"The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water ,and breeds reptiles of the mind"-William Blake
When we first arrived in New Zealand it was like stepping onto another planet;so sunny,such deep blue skies-much more variety of colour than I'd ever seen in europe.
The Coweys made us feel so welcome,such generous hospitality.
The first tandem trip was from Redcliffs to Sumner (not far from Christchurch on the 'Banks Peninsula'),up the hill to the summit road;Evans pass,all very steep and taking five hours to do a measly 45kms.
Being experienced alpine tandemists-(2770meters in the french alps just behind mont Blanc)-we were fully able to appreciate the 33% gradients as we descended to the Governers Bay from the 'Sign of the Kiwi'.
As we turned left along the coast road to Lyttleton(where the 'Rainbow Warrior' was blown up by the french,killing two of the crew),we later discovered that the other way around 'the bays' was much faster;keeping attained height and more regular descents.Strange how much easier a 1 in 2.5 gradient climb can seem if it lasts a couple of kms,and doesn't need repeated if descending a ridge gradually.
A wonderful training loop as we acclimatised to the ozone hole facts 'down under':Take one look at the obligatory school uniforms in NZ.Doctors recommend covering head,neck,ears-a bit like the french Foreign Legion desert helmets.Balance this against the 66% incidence of skin cancer in Australia-and NZ.
So we wore total sun block and avoided bare skin as much as possible;not easy when cycling in 35C!
The grass on the Banks Peninsula and east coast south island is unusally burnt,as there is little clay to hold the water table anything but deep underground.
To a couple of tree loving scots ,the lack of trees took us a while to see as something other than a handicap(where to go for shade?)to beauty.
Learning to see the wonderful sparseness of 'tussock' as enveloping and spectacular also took until the first sunset,then we were convinced!Steep hills right on the coastline,with pockets of green here and there in the fading twilight,quite addictive for nature freaks.
Most of the Banks Peninsula is of volcanic (ie non glaciated) geological origin,but we were later to find out from professional geographic researchers that the height of NZ mountains (when they first appeared)can be estimated at TWICE the height of everest.The level of soil erosion has been phenomenal;the NZ south island Alps ,further inland ,were only 3.600meters when we were there.Note:One third of Mt Cook just 'slid away' a year after we left.
The flowering gum trees were often red or white and fairly spectacular to our 'northern' eyes.
The 'townships'(kiwi for a village)along the way,between Sumner,Lyttleton and Goveners Bay, were intersperced with picturesque rural houses.Just after Lyttleton stood a sheer rock formation which had good views of the mountains down towards Akarora,(early french colony).A particularly exellent perch on which to read CS Lewis or 'The Lord of The Rings' on.
The wild apple trees were an education on how bland and 'cloned' the 'EC' apples usually are;and free!
Many was the time we filled excess space in our panniers with kilos and kilos of these apples.The ascents were not made any easier,for sure.
The odd little house sometimes had plums for sale,a dollar a bag,just before Goveners Bay.There the vegetation seems green,more trees and shrubs and gardens alongside the road.Higher rainfall there(micro-climates abound in NZ).This was in contrast to the ubiquitous burnt tussockland almost everwhere else,on the eastern and inland parts.De-forestation has been a sore point for NZ in general,the Rhapeaeu being decimated for its wood and varnishbase qualities.Dont mention this on south island west coast;united nations 'interference' has created unemployment of up to 40% in the Buller Gorge.Try airing 'green' opinions in a west coast bar,and one could find a rather unwelcome "ham sandwhich" (bunch of fives) being served.
The architecture is extremely varied around Christchurch,Sumner and Lyttleton.Earthquake-proof stilt constructions surprisingly common for houses built on steep hills(not much choice if building on the Banks Peninsula).The architecture was varied,if occasionally a little eccentric.Experimenting seems the norm in the search for individuality.
Our trips to Taylors' Mistake (an historic navigation error on behalf of a sea captain),lead to our discovery of 'pauva' shells (abalone),and a friendly invitation to an older couple's "batch" for a most welcome cup of tea.The family of our hosts wife had actually lived in caves for many years,very cosy they were too.Only problem being the vicious under tow in the seashore currents-several drownings within families, leading to building of 'mainland'houses.In the first month of acclimatisation ,Jean had got a nasty bout of flu,so we had to take two more weeks to regain condition,which was to stand us in good stead later; addicted as we were to offroad mountain tandeming and 'wild camping'.
Lyttleton Harbour by P.Greenspun