Knocking Off the OCRT Bit by Little Bit!

Saturday 13 December

Up with the lark, the skylarks to be specific, they fill the skies around Springvale.

Louis got the bikes down, popped them onto the back of the Pajero and we convoyed down to Lauder with Jonny where we joined the Otago Central Rail Trail.

The route took us over bridges, through tunnels, under water pipes and between old railway cuttings for about 10km to the Ida Valley and then back again - lots of people cycling towards us on the return as most people cycle Clyde to Middlemarch. The first bridge we came to was Manuherekia Bridge # 1 - built in 1904 - it is the longest bridge on the Otago Central Rail Trail. Cycling across the old railway sleepers was quite the experience… “do you come this way often?” “No, it must be the railway sleepers!” 🤣

You’re meant to walk the tunnels - we started off being good, but nobody else was so cycled a few of them! The planets are marked out along the track - the sun is at Ranfurly and we had previously seen a few of the planets on the OCRT around Waipiata and Hyde; today we passed Uranus and I passed Neptune between Lauder & Chatto Creek.

Back at Lauder we popped into the heritage station, which had lots of fascinating exhibits and info inside. I was still keen to keep cycling so Louis & Jonny packed their bikes onto their cars and drove back to Chatto Creek while I raced along the 20km track and joined them & Debs for lunch an hour later. More bridges, water pipes, tunnels and cuttings - but generally a much more arable landscape along this section. At one point the track diverged massively from the road to take in a great big loop and lessen the slope for the trains (and now bikes) to travel up or down (luckily I was cycling downhill!)

Chatto Creek Tavern is quite close to Alex and is very popular for a weekend outing. It has an eclectic selection of random objects scattered around the pub garden and bizarre and bonkers decoration inside the tavern too - love Iris Apfel, but not sure what she has to do with this area! The Jesus/Google sign made me giggle too. It is also a hub for classic car buffs - 6 big old cars were there on this afternoon, all driven by late middle aged beardie men in black T-shirts!

Back at the ranch we had a chill afternoon, Louis had a quick swim then we BBQed lamb chops for dinner, eaten out on the deck in the glorious evening sunshine.

What a lovely way to end our few days with the Websters. ❤️