Category: New Zealand

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Anniversaries

Current Location: Christchurch, Aotearoa

A couple of anniversaries passed me by this week and it gave me a chance to think about a few things. The first one being it’s been one year since I’ve worked a proper job and since I’ve been in Hawaii. I think it’s important that I say it again but a heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who’s given me a bed, food, a laugh, or best of all the memories of an amazing year. It’s been a great year of cycling, eating, laughing, and experiences. I know people often say that you should travel around while you’re young, I fully agree with that saying for the experiences will stay with you the entirety of your lifetime, this will certainly be something I’ll never forget.

The second anniversary is that this happens to be the 6th month that I’ve been in New Zealand. In that respect I sorta feel like the white rabbit saying “I’m late, I’m late.” But I have to remind myself that I’ve only been on the south island for a total of 2 months now and I’d like to spend until at least the beginning of June here (which would make it 5 months on the south and 7 on the north.) To help me slow things down I’m terribly excited to have gotten a booking on the Milford Track next week on the 16th! This track is heavily regulated as it’s one of the most scenic tracks in all of New Zealand. They allow 40 people a day to do it independently and it costs $40NZ a day to stay in their huts (you aren’t allowed to camp at all) or you can pay $2,000NZ to have a guided 3 day tour and food prepared for you (they allow 50 people a day to do that option.) Fortunately for me there was a cancellation next week that I managed to sneak into. So this basically means I have until Wednesday to figure out how to get my bike and I to Te Aunu in time to catch the ferry over to the beginning of the track. For reference, typically people book this tramp 4 or 5 months in advance.

Another first for me on this trip is I took a bus to get from Dunedin to Christchurch to meet mom and dad. I now have perspective to how much I hate riding the bus from behind the glass. I’ll have to consider how to express how bad it is compared to riding a bicycle. Suffice to say that I’ll have to take a bus back to Dunedin to get back to my bike, but after that I hope never to have to take another bus while in New Zealand (I may have to take one to get to Te Aunu in time, but I’ll try everything to not have to take that option.)

Finally I met mom and dad yesterday, it was a nice treat to be sure. We did what I do best in Christchurch, wander around and drink beer at the Twisted Hop, once again that place hasn’t let me down. I also go my clipless peddles and some Lake shoes and am terribly excited to try them out. On a sour note about the bike, I realized I broke my first spoke this trip, hopefully not a harbinger of things to come.

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Skinny Tyres

Current Location: Oturehua, Aotearoa

Find that on a map, let alone try and pronounce it. Took me a few times to get it right after stumbling around with it a few times. I think the population of this town is right around 20 so you can imagine it’s pretty quiet around here at night. How did I end up here you may ask? I was doing the Otago Central Rail Trail this week thinking it would take me max of 3 days, and that’s taking it super easy doing only 50km/day. Well after I started it I couldn’t just stop at 50k so I just kept on going (I even started later thinking I would force myself to stop earlier.) So I ended up doing more around 90k on the trail instead and ended up at a place called the Crows Nest, a backpackers where they have tent sites available. Anyway I got to talking to the owner (Annette) and after telling her that I do the wwoofing thing she offered to put me up and work around the place for a few days. Well that few days turned into 5 days with me doing side trips to little towns around the place just to keep riding.

One cool thing that happened is I met a girl at the crows nest that works for DOC (Department of Conservation) and of all the places she could work at she happens to work at the Milford Track, the hardest track to get booked on and she invited me to check out the last two days of the hike which I most likely will if I can fit it into a schedule (I get to stay at the staff hut which has hot showers, yippie) I’m still kinda hoping I can get booked onto the full tramp but I’ll have to see when I get nearer to Queenstown again.

