Adventures by Cath7rl

  • Day 7 Sounds to Sounds Rangiora to Oxford – short day

    An inadvertent short day for me today. I wondered if I would come across a mistake in my planning and this is the first one (hopefully the only one). I think when I had trouble finding accommodation at Rakaia gorge I had decided to bike 15kms off course to stay in Methven. So I would…

  • Day 6 Sounds to Sounds Hawarden to Rangiora

    My farm stay at Hawarden was simply fantastic. For anyone wanting a quiet and relaxing stay in the country check out Bentleys Country Stay, Hawarden. Approx 2.5 km for Hawarden itself – I arrived, followed the signs around to the apartment and as it was unlocked and ready for me I unpacked, had a shower…

  • Day 5 – S2S – Hanmer to Hawarden

    75km today and much easier than yesterday. I had breakfast with Ange in Hanmer – so good to catch up and to have a slightly later start to the day. 35km to Culverden for carrot cake and coffee. A visit to the four square to find something to cook in a microwave then a nice…

  • Day 3 – S2S – Blenheim to Upcot Station – Awetere Valley.

    Up at 6.30am and after a quick brekkie of a banana and some leftover gingernuts I headed off to Blenheim to find a cafe. Not a lot open early as it’s Sunday but found Ritual cafe and had eggs Benedict. The weather was damp but not really raining. I had the light windproof jacket on…

  • Day 2 – s2s – Mistletoe Bay to Blenheim

    Mistletoe Bay was fabulous. Staying in a cabin would be well worth it. You can swim in the bay – even a jetty to jump off. I had a cottage which I ended up sharing with some TA trampers. That was fantastic for me as I had great company at the end of day one…

  • Day one Meretoto / Ship Cove to Mistletoe Bay

    Up at 5am to eat instant oats, leap into my bike gear, remember to nab my water bottles and food from the fridge and get down to the wharf to catch one of 3 boats that travelled out to Ship Cove. Met 2 guys on the boat – one called Bill who was riding with…

  • In Picton with a tracker..

    We had a nice cruisy drive up to Picton. Left around 10am and had a beaut lunch at Simes cafe (ex-Hislops cafe). I have been very fortunate in that my friend Shona has driven me up here and she’s prepared for the very very early start tomorrow. 5am is the alarm time and it’s all…

  • Superb news today!

    Being able to ride the road section has just made day one a LOT easier. I am relieved – had resigned myself to riding the top section but having ridden this a lot on my 20s and 30s was aware of how steep parts of this section are and the need to walk with all…

  • Wise words in the last week.

    I found this on social media by Hugh Laurie. Not sure if his words or not but this resonated with me. “It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing…

  • Starting from where you are

    Back in the early part of 2022 I signed up for the 2023 Sounds to Sounds event. At the time I registered I felt excited and then a bit sick at the enormity of the challenge ahead. I had never ridden more than a week consecutively. I was not sure what bike I would use…