we packed up and headed out. After a seat adjustment, Pam’s knee wasn’t killing her, so we decided that we would make it to Fairley today. The route Matt planned took us on some back country roads, some paved, some not paved.

By avoiding the major highway, we were able to see some countryside. We started off on our first gravel roads and got to see rural New Zealand. Lunch was at a roadside picnic area near Hanging Rock, which is a large rock that overhangs the Opihi River.

We still had a long ways to go, but we got to see the nice little St. David church and then some Maori cliff drawings (somewhat disappointing, no real information, just some rubbings on the wall). We only made one wrong turn during the day, adding 6 km to our ride, and considering we were following Matt’s directions that he concocted back in the states, I’d say we were doing pretty well. Every once in a while, we’d come across one of those mileage signs, and I swear we never got any closer to Fairlie.

Finally, we turned onto the last gravel road to Fairlie. We went through Raincliff Forest, and stopped at the information sign. A family of cyclists pulled into the parking area and asked us about our ride. As we were chatting, a couple of touring cyclists pulled up as well. The family (the Guineys) had many questions for us all, and then when they found out our plan was to go to Fairley, they offered their house to us for the night. We of course agreed, and they said goodbye, as they had to be off. We chatted for a little bit longer with the other tourists, Mark and Claire. They were very inspiring and have been cycling for almost 2 years, all through Europe and Asia, across Australia, and now are ending in New Zealand. They had a lot of tips for us about upcoming campsites, and even had a book “Pedallers’ Paradise” to give us which we had been unable to find in the US. We’re pretty excited about that.

We finally got on our way, knowing we still had a ways to go. By now, Pam’s knee was bothering her pretty badly, we took every hill slowly, pausing to rest. It was taking us a long time to cover the km. But, we had a goal. Get to the Guineys, where we’d be staying at a working dairy farm. By the time we showed up, we were pretty dusty and tired, and the offer of a shower right off was appreciated.

Then, we finally got to introduce ourselves to the family and learn more about them. It turns out, New Zealand’s biggest export is milk, and this family is part of one of the biggest co-ops. They had just finished calving season, with the last calf born today. There was a celebration, with some of the farm hands there for dinner. We felt right at home, even if sometimes it sounded like we were listening to a different language. The Guineys and most of the farm hands are from Ireland, and mix in a NZ accent to that, and it makes it slightly difficult to understand to my ears. But, we had a fantastic time: dinner was barbecued venison and sausages and beef steak, 3 different kinds of salad, and chips. Everything was delicious. There was even dessert-apple turnover and ice cream.

 There was a fire, and we all sat around it late into the night talking and telling stories. The stars even came out so we got our first view of the Southern Hemisphere sky. Pam says it’s been too cloudy every night so far, but in reality she just goes to sleep to early and doesn’t poke her head outside of the tent J However we still haven’t seen the Southern Cross, but there’s still time.

It still amazes me the wonderful people we meet on our journeys. It reaffirms my faith in humanity: that someone would offer such hospitality to complete strangers and that on different sides of the globe we can still sit down and enjoy an evening together.

Distance:74.2km

Time Riding: 5:30

Climbed: 884m

Max Speed: 52kmh

Average: 13.5kmh

Pam at our first "ford", not enough water to make it exciting.

Black & White cows, lots of livestock in NZ

Pam tackling a gravel hill, one of many today

St. Davids Church 

Can you spot Pam?