South Island — November 2022 – Part 5    I’m finally getting around to writing up our 2022 South Island Holiday. Again, we went during the couple of weeks straddling November and December. Last year, we had a trip to the same part of the South Island at around same time of year. This time, John particularly wanted to spend a few days at Lake Ohau Lodge – to do some cycling, to just ‘hang out’ and take lots of photos, and to enjoy the Lodge’s delicious meals. And we also wanted to spend several days in Arrowtown, another one of our favourite places.  This is quite a long story, s ..read more

South Island – November 2022 – Part 4 I’m finally getting around to writing up our 2022 South Island Holiday. Again, we went during the couple of weeks straddling November and December. Last year, we had a trip to the same part of the South Island at around same time of year. This time, John particularly wanted to spend a few days at Lake Ohau Lodge – to do some cycling, to just ‘hang out’ and take lots of photos, and to enjoy the Lodge’s delicious meals. And we also wanted to spend several days in Arrowtown, another one of our favourite places.  This is quite a long story, so I have wri ..read more

SOUTH ISLAND HOLIDAY — 25 Nov - 4 Dec 2022 I’m finally getting around to writing up our 2022 South Island Holiday. Again, we went during the couple of weeks straddling November and December. Last year, we had a trip to the same part of the South Island at around same time of year. This time, John particularly wanted to spend a few days at Lake Ohau Lodge – to do some cycling, to just ‘hang out’ and take lots of photos, and to enjoy the Lodge’s delicious meals. And we also wanted to spend several days in Arrowtown, another one of our favourite places.  This is quite a long story, so I have ..read more

South Island Holiday:  25 Nov – 4 Dec 2022 I’m finally getting around to writing up our 2022 South Island Holiday. We love the South Island, especially the Mackenzie Country and Otago. It is so beautiful and there is such wonderful cycling to be done, but it is a long way to get there by car.  Again, our preferred time to travel south was the couple of weeks straddling November and December – pretty much like our last year’s trip. November 2021 was at the tail-end of the Covid closure of NZ to foreign tourists, and the Auckland Region was in lockdown, so there were very few tourists ..read more

South Island Holiday:  25 Nov – 4 Dec 2022 I’m finally getting around to writing up our 2022 South Island Holiday. We love the South Island, especially the Mackenzie Country and Otago. It is so beautiful and there is such wonderful cycling to be done, but it is a long way to get there by car.  Again, our preferred time to travel south was the couple of weeks straddling November and December – pretty much like our last year’s trip. November 2021 was at the tail-end of the Covid closure of NZ to foreign tourists, and the Auckland Region was in lockdown, so there were very few tourists ..read more

Manawatu River Pathway – Palmerston North To continue my catch-up on the out-of-town rides we did last year …  On the weekend of 13 to 15 August 2022, we spent a couple of days in Ashhurst and Palmerston North. The impetus for this trip was the 50th Anniversary Dance of the Ashhurst Scottish Country Dance Club on Sunday 14 August. But of course, we figured we could make it into a weekend trip and do some cycling. The Manawatu River Pathway in Palmerston North appealed. It is described in the Kennetts’ book “Short Easy Bike Rides”. It is a sealed shared pathway, which goes for about 10 kms ..read more

Catch-up – May 2023 It’s over a year since I last wrote anything on this blog.  Generally, our cycling has been much reduced in the past year or so. It has been mainly local rides – regular rides to our favourite café, Café Thyme in Johnsonville (6-8 km), and rides on the Kapiti Coast (30-50 km, both depending on route taken). Other explorations of Wellington Region tracks haven’t happened – for reasons of weather, Covid, or general health and lack of energy.  As for trips away from Wellington, there have been just a few.  The last trip I wrote up was our South Island holiday i ..read more

When we did our ride from Ohariu Valley to Porirua in January, we met Alastair, the leading light of the Folding Goldies group, going from Karori to Johnsonville. That reminded him of this ride, and so he suggested it as the next FG ride in March. His plan was for people to take the train from town to Johnsonville, and to bike up Cortina Avenue from the top of which we would descend into Ohariu Valley. He provided a map, which is here.  Originally the ride was set for Wednesday 7 March, but as the forecast was for heavy rain and gale-force southerlies, it was postponed till the next da ..read more

It’s been a while since I last wrote up a blog post. We have been biking, but it’s been mostly just local rides that we’ve done and written up before, and there is no point in repeating myself. Still, John took a few interesting photos that are worth sharing. On 9 February, we biked Te Ara o Whareroa, between Paekakariki and Raumati, and along the way we found that several new seats had been installed alongside the track. Two seats just before the track climbs (photo by John) At the top of the rise, near the tram track crossing, there is now a picnic table as well as a seat ..read more

On Friday 19 January, John suggested going for a ride through Ohariu Valley, down to the end of the public road, up to the ridge on the access road that was constructed for transporting the wind turbines of Mill Creek Wind Farm, then behind Spicers landfill to Porirua and to Gear Café for lunch, and then home. On the whole it was a pretty successful ride. We weren’t sure if the access road was open for use other than for servicing the windmills, but we gave it a go. We left from home, biking up the hill and onto Ohariu Road. From the junction where Ohariu Road becomes Ohariu Valley Road, it ..read more