I finally figured out whats broken on my bike. I thought it had been the bottom bracket after just having it replaced but it turns out it was the peddle. So that means I get to replace that now which leaves me with the only thing on the bike I haven’t replaced yet is the cranks (which I should replace), the frame, and the handle bars. This might be my opportunity to put in clipless peddles which I’ll have to consider for a few days as I’ve always been a bit hesitant to put them on because it means the next time I fall I go down with the bike since I won’t have my escape option I do now. Notice I say when and not if, it’s only a matter of time before I take another spill, I just hope i’m not doing 40km/hr this time.

I’ll cycle the remainder of the trail tomorrow and head to Pukarangi to catch the Taieri Gorge Train back into Dunedin, supposed to be a nice ride but I’ll have to be hasty to make it to the train by 4:30p otherwise I’ll have to find someplace around there to camp for the night.

I think I’m done with gravel roads for a while, my skinny tyres have held up admirably but I feel like I’m pushing my luck every day I ride on this rough roads. I blew one lady away today as I did a survey on the trail, she couldn’t believe how much my bike weighed and how many miles I’ve done, super funny lady because all the questions were about how much I spend and most of it was zero dollars since I free camp and ride my bike around, but she took it pretty well.

Mom and dad are gonna be here in a few days so i’ll have to figure out how to get to Christchurch to hang out with them for the day and then how to make it back to Queenstown, but i’ll worry about that in a week or so.

I’ll post pictures when I get to Dunedin.

Train Station in the Middle of Nowhere Train station in the middle of nowhere

edit: Pictures uploaded

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Due North

Current Location: Queenstown, Aotearoa

I honestly wasn’t too impressed with Dunedin, perhaps it was because I rolled in there on the day that St. Patrick’s day was going on so I rolled into frat boys sitting on their roofs drinking beers and throwing taunts left and right. Add to that the fact that the weather was miserable and I ended up leaving in a headwind (which lasted for 3 days.) Suffice to say my impression of the place wasn’t the fondest. But I’ve decided to give it another go now that I’ve hit Queenstown I’ll continue on and do the central Otago Rail Trail which will put me smack dab back into Dunedin when I’ve finished it. The other thing I really wanted to do while in Dunedin was go on the Speights brewery tour (I skipped it due to lack of funds,) thats something I’ve been looking forward to ever since trying their dark beer (in my mind it rivals Newcastle.)

I finally hit slope point yesterday, it was a great feeling to be there finally but i’m not sure I can fully explain why. It was a great ride through the Caitlins with lots of little stops here and there for short walks. Curio bay was kinda neat but I kinda wish I hadn’t stuck around for the 1.5hrs to see 1 little penguin make an appearance 100yards off. Other than that the days were filled with lots of gravel roads and wind again. Hopefully now that i’m heading north the wind will be in my favor but I am not counting on it. I think my total milage has rolled over somewhere in the neighborhood of 3400km (a little over 2000 miles)

I ran into 3 british cyclists who were just finishing their ride up in Invercargill (actually they were going to ride to Bluff the day I was leaving and then come back to Invercargill.) I wished them well as I left in the morning and felt a bit jealous that they were done, but I reminded myself that soon enough I’ll get to say I’m done as well. We traded books and I got a Lance Armstrong book which I then devoured that night in camp since it ended up being an easy ride. They also told me about a pizza place in Queenstown which I must try since I’ve been craving pizza for a solid 2 weeks.

I wrote the above 2 paragraphs while I was in Invercargill 3 days ago but couldn’t finish the post due to money constraints. It’s funny when I got down to my last $100 I went into a money save mode where the only thing I could spend money on was food and one night at a hostel because I really needed to take a shower. But I managed to make it to Queenstown in one piece and with a spare jar of peanut butter in tow.

The ride into Queenstown was amazing and something that most people don’t do when they come to New Zealand. The road was a 80km gravel road that dead ends into a lake which is where having a bike comes in handy because I could take the SS Earstlaw Steamer across the lake into Queenstown. A nice treat after a long day on gravel. Although the other benefit to it was I saw a total of 5 cars all day long until arriving into Queenstown so it was a very peaceful ride.

