From Dunedin we drove straight up Highway 1 to Timaru where we met Ross, our friend from Nelson, in the campsite we chose. Promising to call in to Nelson before going back to the North Island, we set off the next day on the scenic route to Christchurch. Along the way we stopped in Peel Forest and spent a few hours walking there, going to see the 'big tree' and the 'waterfall'. See the pictures - very exciting... When we set off again, Sean spotted a mountain biking track at Mount Oxford on our map, which we decided could occupy us the next day. Having spent the last while touring only, we were eager to get some exercise to break up the site seeing.
When we got to Oxford that evening we decided to drive up to the start of the track, which turned out to be through some private looking land. When we were there we saw another possible start on the map of the tracks, and thinking it might be a more normal access point we drove that direction. Having made it through four shut gates, 2 fiords and a very bad pothole filled track, we finally reached the start of the track! After enjoying the view we’d bounced so hard to get to see, we agreed that we could start from the first place the next day! The track itself turned out to be hard going for me. We spent most of the first 20 minutes pushing or carrying our bikes along the track, which I was not very pleased about! After battling on for about three quarters of an hour we turned around, and the downhill part of the track was quite fun! Sean even managed a good tumble, nearly taking me down with him, in front of two walkers we’d just passed, much to their amusement!
After dusting ourselves off we finally made it to Christchurch, planning on staying a little longer this time!
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