There was a brochure for Glenstrae Farm Four Wheel Adventure (nice spelling of Glen!). It looked from the brochure like the farm extended to the ocean, so there would be great views. Carol had enjoyed our ATVing in Kauai a couple of summers ago, and Maddy never had done it.
Our first stop
I rang up the owner, Alistair, and asked if they had room for three at 10am. I had missed in the brochure where it gave tour times of 8:30 am, 1 pm, and 5pm. Well, probably because of SeaFest, they didn’t have any bookings, so 10:00 am was fine with him.
All the land to the water belongs to
Glenstrae Farm. . .and more!
After another excellent breakfast at WhyNot? We drove out to the farm – it’s about 20 minutes south of Kaikoura.
(A note on WhyNot? – you know the food is really good when we each ordered the same thing for brekkie as we had the day before – Maddy had the waffles with peaches and cream, while Carol and I had the french toast, bacon, and bananas.)
Alistair and his brother John (“Johnny”) were waiting for us. They are very affable fellows, enjoyable to talk to and enthusiastic about ATVs, their farm, and New Zealand overall.
Another break in the riding.
Spectacular coastal scenery.
After we filled out paperwork and suited up, it was time to get on the ATVs and try them out. The test areas were actually tighter and tougher to drive than the overall path – which was not an easy route itself. The 4x4 ATVs were bigger and harder to steer, ride than what we had used in Kauai. Carol didn’t feel comfortable, so she ended up riding on the back of Alistair’s ATV, where she was able to enjoy the scenery more instead of concentrating on driving the beasts.
Johnny's sheepdog. Rode
on the back of his ATV.
Once we were done with the testing, off we went. First we climbed a steep hill, with a turn, and then once we were on top of the hill we had great views of the rolling hills to the ocean, as well as back to the mountains to the west. Glenstrae (proper spelling of Glen!) Farm is huge, and they run many sheep and cattle. It is lambing season, so there were lambs and sheep running everywhere. There were lambs as young as five days old.
Sheep, lamb. Typical NZ farm!
Apparently, five day old lambs aren’t very bright – two stood by the track and waited for us to run them over. (Spoiler alert: we didn’t!). Alistair had us turn off the ATVs so they could hear their mother calling to them. Fifteen day old lambs are smarter – they run away. The calves would also run, while the cows just stood there with a wary eye upon us.
Cliffside family photo
There was a bit of excitement as we spotted some hikers trespassing on the land. The convention in NZ is to ask permission of farmers before crossing their land, and these people did not. I assumed they were British, because asking permission is not the convention there. Turns out they were from Christchurch and should have known better. Obviously, Alistair wasn’t going to kick them off, but remember – ask permission first!
The photo above washed out a bit, so here's
where we were posed. That long peninsula
to the North is Kaikoura Peninsula.
Anyhow, the ride was spectacular. The views incredible – rolling hills, the ocean, the mountains. Sometimes we would cut through small streams or ride whoop-de-dos as I call them. Occasionally we would ride right by the edge of a steep drop off.
The dirt path in the middle is
typical of what we rode on,
Riding on grass was easier than on the dirt parts – got to eat a bunch of the dirt kicked up by Maddy’s machine. We had the Shotover Jet face scarves that we could have used to keep the dust out – but it was not anywhere near as dirty a ride as in Kauai, so Maddy and I were fine. Carol, riding on the lead ATV, didn’t eat a bushel of dirt like we did. Of course, spread out over nearly 2.5 hours, the amount of dust wasn’t that much. It was all part of the adventure.
We also got to see more seals – they have taken over a small section of the farm by the water – steep land that they come way up on. Alistair and Johnny have given them a fenced off section that saved for the seals – but they don’t want anymore grazing land lost (sheep will go anywhere) to eat.
By this point in the trip, both Maddy and I were doing great on the ATVs – they took a little getting used to, but now I felt I was loose and riding well – as was Maddy. This was clearly better than white water rafting! Not only did we get a tour of a large farm, we had ocean and mountain views. We could see the Kaikoura Peninsula and, of course, the snow-capped Kaikoura Range. (I can’t get through a blog post without using “snow-capped mountains” at least once!).
Seals about halfway up the cliff.
This was clearly one of the best activities we did on the trip – but we’ve done so many great ones that it is hard to put it all in perspective.
The trip back was even better. The highlight for me was riding through the creek. We didn’t just cross it – we rode along it for a good while. That was a ton of fun (“tonne of fun?”). Not sure if “ton” is part of the metric system. We also went under a railroad bridge (no trains at that time), and into some open fields where we were really able to sped up. The break for water and biscuits (cookies) was in a pleasant field by the train tracks and creek.
We also rode a couple of very steep hills down, and went through some whoop-de-doos – one of which was so up and down that my back audibly cracked as I went through it! My chiropractor, Dr. Hawa, would be proud of that crack!
All in all? Wow! This is another activity that we would highly recommend if you come to New Zealand. After all, we’ve already established that you need to go to Kaikoura to swim with the dolphins, watch the whales, walk amongst (but too close) to the seals, and enjoy the land where snow-capped mountains reach to the Pacific.
My trusty steed.
Heading toward the finish.
All in all, less driving than white water rafting, and a huge amount of fun. Alistair and Johnny made great guides, and Alistair is a very friendly host.
At his suggestion, we had lunch at the charming Two Rivers café in Cheviot, a small town about a half hour drive from Glenstrae Farm. As Alistair predicted, the garden out back was a very relaxing, beautiful place to have lunch.
Whilst the womenfolk slept, I drove on to Pegasus Bay winery, just three kilometers off the main highway to Christchurch. The grounds and building at the winery are quite lovely, and the wine tasting was nice and quiet. A NZ wine website says it is one of the best Pinots in the land. The Merlot/Cab blend was underwhelming (I was driving, so I had just two tastes – red wine only!). We walked around the grounds a bit, and Maddy had a life struggle when she dropped her sunglasses off a footbridge into the lake – but was able to retrieve them.
The next stop was the Christchurch Gondola, which took us up to the top of the remains of the volcano crater. It gave us good views all around, but with only 30 minutes before closing, we could only hike a short distance along the top. The city was covered in haze, but I think that was atmospheric and not pollution.
High atop Christchurch.
Our last family photo in New Zealand.
(Side note – the air in New Zealand is so clean that it tastes amazing. Hiking in the Queenstown area, up in Kaikoura, on the glacier or Milford Sound – the air is fantastic. We drank it in.)
After that, there was nothing left to do in New Zealand but check into the airport hotel, and await our 4am wake-up call.
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