I’ve been seeing a lot of lakes for the past few days which I think will basically continue for the next few weeks, I apologize in advance for the amount of ’scenery’ pictures that will soon take up space in the gallery but some of them defy taking pictures of because I can’t fully capture what it looks like to be here riding with giants on either side of me.

Pictures tomorrow as I’ve forgotten the memory card today.

Slope Point Slope Point 

Edit: Pictures Added

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Land of the Long White Cloud

Current Location: Dunedin, Aotearoa

Ever since I left Mt. Cook it has been cloudy every day. I wake up usually around 7am to try and get an early start on the day but it’s harder to get up when everything around you is a misty white. In case you’re wondering the translation for Aotearoa is today’s title, if the maori landed on the southern part of the islands I can see why they would have named it as such. The clouds do finally disappear at around 6p in time for the stars to make an appearance.

The trip to Mt. Cook was great although I may or may not have broken my bottom bracket, I won’t be able to take it into the shop as my credit cards are still blocked at the moment. For the moment I can still turn the pedals and it doesn’t feel harder to push them but from time to time I hear a metal on metal sound which doesn’t sit well with me. Other than that it was a perfectly peaceful trip through the mountains. I took roads that had signs that say road closed but I pay them no mind and just walk my bike around the barriers. Camping in that area was a snap, just about anywhere was an option to camp and I’m getting used to camping on my own now, I just have to have a book or my iPod charged.

I also realize I forgot to post anything about Akaroa, I guess I did this due to it being such a traumatic day for me. But honestly the architecture was about the only thing that struck me. Reminded me a lot of Mackinac Island and I struggled to find anything French about it besides the street names and the names of some of the buildings. I’m not sure what I was looking for but something more than just a French facade. It was certainly a nice place to visit.

I also managed to spend an extra day in Temuka waiting for the police station to open (I got back there from Mt. Cook on a Sunday) which was good so I could rest up. I think the current plan is to get out of Dunedin in a day or two and hit up slope point among a few other things down that way. Then off to Invercargill. After that I’m not sure exactly how it’ll play out but I may end up trying to go to Queenstown and then to the Central Otago Rail Trail and then take a train back to Dunedin where I can meet mom and dad in Christchurch (I promised the folks at Thornton Grange i’d visit them again). The other option being blasting my way through the west coast, I figure it would take me 6 days to make it back to Picton once I’ve left Invercargill. At this point I don’t want to predict one way or the other which way i’ll go, time will tell.

Todays ride was a lot of fun. I started at Full Day Bay where I had the whole beach to myself last night. The ride was punctuated with two large hills which made for a fun ride into Dunedin. The last hill was 8km up and 7km down, for whatever reason I hummed the Indiana Jones theme the whole way down the hill. I think some of my confidence is returning after the fall as more days go by the more I open up the brakes on downhill segments.

I added pictures a few days ago.

Monument to Richard Pearce Monument to Richard Pearce 
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Riding High

Current Location:Lake Tekapo, Aotearoa

I’d certainly call this a week of highs and lows. Rather the week started pretty low and things are starting to look a lot better now. It started with my trip to Akaroa on Sunday which was going particularly well (so I thought) until I realized my wallet had somehow fallen out of my zipped up pocket somewhere in the last 20km of the ride into Akaroa. In a semi-panic mode at that point I hitched a ride back to where I took a nap on the side of the road thinking it had fallen out there (probably about 10km back) and walked back to my bike to no avail. I think at the time my funds were left to $9 in coins that I had in my pocket which meant getting a campground or a hostel was out of the question for the night. So freecamping was my only option at that point, I asked what I believed to be the priest of a church if it was okay to sleep behind the church that night and at first he was hesitant but in the end let me sleep the night back there, he also offered me some money which I refused. Anyway I cycled back to Christchurch and Thornton Grange the following morning and got mom and dad to wire me some money (thanks) so that I could continue to cycle. To make a long story shorter the police ended up with my wallet and somehow found mom and dad’s phone number and let them know that they have it. I found this fact out 2 days ago, which is another hooray New Zealand moment for me because the police say that all the money is still there and my cards are still intact. Honestly, I sorta half expected it to be returned just from the experiences I’ve had with the kiwi people but it’s nice to have that confirmed in such a huge way.

