Added pictures of our day out at sea.
At the Races
It has continued to be a pretty fun time here at Roseburn farms. I’ve extended my stay here by a couple of weeks to see the boat job completed. We took the boat out of the water the second day of my stay here and ever since then I’ve been down to the boat just about every day. I’ve done a fair amount of sanding on the boat and painting along with other miscellaneous tasks. The only real problem working on the boat is finding enough fair weather days to get the job completed. So far I think in the last 20 days we’ve probably had 3 good days of weather which has gotten really frustrating for Alex. But the job is almost done, we should be back in the water by Saturday if everything goes to plan; something I wouldn’t count on at this point.
I also got to go for my second horse ride, this time I’ve learned that galloping up a hill is tons of fun once again, but galloping downhill is a lot more scary and lead to my first fall from a horse (that I can remember.) Yacht racing has also been on the agenda for the last few Wednesday nights and a Friday race. We’ve been sailing on the Kantime, a friend of Alex and Miranda, sails that boat but they need the extra crew so we’ve been pretty welcome. Our first race we came in 3rd, on the second race we came in second, and this past Wednesday we came in first. My main goal during the race my main goal is to not get thrown off the boat and not to be garroted by the ropes flying around. I’ve really only been successful at the ropes one. I managed to almost fall out of the boat on the first race, we did a tack and I was a bit late getting over to the other side of the boat, we got hit by a gust of wind and the boat went at a 45 degree angle while I was trying to clamber over and my feet just went out from under me, fortunately the railing caught me and I pulled myself over to the other side. The other neat thing about the sailing is we actually get to do things, I’ve hoisted sails, jibbed, and cranked sheets till my shoulders hurt, super fun.
Anyway, New Zealand is just about done. I’ve added a few more pictures.
Update
Just a quick note to say that I managed to get pictures up.
Still looking for a place to wwoof for a few weeks, hanging out in the meantime.
Up & Down
Current Location: Te Kuiti, Aotearoa
Peddlers Paradise has this to say about the ride through the Forgotten World Highway
“A route for cycluists who love going up and down, no less than six major saddles, numerous hills, a couple of bluffs, a gorge and the odd tunnel or two.”
Pretty accurate I would have to say. Though the last hill really caught me off guard and had me panting the whole way through it. Whangamomona was a neat little place to camp, wikipedia gives a good run down of it’s history. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and I’m sure their biannual independance day would be loads of fun to go to. Unfortunately I didn’t get to meet their old president, a poodle, that supposedly had an assasination attempt on it’s life.
The ride from here puts me 2 days to Auckland and probably another 4 days to the top, no major obstacales are between me and the cape, if you don’t consider Auckland to be an obstacle. So here is to hoping the bike and I stay in one piece for a few more days.
My knee has been okay for the most part, beside a few twinges of pain it’s managing to hold up and I’ve kept on the bike, hopefully that is behind me now.
I added pictures from way back (at least it feels like it) before Bulls up through to Te Kuiti
Gotta Ride
Current Location: Palmerston North, Aotearoa
It’s time to put this ride to rest I think. I had Max drop me off in Palmerston this morning due to some broken spokes on the rear wheel. I’ve had a rash of them ever since getting into Wellington. I think I’ve replaced 6 spokes since then, fortunately for me I’ve found a decent bike shop that is willing to re-spoke the wheel. That in itself is strange because every other bike shop I’ve run into immediately wants me to put on a new wheel (takes more time to re-spoke) so it’s nice to have them want to fix it properly. I’m going to start donating some of the things I’ve been carrying around to lessen the weight (I think I’m up to about 7 books.)
My rationalization of getting Max to drop me off is that I cycled by Palmerston on the way to Pongaroa so this is sorta a warp back to a previous save spot. I think the cycling will be interesting the first 3 or 4 days as I really haven’t cycled continuously since riding into Mapua a little over 3 months ago. I’ve done fairly well hiding out the winter indoors wwoofing. Last week working on the fencing there were a few days that felt like summer, it was great. But the farmers around town were saying when I got there the last two weeks of August everything turns to custard. What do you know when the 16th of August rolls around and it pours cats and dogs for days. It was nice while it lasted.
We finished up the fencing project we were working on and had some deer steaks ‘hacked off the carcass’ as Max put it. Quite good eats paired with my favorite purple potatoes and cheap (good) Aussie wine. As usual the conversations with Max & Jane are excellent and many movies were watched as there is little else to do around Pongaroa.
Motto for the next few weeks, ‘Cape Reinga or bust’.
Couple pictures added, just the hunting ones.
Back on the Farm
Time seems to keep passing along as I came, once again, to the realization that my time in New Zealand gets shorter and shorter. By my reckoning I have a little less than 3 months to finish up everything I’ve got to do in New Zealand. I’m not really worried about the ride anymore because by my calculations it’s only 2 weeks of riding give or take a few days so as long as the bike holds together for a bit longer then that part of the adventure is just about sealed up.
Being back in Pongaroa has been as relaxing as it was the first time I was here. I get to read a lot of books and watch heaps of movies (99% of which are non-fiction, as Max says ‘truth is often stranger than fiction.’) We’ve taken to a lot of fencing projects, some of which Alex and I started the last time we were here along with planting native plants around the farm. While I’ve been in town there has been a rally race that used Pongaroa as the hub (the most excitement I’ve seen in town square since I’ve been here,) and not a whole lot else to draw much attention to this corner of the world. The food continues to be excellent and the wine keeps me warm at night.
