Cycle Touring on the South Island of New Zealand

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Tuesday, December 28th, 2004 - Arrival in Christchurch

New Zealand is 21 hours ahead of the West Coast of the United States. During our nearly 24 hours of travel time, we crossed the international date line, thus December 27th is lost to us forever.

Canterbury plains

After a short flight from Auckland to Christchurch (single class cabin, last row, last seat…OUCH, I'm so spoiled now) we were met at the airport by friends: Simon & Chris and their two children Robert & Jennifer. Chris volunteered to keep me from killing ourselves in the rental car. She navigated and made sure I stayed LEFT. Brave woman.

Keep Left: Thanks for the reminder!

They put us up in their "caravan", which was very comfortable and gave us some room to organize. We put our bikes together on the front lawn. My bike had been somewhat pulled apart by our "friends" at the Transportation Security Administration, but survived the ordeal. Note to potential Bike Friday buyers: the New World Tourist is much easier to pack and unpack than the Air Glide. If speed/ease of packing is a consideration, buy the NWT.

putting the Bike Friday together

After lunch, Chris took the kids and us to the beach and then on a scenic drive on the Banks Peninsula. We saw TONS of cyclists on the Peninsula, which had amazing mountain and road cycling routes crisscrossing it. Lots of bike lanes in town too. NZ requires helmets for everyone at any age, a law which seems to be obeyed.

Jennifer & Robert

exploring a sea cave at the beach

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