On to the cycling of leaving Christchurch I find the last 3 days I’ve been riding against a Southerly wind that just won’t give up. I saw on the news the other day that gusts are up to 120km/hr (egads!) Sometimes on flat ground I’ll be in my granny gear chugging along at a measly 10km/hr because the wind just won’t give up. At the same time the road out of Christchurch has nary a bend, bob, or bump so it’s fairly uninteresting terrain to cover add to that the southerly wind which is bitingly cold. And lets not forget the hail that rained down not 30 minutes after getting into camp one night, that wouldn’t have been pleasant to ride through. How different a month makes when I rode into the Canterbury plains it was 40 degrees on the way out it was 9. Yesterdays ride was completely different except for the wind which was unceasing all day long. The terrain was much different as I was heading for the mountains which meant hills plus wind, but I was fairly determined to make it to Lake Tekapo and in the end did make it, the highest I got was 709m which to me was a huge triumph because that was a mountain pass where the wind just howled and beat me back. After that it was a fairly chill ride into Lake Tekapo and camped just outside of town on the side of the road. I’m finding that wild camping is pretty easy, just have to make sure I have enough water.

The plan for today is to ride to Mt. Cook which should hopefully be easier, the southerly wind is supposed to be done by today and they weather forecast is supposed to be nice for the weekend, even if it doesn’t I’ll still cycle. Because if 120km winds won’t stop me I’m not sure what will.

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When Pigs Fly

I think I should stop predicting when I’ll be leaving Christchurch as I’m still here. I got my wheel back again yesterday, this time it’s as true as it’s going to get I think. The last thing I have to do to the bike is to put on the new brakes and it’s ready to roll. I am starting to get worried about the weather, to the point where I don’t think I’ll stop in Dunedin and just roll on through there to try and make it up part of the west coast before having to meet mom and dad. I’m not sure if many people would appreciate that one of my wheels is now chromed, bling for my bike as they might say.

I added a few pictures from around town with Anne (I do have to apologize, her name is not Anna, but Anne) We spent far too much time at a place called the Twisted Hop which is a brew pub here in town. Bryan and Franziska both recommended it to me when we were talking about beer one day and I’ve been there enough to know the owner and all of the wait staff, definitely too much time spent there. I’ve also taken Alex there and he enjoyed it as well, it’s really a hidden gem because it’s tucked away in the back of an alley and you mostly just find locals there.

I guess I should write down stuff about the crazy German I’ve been working with for the last week and a half. The day I met her was the day after my fall so I wasn’t feeling 100% up to snuff but we mucked out a paddock as our first job. In that hour she managed to call me a girl and a wuss, I got zero sympathy from her. Which is what I think I needed at the time, because feeling sorry for myself wasn’t going to fix anything. It’s been great ever since then. Shes here to work on her English which is fun for me because I get to laugh at her mistakes and she teaches me some German, which I’m hopeless at. The two things I’ve learned from her are doodlesack and a phrase that I think means I eat rabbits. Both of which I’m sure I’ll find wildly useful if I make it to Germany. Anyway her two months in New Zealand are up and she is heading back to Australia for more backpacking adventures. I wish her luck and happiness while there.

Once again I think the plan is to head to Akaroa, I can’t have cycled that far last time and not made it there to give up now, spend the day wandering around town and then head South. Slope point here I come, for real this time.

Bikes going uphill. Bikes going uphill 
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Aftermath of a Fall

Not round anymore Does not roll well. 
a tear in the tyre The puncture that I think caused the disaster. 

