25th Jan 2011 - Backwaters of New Zealand : Kaka Point to Lawrence
From Kaka Point to Lawrence, a small town formerly focussed on gold mining, about 85kms or 53 miles. This was a quiet days cycling. We headed out, noting by a quick paddle that Kaka Point sea was somewhat cold. My feet went numb just as they did in northern Scotland in Summer! So instead of a quick dip we tried to head off but in a moment of Laurel and Hardy silliness (ah we can laugh at it now!) Guy headed the wrong way (back towards Owaka by a geographical blunder) while Steve was staring out to sea assessing waves and a curious gannet like bird that was pottering about the beach (lovely white chest and a black head and back - quite curved in the neck). So Steve, when he turned around to find Guy gone, thought that Guy had disappeared (fed up of waiting) towards Balclutha and peddled quickly off to catch up. Guy ended up trying to catch up with Steve who was trying to catch up with Guy who was behind him... When that was sorted out (I got puzzled by Balclutha so started cycling back and so we met) we ate in a park at Balclutha (New World Supermarket so a nice variety) and eventually found the road to Lawrence. The rain arrived at Balclutha so we plodded damply on along the Clutha Valley admiring the impressive river which, we were surprised to discover on a noticeboard, is almost as big as the Nile (15% less). Clutha is gaelic for Clyde so it's a natural name for the early Scottish settlers to use. I think the Nile thing must be playing with the stats a bit but it is a pretty big, Thames like, river. We eventually headed away from the Clutha and followed a hilly road over to Lawrence. This was a very quiet road - perhaps a couple of cars per hour. Beautiful sunny (by now) countryside with a quiet road.Lawrence is very pretty really - old colonial style buildings and so quaint. It is in a picturesque location down in a valley. The campsite is big and quiet - we've just missed an arts festival so everyone was here earlier...
From Kaka Point to Lawrence, a small town formerly focussed on gold mining, about 85kms or 53 miles. This was a quiet days cycling. We headed out, noting by a quick paddle that Kaka Point sea was somewhat cold. My feet went numb just as they did in northern Scotland in Summer! So instead of a quick dip we tried to head off but in a moment of Laurel and Hardy silliness (ah we can laugh at it now!) Guy headed the wrong way (back towards Owaka by a geographical blunder) while Steve was staring out to sea assessing waves and a curious gannet like bird that was pottering about the beach (lovely white chest and a black head and back - quite curved in the neck). So Steve, when he turned around to find Guy gone, thought that Guy had disappeared (fed up of waiting) towards Balclutha and peddled quickly off to catch up. Guy ended up trying to catch up with Steve who was trying to catch up with Guy who was behind him... When that was sorted out (I got puzzled by Balclutha so started cycling back and so we met) we ate in a park at Balclutha (New World Supermarket so a nice variety) and eventually found the road to Lawrence. The rain arrived at Balclutha so we plodded damply on along the Clutha Valley admiring the impressive river which, we were surprised to discover on a noticeboard, is almost as big as the Nile (15% less). Clutha is gaelic for Clyde so it's a natural name for the early Scottish settlers to use. I think the Nile thing must be playing with the stats a bit but it is a pretty big, Thames like, river. We eventually headed away from the Clutha and followed a hilly road over to Lawrence. This was a very quiet road - perhaps a couple of cars per hour. Beautiful sunny (by now) countryside with a quiet road.Lawrence is very pretty really - old colonial style buildings and so quaint. It is in a picturesque location down in a valley. The campsite is big and quiet - we've just missed an arts festival so everyone was here earlier...