Through Rakaia Gorge to Mt. Somers

The next few days we spent in the rather lonely and relatively unknown Canterbury region between the Alps in the west and the sea in the east. Although there is a so-called 'Scenic Route' through the inland, which is very beautiful both in terms of landscape and for motorcycling, not many people come here and even fewer stay overnight with their campervans.

First overnight location was Rakaia Gorge, although there was no town to speak of. A wonderfully located, fairly simple campground with a spectacular view over the huge riverbed of the Rakaia river is right by an ancient bridge above the gorge. Besides the campground, the only infrastructure there was a jet boat dock, where you could take a tour on the gorge. When we arrived, the sun came out and we quickly set up the tent. That was good, because shortly after, a shower came down again, and it wasn't the last one for that day. But what a sight in the morning: blue sky and sunshine, the water in the river gleaming turquoise. So off we went on the 4-hour hike along the gorge. It was worth it, there were great views of the gorge and the mountains, and even the entrance to an old coal mine could be admired, which as a child of the Ruhr area interested me especially. But 'old' is relative here, it was from around 1850, so nothing compared to the old tunnels in Muttental. And after the hustle and bustle of the last few days, it was especially nice that we didn't come across anyone on the hike, except for the 2 boys from Baden-Württemberg, with whom we had a nice chat on the campground the evening before.

After the hike, we took down the tent and continued to the town of Mount Somers. This was actually a town, well let's say a village. There was a general store with a gas station and post office, a 70s-style pub (but original), a war memorial, and a public swimming pool. And both the houses and gardens as well as the public facilities were remarkably well maintained (well, the pub was so-so). Later on, someone told us that only retirees come here on vacation...hm. In any case, we stayed for 2 days and took a nice motorcycle trip up into the mountains to secluded lakes via lonely gravel roads. Retirees often know where it's beautiful!