Te Ara Ihutai - Christchurch Coastal Pathway

Te Ara Ihutai - Christchurch Coastal Pathway

Time: 1 hour (30 minutes Scott Park to Sumner Clock Tower) by bike
Distance: (6.3 km each way)
Start: Scott Park, just after the Ferrymead bridge
Finish: Same place - it's there and back
Date: Friday 24th April 2020

Day 29 (?) of Covid19 2020 pandemic level 4 lock down and a stunning day in Crikers. Must be time for another bike ride in my 'neighbourhood'.

This week I was happy to be tagging along again behind John and Andree who had invited me to join them for a sojourn from South Brighton to Sumner via Te Ara Ihutai the Christchurch coastal pathway. It's true, they are not technically in my bubble but you can't really get that close on bikes. Besides, they look relatively germ free.

The weather could not have been better. A perfect, no wind, blue skies Christchurch autumn day. Also not much traffic about and so the first section along the usually heaving Dyers Road wasn't too bad. Before we knew it we were: turning onto Humpries drive; meandering along Tidal View (yes this is a road name); hurtling across the Ferry Road bridge and finally clustering onto Main Road and the official start of the Te Ara Ihutai Christchurch Coastal Pathway. Te Ihu Tai is one of the Te Reo Māori names for the South Brighton spit and means "nose of the tides" - a reference to the "breathing in and out of the tidal waters through the channel at the end of the spit". I like that.

The estuary was shining like a mirror and oyster catchers were wading through the shallows in their tuxedos looking like something out of a Gary Larsen cartoon. The pathway was busy and that busyness increased as we approached Sumner but not excessively so. On such a beautiful day people were friendly while at the same time keeping their distance.

No ice creams to be had in Sumner but we sat for awhile near the clock tower and watched the surf, which was non-existent, and came to the conclusion that the waves were too small even for us. We discussed the decile 10ness of Sumner and the brand spanking new Redcliffs primary school, sitting on prime real estate with a multi million dollar view -in contrast to the closure and near-closure of Central and South New Brighton schools (too expensive to fix). Kind of a representation of the inequalities which sometimes pop up in our state "free for all" education system.

On the way home, we detoured down the Heathcote Towpath track. John made a weird decision to stop on the only hill of the whole trip and Andree, who for some odd reason rides a bike with no brakes, nearly crashed into him. Surprisingly, no drama came of that and we continued on.

I was left far behind on the last stretch on Dyers Road. Trucks roared past and from nowhere sprung a strange headwind.  Like the breath of one thousand evil souls, they say this wind is only to be found on Dyers Road and always blows in the opposite direction to that of the rider. I gritted my teeth and went hell for leather. But the gap only widened. A kamikaze short cut through the roundabout was all I could do to gain some ground.

We waved good-bye at the godwit sculpture. John and Andree headed off to deal with the home-schooling of their three adorable offspring. I headed home for carrot and lentil soup with Meesh. Yum.

https://hail.to/south-new-brighton-school/article/agPSmP4