Tekapo Canal

 The cycling part of my holiday has begun. I cycled along part of the Tekapo part of the Alps to Ocean journey, starting down along the Canal road where cars were excluded. This route was partly gravel and partly sealed, and I had a 20km trip down until there was a steep drop-off and a view of Lake Pukaki. Then a 20km return. Very flat and barely any breeze. 

The barrier that kept most cars out- though a Genesis vehicle did come through, driving very considerately. The design for the cycle part is very clever. You can wheel your bike through the wider section while moving through the adjoining bit yourself. 

The first part of the route was really just me and the canal. The sloped ‘hills’ either side were very brown and dry. As I progressed along, the view opened out to the ranges. On my return I caught some reflections of the ranges in the water of the canal. 

At a convenient 11km of my journey was a toilet and picnic table. I presume one of the companies that takes groups along here provided it, but I was grateful at the time!

At the end of 21km I reached this viewpoint down over Lake Pukaki. It was my endpoint for the day. It was a place where fishermen were hopeful. And I retraced my ride back to my car. 

Last photo- my wifi is slow and daylight is coming to an end at the camping ground. (More another day.)

This last photo is of a section of the salmon farm, which started at 16km of my journey, and stretched along for a surprising distance. Workers were feeding the fish as I cycled past, but had mainly finished on my return journey.