“
I whizzed through,
whistling and singing in my
helmet, loving the muted
roaring Vance and Hines
Over the years they have improved these
roads to some of the finest riding terrain,
and I whizzed through, whistling and
singing in my helmet, loving the muted
roaring Vance and Hines, as I slipped up
and down gears and rode on purposefully.
I was pushing hard to meet my brother at
the Weka Pass turnoff, he was heading to
Collingwood for his annual jaunt, and had
just come through Cheviot when he called
to say he was going on through, and I was
still 40 minutes away. I was sad to miss him
but understood.
I was eager to stop for serious coffee and
the best place in North Canterbury to do
that was coming up. At Black Estate, owned
by the Naish family and run by Penny and
Nicholas, I swooped up the driveway, and
parked. I was eager to see them, grab the
coveted coffee and spend an hour or two
in their fabulous location. I was too early. It
was closed. Damn it!
It was time to head on to the first
destination, the beginning of traffic, and
flat roads with fewer thrills. At Amberley I
got coffee, finally, it was okay.
From there I ambled over the rolling flats
into Christchurch and to the Complete
Angler for a wee stock up on ideas and
lures for my South Island pursuits. In the
next few days I'll head into the south, with
great fishing rivers to angle.
I realise at the end of this first leg that my
evenings are filled with maps and weather
planning. The summer was about to get
some cyclonic weather because of the
massive rise in sea temperatures of up to
7°C on the west coast. The cyclones will be
fuelled with massive rain and high winds.
Sure enough, my arrival in Christchurch
preceded the weather by about six
hours. 160mm of rain was forecast on
the Kaikoura Coast that night. Phew, I'd
missed it. But I wondered how those loose,
shattered hills were holding up.