After spending a night with Chris and Jay in Queenstown, we all left for our respective destinations the following day: Chris to Brisbane, Jay back to Boulder and me to Geraldine, a town that we had stayed in once before by car, and also on the Sounds to Sounds route that I was following back to Christchurch.
I prepared my bike the previous night, carefully wrapping the drivetrain as specified by the bus company as a condition of transport, which we’ve found is ignored by both passengers and drivers alike. Two riders came with their bikes unprepared and no one really gave a hoot. Nice guys, actually and I chatted with them on the bus.
Jay and Chris dropped me off at the bus location and then I was off!
The weather was fine during the 5 hour bus trip and I resisted the urge to get off the bus early and start riding again. But I think I’ve had enough excitement for the moment. It was weird watching towns stream by that I was planning on cycling through. No matter… some rest will be good for me.
Arriving in Geraldine, I did very little! I slept, read my book for the first time in weeks and generally lazed around. It was very nice. I took some time to stretch tight muscles and catch up on the blog. And also to plan out my stops on the way to Christchurch, booking accommodations and looking at weather. Fall is in the air. It’s cooler and leaves have begun to fall.
I left Geraldine about 10AM on my way to Mount Somers, a relatively short distance of 36 miles and 1,600 feet of elevation gain. I had a steady variable headwind from the north most of the ride. The landscape was generally flat passing fields on gravel roads. It was pretty but somewhat unremarkable, at least in context of what we have seen so far this trip. I’m crossing the Canterbury Plains as I move towards Christchurch.
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