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Our
first morning in New Zealand starts somewhat grey. However, we
have a nice breakfast with our hosts Ian and Alison.
At 9:30am we are ready to
start pedalling. It is still cloudy and cool, but soon the sky
clears up and it gets warm. The odometer displays 561.2
kilometers.
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In Finnish “Hei Hei”
means Bye Bye. See you, Christchurch in little more
than three weeks!
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The road is flat with not
too much traffic, and the squarely cut fences block the wind that
is slightly against us.
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At 1pm. we reach Darfield,
conveniently at lunch time. We have roasted pumpkin and feta salad
(pictured), and roasted chicken salad at Mid-West Cafe.
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The scenery turns more
rural.
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There is a lot of space to
bike.
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However, from time to time
the road is blocked by hundreds of sheep that are moved from field
to field.
Other forms of life we see
are reindeer, deer, ostrich, and enormous hogs. Not so live forms
include cats, dogs, rabbits, and some sort of dark brown furry
animals we can't identify --- they may be possums, an invasive
species the farmers try to get rid of by poisoning.
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As we approach Rakaia Gorge
we start to climb a little.
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We stop for a while before
the steep descent to the river.
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In Methven there are Blue
Bar, more touristy, and Brown Bar, which is locals' favorite. We
have dinner in the first one, and drinks in the latter afterwards.
Smoking is not allowed in bars. Great!
Today we ride 95.88K in
6:36'11 (avg 14.5kph, max 40.6kph)
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