Saturday January 11, 2014
A lovely ride today with one big climb and a small climb.
The two climbs came after Rakaia Gorge at about 25 kms into the ride. The big climb came directly after the gorge and basically went straight up from the gorge a 14% grade, then leveled off and then went up again at a 10% grade.
It was pretty much downhill from there and will continue downhill until Geraldine tomorrow.
We stopped at the gorge for about half an hour, it was stunning. We took loads of photos but I have only chosen a couple to go on the blog.
We carried on cycling through a mix of sheep, cattle and deer farming areas with the mountains to the right of us. The scenery in this country is amazing. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere (Alford) we spotted these sculptures of Moa.
This old farmer came and chatted to us, what a lovely man. His farm has been in his family for about 5 generations and has recently changed from cattle/sheep to deer. He had 2 dead possums on his car – he traps them and then sells the pelts. He gets about $150 for a kilo of possum fur. Chris has a Possum and merino wool sweater which is so light and warm I was looking at treating myself to something with possum and merino mix, but you have to hand-wash it very carefully and dry flat – not going to happen on this trip.
From Ralf: My deer wife, the vegetarian, is thinking about having some venison for dinner tomorrow night!! – There is hope for me yet.
We stopped at Stavely for a late lunch a little Village. The church was built by the Methodists in 1903, they sold it to the Presbyterians in 1905 and now it is shared by the Anglicans and the Presbyterians.
Today’s camp site is a domain site. This generally is a limited service camp, usually toilets and maybe a shower. However, this has a kitchen, showers and a great price $15.00.
My first migraine in over 2 months. As we left the camp-site I felt it come on, I quickly took some pills and kept it in abeyance. The first 15 kms were a bit slow because of it, but we picked up the pace after the gorge.