Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes return (35 minutes each way)
Distance: 6.4 km (3.2 km each way)
Start: West Town Belt Road, Rakaia
Finish: Same place
Date: Friday 27th October 2022
Walking the Rakaia River Terrace Walkway was plan B.
Plan A was to climb Mt. Barossa. That plan started out quite well at first but then fizzled out (something to do with missing a large obvious orange triangle track marker and sore knees).
Unperturbed, we regrouped over sub-standard coffees and pies at the quaint and quirky Mt. Somers General Store. We bought honey and soap and sat outside on the massive macrocarpa picnic tables. The wind was cold but then the sun came out and warmed us up. Gratitude. Heavy vehicles (think ginormous farm trucks and tractors) thundered along the road behind us. People wandered past with pet lambs and a horse cantered by. It was either pet day at the local school or this is normal behaviour in Mt. Somers. I suspect the latter.
We decided to head back to Rakaia township and walk the Rakaia River Terrace Walkway. This was Plan B. And so we all jumped into the car and headed east to West Town Belt Road, close to the Recovery Park (a.k.a the rubbish dump) in Rakaia.
The River Terrace Walkway is a gravel path that runs pleasantly and flatly along the edge of a pine forest from West Town Belt Road to Wolseley Road. On the other side of the path, the land drops away to the river flats below. The river itself is not to be seen, but a line of poplar and willow trees in the distance mark its presence a few kilometers away.
We were zipping along at a cracking pace and before we knew it, we had already reached Wolseley Road (the turn around point) and were on our way back. It was all over in the blink of an eye - probably because we were chatting nineteen to the dozen about all sorts of pithy topics like for example: The foibles of the beauty industry; becoming a life member of the N.Z. Society of Concrete and being an Asphalt Lobbyist.
We jumped in the car, witnessed the tomfoolery of other drivers, and drove back to Christchurch. Mt. Barossa will have to wait for another fine day.
