Exploring South Canterbury

Steam Punk rules

As I described in my last article, I fried the electrics on my ebike (by being careless) so it was going to be a quiet few days (weeks) while I waited for the parts to arrive. But it was really nice having a bit of a break, soaking up the Canterbury heat and braving the north westerly winds. I didn’t even have use of my car for a day or so because I ran the battery flat. However, it gave me the opportunity to clean the Motor Home and reorganise - the trips so far have given me a much better understanding of what works and what doesn’t work.

The parts for the ebike arrived and were duly installed (don’t forget everybody needs a Bruce). What was interesting is that the parts supplier had told me it was a really difficult job and that nobody in his shop wanted to be the person to do this type of work. When I told him it was complete and working, he suggested Bruce could get a job as a freelance ebike mechanic. After the fix I immediately started riding again. and it was so nice to be back pedalling.

Edition Zero Gravel Challenge

A good friend of mine, Robert, is a very keen cyclist but eschews the ebike and rides a specialist gravel bike. He had decided to take part in the Edition Zero Gravel Challenge and had asked me if I could pick him up at Christchurch airport and then take him and his bike down to Waimate so he could compete. Enough said so I picked him up a couple of days before the event and we wended our way southwards.

After leaving Christchurch we drove towards Methven but unfortunately the nor-wester was just howling and it was an uncomfortable drive - the issue is not the wind as much as the wind breaks and when you drive through gaps in the wind breaks, So, after an arduous trip, we got to Methven, it was 3pm in the afternoon (Thursday) and nothing was open. I had wanted a coffee and cake but all the cafes, and there are a few of them in Methven, were closed. So, being a man of short patience in situations like this, I decided not to stay in Methven and instead drove through to Timaru, parking up at the Caroline Bay Freedom Camping area.

Caroline Bay was a nice spot, but the Freedom Camping area was packed, and there is limited space, especially for a larger Motor Home like mine. I would also venture to say that a fair few of the campers would not meet Self Containment regulations. It was interesting walking through the Timaru main street because I had lived in Timaru for a couple of years 40 years ago. I am not sure there was much difference.

Next day was the short drive through to the NZMCA site at Waimate which is very close to where the Gravel Challenge event was being held. The NZMCA site is really cool and after some juggling around, after a mild panic, I found a parking position where I could get a cell phone signal - very important because I hotspot everything. We then walked into Waimate and had a really nice coffee and cake at the cafe. Robert completed sign-on formalities for the race with start time confirmed for the following day. There were some really nice campers at the NZMCA site, so we had good conversations.

The event

Next day Rob competed in the 85km gravel race. There were other competitions of 46km, 140km and 248km with over 350 riders. Very proud of Rob who completed the ride.

The main event (248km gravel) was won by George Bennett who represented NZ at the Olympics. He was interviewed straight after the finish and wasn’t even breathless. I was amazed that someone could ride 248 of gravel track in less than 8 hours and still breathe, let alone be articulate in an interview.

Steam Punk

The next morning, we drove from Waimate to Oamaru to visit Oamaru and specifically the Steam Punk Museum. Before we went to the Museum we explored the old quarter, which was fascinating. I was also able to visit the model train exhibition which was really worth the visit - a labour of love by many enthusiasts. This photo was one of many I took but represents some of the myriads of details. The room was huge and fully covered by different model train scenarios.

After spending some time exploring, we went to the Steam Punk Museum. It was outstanding - the creativity is just amazing. I took a lot of photos, but I think it best that anybody interested sees for themselves - it’s an experience not to be missed and at a reasonable price.

Castle Claremont

The NZMCA site is just great for finding different places, so when we were heading back to Christchurch, we found a place just 15km out of Timaru, Castle Claremont.

A really interesting place, very secluded and private that used to be a residence for novitiates. It has been in private hands for about 20 years and is a Pop Over Property. This would be a great place for weddings and big events.

We left Castle Claremont quite early in the morning and drove through the back country to Geraldine before heading towards Ashburton.

Ashburton

I had been reading the NZMCA comments for POP’s and saw that one of the places referred to vintage cars so off we went. We parked up and went for a ride on one of Ashburton’s Mountain bike trails which snaked their way along the river. It was heaps of fun and then we went back at the same time Rob and Diane Ross were returning from a veteran car club rally with their 1907 Cadillac.

We spent some time with Rob, a really interesting and talented octogenarian who does all the work on this car and his other vehicles (3 1930 Chrysler 77’s, a 1902 Oldsmobile, and a 1936 Dodge convertible) in his shed. A self-taught man he does the motor work, chassis, metalwork et al. Rob and Diane are great examples of real New Zealand, it was such a pleasure to meet them.

Back to Christchurch the following morning and dropped my friend Rob and his bike off so they could return to Wellington. It was really nice having company on this trip

Am now heading up to Wellington and Kapiti for the next 6 weeks. I am stopping at friend’s places because I don’t want to be swamped in the fight for camping spots over Xmas in the holiday spots.