Lake Coleridge to Christchurch, Monday 14 February





Large sized Carrot Cake at Lunchstop








The day started with heavy rain and we delayed our start by half an hour to let this ease off. This was still only the second wet day in nearly 6 weeks of touring.

The rain eased off and stopped as we rode back down the valley of the Rakaia river. We re-joined the Inland Scenic Route 77. This was very enjoyable as the road slowly descended down a valley wth mountains to our left and our speed boosted further by a tailwind.

We stopped at a shop at Glentunnel for a snack for elevenses and then down to the plains to Darfield for lunch. I had a soup and a carrot cake. This was possibly the largest so far at about 3 times the measly portions served up in the UK for 3.50NZ$ or about one pound fifty. For one reason or another I had failed to get a carrot cake the previous 3 days so this adequately satisfied the cravings.

After lunch the waterproofs were required again as the clouds from a front coming in from the south massed. The road by now was pan flat and dead straight into Christchurch. We got away with light rain for the rest of the ride with the heavy downpour saving itself for evening.

For the evening meal we went to a pub/restaurant operating an all you can eat buffet for 19NZ$ or about 8 pounds for all courses. I was fairly restrained, only 2 main courses and 3 desserts.

Mileage for the day was 64.3 with 807ft of climb and 2066ft of descent. Average speed was 13.2 with 4hrs 47mins of riding time.