Here are the pictures I promised to post, I was having a lot of trouble getting my camera to connect to the computer but I think it was a computer issue instead of a camera issue, thankfully. As you can see it doesn’t look pretty. I’m feeling a lot better but still sore in my chest and a little on the top of my shoulder (that bone you have sticking out of the top of your shoulder hurts like nobody’s business.) But at least I can get myself out of bed again, the day after the accident I rolled myself out of bed and managed to climb back up.

As for the wheel the news is so-so. I took it into town to the one place that wanted to help me out (once again no one is really interested in touching a 27inch wheel) and they managed to find me a steel rim which they say will be heavier (which I don’t care about too much) and that slowing down will be a little harder (which should make life interesting.) The other option was to wait 4 weeks while they shipped in a new rim from Australia, which wasn’t an option for me. Which means that my tyre (NZ way of spelling it) should be ready to roll on Monday which then puts me on the road on Tuesday, whoohoo.

On a completely different note I’m getting to work with another wwoofer again which is turning out to be super fun. This time it’s a girl from Germany by the name of Anna. I just call her the crazy German. I have to say that it’s a lot more fun working with someone, sure makes the days go by quicker. I’m really thankful that Bryan and Franziska let me stay another week, especially since they had another wwoofer coming. One thing I said after the accident was that I was sorry to crash in on them again unexpected to which they responded “that’s what friends are for” which was pretty neat for me to hear. Hopefully this time I can make it on the road successfully.

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Catastrophic Failure

I’m not sure where to start this post today. I left Chirstchurch under a gray sky and a light drizzle coming down. I considered not leaving today and just posting that I had been delayed once again, perhaps that would have been a better route to have taken. I set out against better judgment thinking to myself W.W.S.D. and W.W.S.S. (What Would Shaun Do, he would tell me to man up and punch me telling me not to be a wuss,) (What Would Superman Say, he would say that not every day can be a sunny day so take what you can get) so taking these imagined words of wisdom to heart I decided to set out anyway. I made it as far as Hilltop which is right before Akaroa, probably about 10km from the town, I could actually see it from the cafe I stopped at. As soon as I left hilltop (aptly named since it rests at the top of a 475m hill) I got about 300m before my wheel spontaneously exploded (rear wheel of course.) I tried to save the fall and gently come to a stop, the only problem being I was already going 40km/hr so I managed to ditch the bike and take a sharp blow to my shoulder and chest which i’m sure tomorrow will sport a most manly black bruise. The wheel on the other hand is a parabola now, not round by any stretch of the imagination, sigh.

Now for the bright side of things. I crossed the road and stuck out a thumb to get back into Christchurch since the chances of me getting the bicycle fixed in Akaroa was nil. The first person that drove by stopped! That is incredible, Bryant and I had a nice chat while he took me back to Thornton Grange (where I’m wwoofing) and dropped me off there. They are sorta okay with having me back for a little while but they have another wwoofer coming in a few days. So I’ll probably get my stuff back to Christchurch and hang out in a hostel for a few days while i get things sorted out. I think of that as another silver lining, the fact that this happened so close to Christchurch. Anywhere else and I would have been up a creek with no way to get this properly fixed. I’m also glad that I have the panniers as I think they saved the bike from further damage (along with myself to some extent I believe.) I managed to walk away with just about no scratches which is also a bonus as the last time I took a spill like this it required 9 stitches to fix.

I took a few pictures of the tyre but my camera is acting up (I hope it wasn’t injured in the fall.) But i’ll try and post them tomorrow. It sucks to get so close to a goal and have to turn around, oh well… once I get this tyre sorted I’ll make another attempt.

