The Airport Ride

I'm falling behind! This was our last ride and I am still to publish the ride before, before I write up today's adventure.
I could have called this 'A Pre-Christmas Jaunt'. Rich enticed me to do this ride by suggesting we would be going into town to do a few jobs (and I hoped a little last minute Christmas shopping) before doing a 'reccie' on the rest of the airport track.
Well anyway, we completed ONE job (a favour for a friend) before I was whipped off to our starting point at the old Westshore bridge.
It was a lovely day and we nipped down the embankment just before the bridge which took us onto the track that ducked under the express-way and beside the estuary. It's all beautifully mown and I was tempted to stop and have our lunch there as there were plenty of lovely shady trees and the day was quite hot. But no, we had new places to explore, so we pushed on.

Looking back towards the air ambulance building (our son is going to work there soon)

Beside the main road.

We had done the first bit of this track before, so most of it was familiar to us. Past the airport and then onto pastures new. Not sure about the quality of the pastures though. All this land was under the sea not so very long ago and frankly, along here, it's not hard to believe. Up to this point, the track had been quite good, but as we pushed on through the other end of the Landcorp farm the going became fairly rough. The tracks are unfenced and stock can freely roam over it - and they do! Rich suggested it would be a good training ride for the Otago Rail Trail (which we did 3 years previously). And it could be. The limestone track is new and soft, so it can be a little tricky at times. But I have to say - very interesting. At times it was like riding through the Estuary without the water. That succulent seaweed that grows beside the Estuary - whole paddocks of it.

Little bridge - I love bridges.

Fields of seaweed.

There were long straight lane ways and the wind seemed to be in our faces the whole way. Although it was really a sea-breeze - so side-on. We finally reached a little hill that just seem to have popped out of the landscape (something to do with the earthquake , no doubt) and we had a choice - left or right? The going had been tough so we chose right, thinking we could do the the kilometres another time with a group of friends.
As we left the soft limestone we hit a farm track through a flock of very healthy looking hoggets. I don't think they were to used to bikers as they seemed a little skittery - several of them leaping into the huge drain we were following. Just when I thought we would have to stop and get our feet (and bums) wet to haul them out, they scrambled up the other side. "Whew" I thought.
Just after that we hit (not literally) a locked gate.
"Well, I'm not going back!" so we hoofed the bikes over and we found ourselves at a dear little reserve. Definitely lunchtime!

See the hill? Left or right at the base. We chose right this time.

Well it wasn't July, August or September and yet the gate was still locked!

Rich unpacks the lunch

From here we headed back towards the sea (head wind) and along Bayview then onto the Esplanade at Westshore. Vroom - yay for the concrete pathways. Back to our car in no time.
Would I recommend this ride? - Yes - but it's not for BIG sissies. I think it will improve in time and it does take you through some very different countryside. We had fun and although it wasn't a particularly long ride, we did earn our lunch.