Current Location: Colville, New Zealand
Today being my 3rd day of riding and the going is somewhat slow. But I think it’s getting better, 3 weeks of breaks and it definitely shows I should have been riding more. I’m currently doing a circuit around the Coromandel Peninsula which actually puts me north of Auckland today (counter of the way I should be going, but whos keeping track) I’m heading today for Fantail Bay which they say is an amazing place to camp (and it’s free! but also no bathrooms, showers, or water for that matter so i’ll have to carry in a few more liters of water)
The road actually reminds me a lot of home, they have waddle trees all over the place and a lot of the foliage is similar to Maui, sort of like Paia and Haiku with a lot less people. It’s hard to believe that so few people travel this road, I can literally go for several kilometers without anyone passing me. I also found myself riding on the right side of the road this morning until someone honked at me, old habits die hard.
I wrote this yesterday before stopping in Fantail Bay which was a terrific spot, dolphins playing in the bay and a few other travelers like myself. Though none of them were biking, though there was one guy tramping who I talked to a bunch about his time tramping through the Camino de Santiago.
On another note i’ll have to keep track of kiwi hospitality. One good story from yesterday was, as I was cycling along the gravel road I got my first flat of the trip so I pulled off the road and repaired it and as I got started again a car waved me down coming the opposite direction. They asked me how I was doing with my load and chatted for a while, they then handed me two beers! It was a great incentive to head to camp to enjoy the suds. I got to camp about 20km later and setup my hammock, sat in it an enjoyed the semi cool beers. I couldn’t ask for more.
The post was title fast kine thinking I could post/email everyone necessary yesterday but I ran out of time before I could hit the post button.