Bike Ride From Port Chalmers to Aramoana

The N.O.T.M.C. trip for 19th August was a bike ride down the Otago harbour from Port Chalmers to Aramoana led by Noel Pullan. Wendy, Ken and I as slower riders, talked one another in joining the ride and even though it was a dry foggy day we had a fabulous time. With winding flat road and no wind, we enjoyed a cruisy ride with tranquil views of the harbour. Aramoana has a few cute cribs, some of characteristic construction, and a Mole of rocks with a track atop that stretches out into the sea to protect the Otago harbour entrance. We rode to the end the Mole where a seal posed like a statue on a prominent rock beside the navigation mast marking the harbour entrance.

Back off the Mole a broad sweep of beach stretches along sand dunes known as ‘The Spit’, to the narrow entrance of the harbour itself. The tide was low and sands hard so we rode to the end of the beach and around to an old jetty where we found a sheltered posie from the now rising N.E wind to have lunch. A container ship entered the harbour for our entertainment. It was so close that we could hear the crew calling to us from the ships railings. We continued around the harbour-side of the beach and back into the township to visit the Memorial for the people shot by David Gray, a sobering moment. To top off our Aramoana adventures we tootled around the streets having a good nosey.

 

A delightful coffee stop at the Carey’s Bay Pub topped off our ride back to Port Chalmers. Temptation to explore further took us to the steaming mountain of wood chips at the wharf and on to circle around the shoreline of Port Chalmers Township back to the cars parked on the Main Street.

 

A great day was had by all fifteen adventurers.

 

By Tricia Pope