Frosty Start to a Sunny Autumn Day on The OCRT

2 days ago
2 min read

Thursday 23 April

Glad we’d turned off the water pump and emptied the pipes last night - as we awoke to negative temperatures and a hefty frost! Our thermometer recorded -4.5*C but we think it may read 2degrees colder than reality - regardless, we were still in negative numbers! But there was glorious golden sunshine over the pond by early morning and I braved the cold to say morēna to the birds & beasts (and share a wee handful of snacks with them!)

Emus and apples don’t work brilliantly together - they can’t work out how to eat a whole one so grab it then fling it in the air trying to smash it; PigPig is happy to help out with any that fall her way... The Emus are much more proficient with grains in a bucket - they peck at the grains and toss them in the air then catch and swallow most of them... others hit the ground and someone is always happy to hoover up the leftovers.

Late morning we hopped on our bikes and set off to join the Otago Central Rail Trail and knock off a few more kilometres of the 152km route - after we had checked out he Farm Store at the gate - as well as eggs and strawberries, Dani sells honey, honeycomb, garlic, pine cones, and chicken food - quite a cottage industry.

We found the trail about 2km from the start/end at Clyde Junction and headed over the Muttontown Bridge (super bumpy crossing cycling over the original old railway sleepers!), past The Orchard and Industry Lane Cafes, through Alexandra, over the Manuherikia River and on to Galloway, cycling out into the hills, through cuttings and across a few more bumpy rail track bridges.

The rocky terrain between Alex & Galloway was adorned with beautiful autumn colours on the trees & bushes right now, and the willows surrounding the Manor Burn were a gentle green and gold.

Galloway had little of historic interest barring a “Ladies’ Waiting Room” and a long drop & we were feeling peckish by then so we turned around here and cycled back to The Orchard for lunch.

Jonny joined us for a coffee then kindly agreed to drive me back to Tree Range Farms after dropping my bike in at Willbike for a service and brakes fix. Turns out of course that he knows Dani, but had not been to the farm so I introduced him to all our new feathered and furry friends.

Chill afternoon, I helped Dani & the kids with some chores, the Peking Ducks absolutely love Cooper and he loves them right back; when they first hatched and were raised in the house, Dani would let them swim in the bath with him, the original yellow bath duckies!

Witnessed a beautiful sunset around 6pm - the nights really are drawing in.