Travel update continued
Having an extra day in Christchurch due to poor weather in the continent my travel partners and research team ( Dr Egbert Schwartz, Dr
Bike NZ
Dave Van Horn and myself) decided to make the most of it and see some of the surrounding area on rental bikes.
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We headed up the coast into Sumner and then pushed on over the next ridge to Taylors Mistake. Taylors Mistake is a very small town established in the early 1900's nestled into a lush cove with nice waves and only a couple of surfers out taking advantage of them. After stopping for break on the beach we ventured off the pavement and set out on some smooth flowing single track. In combination with the rest of the surroundings it made for some very memorable turns.
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On the way back to the hotel we went through some of the parts of Christchurch that were worst hit by the earthquake of three years ago. There are signs of it almost everywhere, houses hanging perilously on the sides of sheer cliffs, modern looking buildings of all sizes boarded up, old cathedrals in rubble, and roads that are necessarily patched and piecemeal.
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Making full use of our daylong rentals we continued to make our way along a scenic highway where there were more sheep than people or cars. Our return to the hotel was none to soon as we were completely out of light. A great day of riding and some much needed exercise after many miles in a seated position.
If we can get some better weather we should be in Antarctica by tomorrow afternoon.
Great Views
Great Views
Taylors Mistake
NZ sheep