Starting from Rakaia Gorge around 9.00 there’s a steep uphill to the top of the valley. From then on it’s mostly flat or downhill. Some headwind from about 4 km before Geraldine. Got there around 17.30. Pretty ugly town, full of senior homes and tourist attractions. Campground right in the middle of town, so I decided to ride on.
The road to Fairlie (SH79) is hilly, but quite good to cycle, except for the traffic of roughly 20 cars per minute. For some reason everybody seems to get out their boats on Christmas Day to drive them around.
I was pretty relieved when I finally turned into Gudex road and saw no more cars for the day.
8 km later I turned into Middle Valley road and soon after reached Pioneer Park. The campground lies in a remote shelteted valley and consists of not much more than a clearing, some toilets and a tap for water (non-potable).
A nice, secluded spot with a few couples and families already present.
Tracking on ramblr: http://rblr.co/BGHj