Started by driving for an hour and a half North out of Christchurch. First half of the ride was very pleasant, riding through quiet farm country roads and vinyards (oh boy!). After a nice picnic lunch, the ride was not quite as interesting, in fact it turned into "butt miles", long stretches of not-so-interesting roads just to get where we were going.
Plus, the winds were nasty, usually head- and cross-winds. There was a short section when it kicking in behind us, and we flew down the road effortlessly at nearly 30 mph.
Otherwise weather was nice, not a cloud in the sky. The sun is more intense down here; felt like we were at 10,000' altitude. Between that and the wind it wore us out.
A note on the roads: they are all chip and seal down here. It works well most of the time, no potholes, reasonably smooth. Except when they are laying down new gravel. We have learned to dread the "new seal" signs. Often they were just old enough to be okay, but when new (see below) it was not so nice. At least the new sections were usually short.
At lunch; Ayaka is our tour guide for the the trip, and takes care of, well, everything! Also, Kay from London is riding with us for the first 4 days:
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