From Moeraki to Oamaru and then a half day spent cycling around Oamaru - about 40kms. We wanted to see the old buildings in Oamaru so we planned to stop cycling in the early pm so we could have as look around. The tent survived a howling gale from the NW which kept us awake a fair bit of the night. Moeraki campsite is sheltered so we were fortunate. The temperature was warm while the wind remained in the NW. No rain though. The strength of the wind was alarming - particularly for our planned route along highway 1 where the wind would be an awkward cross-head wind. But by the time we set off the wind had veered to the SE and the temperature dropped several degrees. The wind was now pushing us along towards Oamaru though with cross wind gusts that made cycling along highway 1 a little worrying (the gusts pushed us in towards the traffic). Fortunately there was a good shoulder most of the way. We stopped at the Moeraki boulders to take look at the odd round rocks that are strewn on the beach there. We also ate a wonderful, if expensive, pie there - spinach, feta and dried tomato. Best pie we've had in NZ. Breakfast had been missed earlier because there is no shop in Moeraki.After Hampden we turned off for the quiet coast road through Kakanui. Lovely sea views along a coast of low cliffs and with a sea flattened by the earlier NW wind. Then through to Oamaru. We visited the old docks area including the bakery and the secondhand bookshop. I saw the short video at the info site about Oamaru's history. We cycled along Thames Street impressed by the classical style of the buildings and the sheer width of the street. Threre's obviously some liking for 'steam punk' engineering here - a rocket enabled old steam train being placed in the middle of the street. Steam punk seems to be taking old steam and other previous generations of technology and adding some very modern things like computer bits or missiles. Striking but I guess none of us would put it on the wall. Perhaps the middle of the street, as here, is as good as anywhere. Its warlike imagery contrasts nicely with the war memorial behind.We visited the Criterion Hotel to try a couple of draught Emerson's beers - Bookbinder (decent session ale) and London Porter (pleasantly burnt and relatively bitter dark beer - our favourite). We chatted to the locals - one was hoping to visit Yorkshire to look at his grandparents birthplace near Bradford. He had a rather quaint idea of Bradford. Hmmm. He will, if diligent, discover some wonderful pubs though. Another man noted the strange wind pattern today (NW going to SE) saying that NW winds were more an autumn thing.Then to the campsite and the New World supermarket. With a relatively long evening I managed to finish Boswell's account of his journey to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson. It's an excellent book since it combines a great sense of their friendship with the wit and wisdom of Johnson. The character of Boswell is evidently very different from the sober Johnson. Johnson is also an older man - but that does not stop him from galloping along the beach on Coll or exploring caves on Mull. An example to us all.We chatted to a Canadian couple who were on a year's travelling around various bits of the world. They are heading south while we are going north - winding our way via Twizel towards Christchurch. They have a web site http://pierre-paule-en-voyage.blogspot.com
From Moeraki to Oamaru and then a half day spent cycling around Oamaru - about 40kms. We wanted to see the old buildings in Oamaru so we planned to stop cycling in the early pm so we could have as look around. The tent survived a howling gale from the NW which kept us awake a fair bit of the night. Moeraki campsite is sheltered so we were fortunate. The temperature was warm while the wind remained in the NW. No rain though. The strength of the wind was alarming - particularly for our planned route along highway 1 where the wind would be an awkward cross-head wind. But by the time we set off the wind had veered to the SE and the temperature dropped several degrees. The wind was now pushing us along towards Oamaru though with cross wind gusts that made cycling along highway 1 a little worrying (the gusts pushed us in towards the traffic). Fortunately there was a good shoulder most of the way. We stopped at the Moeraki boulders to take look at the odd round rocks that are strewn on the beach there. We also ate a wonderful, if expensive, pie there - spinach, feta and dried tomato. Best pie we've had in NZ. Breakfast had been missed earlier because there is no shop in Moeraki.After Hampden we turned off for the quiet coast road through Kakanui. Lovely sea views along a coast of low cliffs and with a sea flattened by the earlier NW wind. Then through to Oamaru. We visited the old docks area including the bakery and the secondhand bookshop. I saw the short video at the info site about Oamaru's history. We cycled along Thames Street impressed by the classical style of the buildings and the sheer width of the street. Threre's obviously some liking for 'steam punk' engineering here - a rocket enabled old steam train being placed in the middle of the street. Steam punk seems to be taking old steam and other previous generations of technology and adding some very modern things like computer bits or missiles. Striking but I guess none of us would put it on the wall. Perhaps the middle of the street, as here, is as good as anywhere. Its warlike imagery contrasts nicely with the war memorial behind.We visited the Criterion Hotel to try a couple of draught Emerson's beers - Bookbinder (decent session ale) and London Porter (pleasantly burnt and relatively bitter dark beer - our favourite). We chatted to the locals - one was hoping to visit Yorkshire to look at his grandparents birthplace near Bradford. He had a rather quaint idea of Bradford. Hmmm. He will, if diligent, discover some wonderful pubs though. Another man noted the strange wind pattern today (NW going to SE) saying that NW winds were more an autumn thing.Then to the campsite and the New World supermarket. With a relatively long evening I managed to finish Boswell's account of his journey to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson. It's an excellent book since it combines a great sense of their friendship with the wit and wisdom of Johnson. The character of Boswell is evidently very different from the sober Johnson. Johnson is also an older man - but that does not stop him from galloping along the beach on Coll or exploring caves on Mull. An example to us all.We chatted to a Canadian couple who were on a year's travelling around various bits of the world. They are heading south while we are going north - winding our way via Twizel towards Christchurch. They have a web site http://pierre-paule-en-voyage.blogspot.com