Glentunnel to Oxford (23.89 miles/38.47 kms)

So there I was, on the 18th hole of the Hororata Golf Club at 7:30 in the morning, wondering my next move? The sky was clear and I could tell it was going to be a hot day even though the grass on the fairway and the green were wet. Which putter should I use if I was playing the course? But of course I was not, I had just walked through the turnstile from the Glentunnel Holiday Park onto the golf course at the 18th hole. I was just taking the short cut across the golf course to the cafe at the clubhouse. The golf course looked very nice and the grass, because it was well maintained and cut short, was easy to pull the Wheelie on. I saw a few golfers and they probably thought I was using some new fangled kind of golf cart.

I walked into the cafe and was greeted by the owner, Jason. It was a nice looking new building with a great view of the golf course and surrounding hills. The menu was interesting and apparently I ordered his favorite item to cook, the Mushroom Delux, which was a thick crispy hash brown sliced like a big piece of cake covered with mushrooms and a creamy sauce. It was a real gourmet breakfast, prepared the way a fancy dish would, that I wish I could find again.

Jason was a very friendly man and he introduced me to a few customers and told them what I was doing. One of them was a local farmer who had just got back from cycling the North Island, so he was interested in what I was doing.

Jason introduces me to his staff, and when I was leaving he had them take pictures of us together. Now I have to tell you that it made me feel like some kind of celebrity, but I have to say I enjoyed it and I was really glad I got to meet such nice people again. I sure hope he does well in the cafe because the food was excellent. Company was excellent too!

By the time I started trekking it was already 8:45, and an early start that turned into a late started, but well worth it. I found myself walking in an easterly direction, which I dislike as it is directly into the rising sun. I could already feel the brutal sun on my face with absolutely no clouds in the sky, and before 11:00 it was already over 80 degrees (28c).

If you’ve every seen one of those movies with the Greek mythological gods that play with people’s lives down on earth, today I felt like those mythological type Greek weather gods were playing with me! I think they thought I was doing too well, so they decided to turn up the heat, but not only that, but they turned off any wind! By noon I was struggling with the heat and I had already gone through several liters of water.

Then as a joke, they turned up the wind to maybe 15-20 mph, just enough to push me around and throw me off of my good walking rhythm. I think they call them the Southerly’s, but it’s those Greek weather gods. It actually felt good because it cooled me down. But then I think they saw that I was cooling down and walking better using my trekking poles, and also getting a wind break from all those hedgerows the farmers planted everywhere along the road, so they decided to turn off the wind and turn up the heat on me after about 1:00! Between 2:00 to 5:00 they were laughing at me because the temperature varied between 86 and 89 degrees (32c)! It never let up.

The road had started out with a nice downhill slope and then a steep steady uphill, and then another drop down to the bridge crossing at the Waimakariri River and a steep climb back up. After that it was mostly level and downhill but even with that downhill the last seven miles were a challenge. I took breaks every 15-20 minutes, if I could find shade. As I have mentioned several times, it’s the intensity of the sun that is brutal, and the heat makes it worse. The scenery was fairly nice, especially at the river crossing, but I was just to hot to enjoy it.

When I finally got to Oxford after over 22 miles, I was so glade and I was spent. I had planned to stay at the Rustic Country 1876 Hotel, which was only one of three places there to stay. The others were another newer hotel that was full, and a backpackers type lodge. I liked the description of the Rustic and I also liked that it had a restaurant and bar.

I stood at the front door, which was locked, and had no covered porch, and felt the sun still burning hot on me, and it was 5:00! I also noticed a sign in the window that stated the restaurant was closed Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s, and it’s Tuesday. The hotel was at the edge of town and I could see that all the other businesses, store and restaurants, were more than a mile away.

I rang the bell and the owner greeted me at the front door and had me go to the rear. It is a beautiful old hotel, with a wonderful history that goes back to the mid 1800s. However, all the rooms were upstairs by way of a long and high spiral staircase. I have to admit that when the owner said, “follow me,” I almost said no! The room was beautiful, but hot, as the place wasn’t air conditioned. The bathroom was shared by all the other rooms, which doesn’t bother me. The price was only $43 NZ ($29 US) and a steal, but I just couldn’t bring the Wheelie up, or even think then of making two or three trips up those stairs to bring up my stuff.

The owner could see I was pretty overheated and let me buy a drink from their closed bar. I sat outside in the shade until I could think straight and called the backpacker’s place. They told me they had rooms and that they were all on the first floor, so off I went another one and a half miles to the Oxford Queenette Backpackers.

The Oxford Queenette Backpackers is actually a hostel type accommodations, with rooms that have various number of beds and one shared bath. Not my favorite type of place to stay, but luckily I was the only one there. It is attached to the Oxford Dairy Store and is run by a very friendly (ok, better than saying nice again) Chinese husband and wife. They first put me in a single room, with a bunk bed, that was so small that there was no room for even my Wheelie! It made me so claustrophobic that I told the owner I just could not stay in there and needed another room. He then gave me a room with bunk beds for ten, yes, ten! They told me I’d have it to myself even if someone showed up. With that I was happy.

I was so grateful that I had the place to myself as it gave me time to casually take a shower, wash my clothes, and get myself back to normal. I had bought a cheese scone and a beautiful stuffed baked potato from Jason’s cafe in the morning, but because the heat I never gained an appetite during the day and didn’t eat. I felt better after resting and went to the local super market about 8:30. I walked around the cool dairy section and stood there and enjoyed the cool air and then bought my supplies for tomorrow. If I head out?

I got back to the room about 9:00 and finally ate my scone and potato for a late dinner, even though I still wasn’t real hungry. The heat and sun sure do take it out of you.

Today started out great and turned into a real challenge, but in the end all turned out well. Tomorrow I am in a quandary again as the next town, Rangiora is about 21 miles. There is nothing in between, and if the terrain is similar as today’s, there won’t be anyplace to camp. The temperature is suppose to be a little cooler, but I don’t rely on weather forecasts. As they say, prepare for the worse, but hope for the best.

Best Wishes to all,

Ted

Please excuse the typos, spelling, grammar, etc., as I am typing this on my phone, and I am probably pretty tired.