Long way home.

Ashley Gorge

off Ashley Gorge road

Entered this valley from the right, there's a track to the right of the bridge that I was about to take for the river crossing but it was too deep so I chickened out, reversed and took the bridge. Pity, the track to the left of the bridge is shallower and fordable.

Lees Valley

Saturday 5 November; day trip out to the Ashley Gorge. 45 minutes from Christchurch, nestled at the base of Mount Thomas forest and set amidst beautiful bush and woodland surroundings, the Ashley Gorge is a beautiful to stop and admire the view. We'd left reasonably early and spent a morning walking up and down a stretch of the river and waded across to the other side at the foot of a steep and densely bush clad vally. This, like so many of the braided rivers in the Canterbury region, is littered with smooth pebbles (they use it for aggregate) which is a bit painful when you haven't got Kiwi feet, they have feet like hobbits from wandering around barefoot all the time. In fact the way to tell a Kiwi from an Australian is not in the accent, but to look down and see if they are barefoot or not. A pair of beach shoes goes on the shopping list.

Hungery, time for lunch. Head 8km down the road to Oxford, a small and pretty rural town 8km away. It was a scorcher, the guage read 32C, and no shade could be had in the High Street so Cafe 51 secured our business by letting Diesel join us in the garden.

Lunch over and I have a plan. 'How about we spend a few hours following that route home', not feeling it necessary to explain that its a white one therefore not surfaced or to point out it disappears off one map page and reappears on another. Vanessa agrees, so off we go to the Lees Valley road.

The gravel road climbs up, following the twists and turns of the Ashley River below. Many good photo opportunities present themselves as the road climbs through the Ashley Gorge and into the Lees Valley. After about 20km, and when Vanessa gets out to open about the 4th gate, I consult the 4wd guide. This route is listed, so I open the page only to discover the route to where it rejoins the map is actually 90km long. I didn't consider this information would benefit the gate opener so I kept it to myself. Anyway, to cut a long story short tempers began to simmer as the road continued and the surface deteriorated. When I forded the Okuku River, twice and up to the running boards, our happy snapper refused to capture the moment to share with you. Oh well, maybe next time.

We made it back in time for BBQ and fireworks at a friend house.