Saturday at Christchurch

It’s Saturday so we must be in Christchurch.  In fact, out luggage has been checked,  boarding passes in hand and we’re all set for departure to Auckland in a couple hours.  The Wingets are visiting the Antarctic Center for quick look while Susan and I wait.

Getting on line has been a problem the last couple of nights, so no way to bring you up to date on our adventures since Okarito Lagoon.  We woke up to rain Thursday morning, and the report was that it was raining all the way to Hokatika.  No one in the group was interested in biking in such conditions, so we loaded up the van and drove all the way, stopping a couple times for a bathroom breaks and snacks.  Unfortunately, the clouds obscured the snow capped peaks that otherwise would have been visible for much of the route.

We arrived at Hokatika in the early afternoon, had lunch, and everyone scattered out to check out the town.  It’s the largest town on the New Zealand west coast, and was the destination of the gold miners back in the 1800s.  Today it is known for its greenstone (jade) jewelry, usually made in Maori symbols of life, togetherness, fish hooks, etc.  We were warned you have to be careful or you might be buying something made in China.  I was very careful and didn't buy a thing!

The clouds started breaking up soon after we arrived at our beachfront hotel, so Claira, Lillian and I took a stroll on the beach, while the others poked around town.

Dinner was on our own, but most of us walked to an Indian restaurant a few blocks from the hotel.  The band that had entertained us in Okarita was playing in a nearby theater, and Simon and Pat went to see that, reporting the next morning that the audience numbered about 100.  The rest of us went back to the hotel, and I spent a half hour trying to connect to the internet.  No luck.  Some places here do not like Apple computers.

Friday (yesterday) dawned bright and clear, and we left Hokatika in the van for Greymouth.  The bikes were unloaded next to a cemetery where those who had died in a coal mine disaster back in the 1890s were buried.  The road and weather was perfect for biking, and everyone rode.  It was a lightly traveled road, mostly flat, but a couple challenging hills.  It wandered along a valley with high mountains on either side.  Thirty four miles later we came to Jackson Tavern and the end of our biking on this tour.  We had lunch at the tavern, and walked down to the railroad tracks to await the train.  Simon and Jess stayed in the van with our luggage while the rest of us rode the train up to Arthur Pass where the train made a 15 minute rest stop before proceeding on to Springfield, NZ.  We got off the train at that point, and the van and Paula arrived just a few minutes later to shuttle us the remaining distance to Oxford.

A one hour shuttle ride took us to the small, quiet town of Oxford and our last night’s stay.  Our final dinner together was at a nearby restaurant.

We said goodbye to Trixie and Paula as we left for the airport this morning.  There was a brief stop at a marino wool outlet, and then arrived at the airport where we said our goodbyes to the rest of the group.  We have a stop in Auckland, then the long haul flight to Los Angeles.  Will work on uploading some pictures when time allows.  We are now at the gate and should be boarding in a few minutes.  This report hasn't been anything exciting, but fills in the blanks of our past two days.    Jim