It seems that spring has sprung here in Christchurch. Around the middle of September the cherry blossoms on the university campus started flowering, letting us know that the seasons were changing. There are cherry trees all over the university and I have enjoyed watching the ones in the car park come to life each morning. I recently discovered this beautiful walkway behind the university bookshop and on on a warm afternoon it reminded me of being back in Japan.
Although we haven’t been posting many pictures, we have been busy having adventures this winter. Most weekends we have been able to get outside and make the most of the different places around Christchurch. Whenever the weather has been fine this winter, we have headed out to Bottle Lake Forest Park or the surrounding area of Pegasus Bay, normally with our mountain bikes. We don’t always take pictures as we need to keep both hands on the handlebars, but we have really enjoyed biking through the forest on the mountain bike trails.
At some point during our ride we always take the track that leads out to the beach and have a quick look at the ocean. It is always so different and we often have the place to ourselves.
After our initial visit to the area we have been hoping to do a longer ride out along the beach, but so far have not manage to find the perfect combination of low tide and no wind.
Nevertheless we have enjoyed our rides on the trails in this area as they are the perfect combination of technical mountain biking, and exploring. On the cooler days this winter we have made the trip up to Mount Hutt to go skiing, but I will save those pictures for another day.
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