March 16
Christchurch to Middlemarch
It rained reasonably hard most of the night. I loaded the car, departed at about 08.00, got slightly lost in the rush hour traffic, and eventually found my way onto State Highway 1 heading South.
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The drizzle continued and I drove Southwards in medium traffic. After an hour and a half, I reached Ashburton. There, it was dull but not raining, although it obviously had been, and the thermometer read 7 degrees. It seemed warmer than that but it wasn't nice. I had a coffee and a small sausage roll and continued my journey South.
The road was quiet and there were fewer spots of rain on the windscreen. I made good time and stopped in Timaru to check on my progress.The town has lots of magnificent churches - there isn't much else magnificent about it - and I stopped outside the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. New Zealand has a few Roman Catholic churches of great architectural merit and this ranks with the best of them. |
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My planned destination for lunch was the Riverstone Kitchen, about an hour to the South, along the main road. I reached it at 12.15, precisely on schedule, and swung into the driveway, passing the sign which said that the restaurant was closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This being a Wednesday, it did not look like a successful outcome. I completed a circuit of the car park and continued my journey to Oamaru, another 15 minutes down the road.
Whitestone Cheese is at the edge of town and I stopped for the purchase of lumps of cheese for consumption over the next couple of days.
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The old town is unique in New Zealand. A collection of white stone industrial buildings straight out of the Victorian era. Now refurbished as a tourist centre, they are a great attraction. One of their number is the Criterion Hotel.
This offered a pint of Emersons and a huge deli platter. This contained enough food for several people, with cheese, meat, pickles and salad. I managed to make a fair dent in it but will not need more food for quite some time.
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Feeling the need for exercise after such a large lunch, I wandered towards the railway line, into a small park and, eventually, onto the beach. It was peaceful, with the waves rolling in gently. There were lots of gulls, which took exception to my presence and departed with a flurry of wings.
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Behind the beach are lots of railway relics and other remnants of the town's industrial past. I took a few more photos and then returned to the car. The supermarket sold me some water bottles, apples and chocolate to keep me going on my walk.
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I followed the coast road for a little under an hour, stopping at Shag Point to photograph the beautiful beach, then turned inland at Palmerston onto the Pig Root and rose gently onto the Maniototo Plain.
It is a very photographic area but I was concentrating solely on reaching the route of the Rail Trail and checking the quality of the mobile reception. This proved to be surprisingly good, particularly on what I planned to be the second day. I could afford to be reasonably gung ho if I could ring for help in the case of emergency.
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Middlemarch is a small place and there is very little there. The pub offers basic accommodation and I appeared to be the only guest. The lady behind the bar didn't exactly welcome me but she did show me where everything was.
Outside, it was sunny. I walked through the village - mainly empty streets - bought some milk at the village shop and had a chat at one of the cycle support businesses, of which there are three. The guy said that he could rescue me but that the police were cracking down on anyone offering lifts without having the correct licence.
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He also said that the hotel at Hyde almost certainly wasn't full, it was just that they didn't often open the rooms. Everyone is conspiring to make it a cycling trail and not a walking one! Given the huge political influence of cyclists and the money that can be made off them, I shouldn't be surprised.
I organised my belongings back at the pub and then hit the food counter. The lady there was very friendly and helpful, produced sandwiches for tomorrow - they would be in the fridge in the breakfast room in the morning so I mustn't forget to collect them - and she cooked me a steak.
Unfortunately, this was heated rather than seared and was a bit flabby but, never mind, it will fill me up for tomorrow's exertions. The beer may or may not assist in hydrating me.
I failed to make the TV in the lounge work so retired to my room to organise the day's photos.