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Held Up

Things seem to happen in weird ways sometimes. Sunday I went for a ride with Carlos on a single track that he calls the Alligator run that’s around the quarry. It’s honestly the first time I’ve tried doing a single track and now I know why I’ve never done it with my bike and why if I want to do them in the future I should really get a mountain bike. The wheels, brakes, and center of gravity was wrong. It was a difficult run but i managed to get through it. What happened though was my chain started giving me issues during the run and I knew it was time to get that replaced. It turns out that my rear freewheel needed to be replaced as well so I got a new freewheel that has 4 more teeth than my last one which means going uphill will be something like 16% easier. At the same time they told me my bottom bracket needed to be replaced as well (I knew this from when I was leaving LA as the mechanic there told me the same thing) so I figured while I had it in the shop I might as well get that fixed. Only problem with all of these repairs is once again my bicycle is too old for the parts they have in stock so they have had to order parts which means I’m here until at least Friday while I wait for parts to get in. I must say I’m glad this came to a head while I was in a large city rather than anywhere else in the south island as it’ll get harder and and harder to get things fixed elsewhere.

I think I’ll be kinda sad to leave this place, it’s been a fun time here. I’ve learned to play Zug um Zug, a German board game. It’s easy to impress a 13 year old as my card shuffling skills always amaze along with my typing speed. The food has been good and lots of laughing every day. Suffice to say it was easy to postpone leaving here another week to get my bike fixed. But I have to remind myself that February is almost over which means winter is fast approaching. The weather has been wonky the last few weeks with the temperature dropping to 9 degrees Celsius one night (48 degrees for reference.) Mostly due to the winds whipping out of the south pole. In that vein I’m planning to leave Monday once again, hopefully successfully this time.

On a seperate note I was going through some old pictures of mine as I was tryng to burn them to DVD and found one of me before I started cycling and decided to make a comparison picture, startling to say the least.

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Spitting Llamas

For the record, llamas do spit. I have firsthand knowledge on this after trying to herd them back into their block. It certainly caught me off guard so I stopped doing that and let them wander around in their new pen.

I neglected to add last post that I find myself living with a family that has four teenagers living under the same roof, although I only really see 3 of them as the eldest recently graduated high school and has taken to being out most of the time. I find dinners to be highly amusing as most of the conversations sound wildly familiar to me, I think I may have had at some point in my life. More and more I have my face buried in my hands silently laughing at the arguments and comments that circle the table, oh the innocence of youth. I certainly find myself looking forward to dinners especially for the youngest member of the family, Carlos 13, is the king of overreaction adds a spiciness to the dinner that no food can replace.

Most days I cycle into town and wander around because it is so close that there really is no excuse not to go. I finally found myself wandering through the botanical gardens the other day and was amazed at how huge the place is, the sheer cost of maintaining a place like that is staggering. But like I said Christchurch is the garden city and is aptly named. I’ve also been through the art museums, sorry to say to the Summercamp house I still need Janice or Fatty to explain modern art to me, and had amusing times in them as well.

I meant to post a few days ago on the 3 month anniversary of me being in New Zealand as that means I’m a quarter into my year of kiwi-ness, also a good reminder that I have to start cycling again. As I mentioned in the last post i’m heading out to Akaroa this coming Monday for the day to check out the one French outpost here in New Zealand and then I’m going to start heading for Lake Pukaki and Mt. Cook. It’s as close as I can come to crossing the south island without actually crossing it. I’ll get within stones throw distance to the Fox Glacier but that will have to wait until I go up highway 6. I’m aiming to stop in Dunedin or Invercargill for a few weeks to wwoof again and as I’ve finally gotten the book I can peruse the listing of hosts without the internet and found some interesting hosts, hopefully they have space available.

I did get to see the second half of the superbowl including the halftime performance. I think that was the most Americans I’ve seen since landing here in New Zealand. I sat in front of a kiwi who was getting coached through how the game works from a guy from New York. I need to find a kiwi to explain cricket to me like that as well, though I’m not sure there’s any hope to truly learning that game. It was a good game, definitely missed the portugese sausages and the backyard bbq though.

I added a few pictures from around town.

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Kiwifruit (Chinese Gooseberry)