Speaking of native plants it’s nice to see people who make a conscious effort to promote and ensure that the native flora which to some extent promotes the native fauna. This is the second place I’ve wwoofed at where promoting native plants takes a priority rather than planting the exotics. I’m somewhat ashamed to say my knowledge of Hawaiian native plants is somewhat lacking, besides the kukui nut tree and some flowers used for making leis nothing else really comes to my mind which is somewhat embarrassing.
A somewhat funny story popped up in the news about a week ago that boggled me, here it is.
I added a few pictures from Otaki on to Pongaroa.
The Longest Ride
Current Location: Motueka, Aotearoa
I left Franz Joseph under blue skies, a portent that it was time to move on. The previous day I got to walk on the glacier as part of a tour, a good idea to go with a tour since they outfit you with everything you need, the most important thing being crampons. The plan for me leaving Franz Joseph was to make it to Hokitika which would have made it something like a 130km ride which is my sweet spot for riding distances plus with the much shorter days I need to leave earlier to hit further distances. As it happens I met another cyclist on Mt. Hercules, don’t let the name fool you as it was more of a hill, and he was going the same way as I was. We got to talking after we finished the hill and it turns out my flag recognition isn’t the greatest as I greeted him with a gutentag and he’s from Belgium, Matthew is his name, (in my defense I just looked at the two flags and they are very similar.) So after I got over that gaffe I asked him where he was heading sure that he was going to Hokitika as well but it turns out he was shooting for Greymouth which is another 40km past Hokitika. I thought if he was going that far there was no reason I couldn’t go that far as well so we rode together for the remainder of the day taking turns pulling each other the last 50km into Greymouth. We arrived just as the last vestige of light dissapeared in the sky, total distance for the day for me was 176km which works out to 110miles.
Homer and I used to bemoan the amount of food we could eat decreased as time marched on for both of us. But I think I’ve found the solution to that problem. After the 110 mile ride I was famished as all I had that day was a bowl of porridge and a pb&j sandwich. Upon getting into Greymouth I found a pizza joint and sat down ordering a large pizza and a loaf of garlic bread, Matthew had a pint of beer and had to leave shortly after I ordered. I managed to inhale that food with no problems, I think it was somewhere around 15 minutes to finish it all but I felt miles better after that. The following day I found an all you can eat bbq of sausage, toast, and potato salad all for 6$. I found a table with some other kiwi’s on vacation from the north island. They were aghast as I went up for fourths of everything but I got to telling them the previous days journey and they kinda understood. On the upside they offered to put me up when I get up past Auckland again which is super cool.
The pancake rocks were a nice enough distraction for the day and the rest of the west coast was as amazing as it was built up to be. The traffic was relatively light with me going entire km without seeing cars at times and at other times having to jostle around with logging trucks once again. I was warned about the logging trucks in the peddlers paradise so I was ready for them.
I’ve started looking for some wwoofing in this area as this is the sunshine capital of New Zealand. I passed tons of apple and kiwi orchards on the way into town today, strangely enough they don’t make cider from what I can tell. I’m only one day from the end of the south island if I were to head to Picton at this moment but the plan is still to spend some time down here enjoying the south island a bit more.
Updated the pictures
A Few Loose Screws
Current Location: Wanaka, Aotearoa
The parallels to the Pacific Coast at this moment in time is frightening. I feel somewhat like Icarus, each time I try to go to the highest point of my ride the wheels give out on me. I started the hill with a rebel yell, I was really looking forward to conquering the hill and it was shaping up to be a great day of riding. It was to make up for missing Leggett hill on the Pacific Coast and I thought it would make for an interesting challenge. I made it up the first two-thirds of the hill with about 2k left in the climb, then it started when I would peddle the rear wheel would just spin around the axle. My first thought was uh-oh not my axle. I then looked at the road and there was frost on it so I quickly attributed it to that since I was still in the shade and I thought the wheel was just slipping on the road. I got off the bike and walked it to a sunny part of the road and let the tyres warm up in the air. I get on the bike again and start peddling with the same result, only this time I look down at the rear wheel and the spokes are in the middle of the axle, not on the outside of the axle like the should be and I am now wobbling around like crazy on the rear wheel. As I get off the bike I realize that I somehow unscrewed where the spokes connect to the axle and there is no chance of me walking the bike to the top of the hill just so I can ride it downhill (most of the remainder of the days ride was downhill.) So out popped the thumb, I waited about 15 minutes before getting a ride. I disassembled the bike and stuck it in the trunk and made it to Wanaka yesterday. The bike shop can only find a 36 spoke replacement since they can’t find any axles of the 40 spoke variety which leaves me worried, hopefully the weight I’ve lost can lead to an easier time on the axle. I’m now stuck here until Sunday when they expect to get the part to me (they can’t get it to me Saturday as there is a huge mountain bike race going on here.) I guess my biggest concern is that Wanaka is the last town with a bicycle shop for the next 500km (approx) So if the wheel does fail me then it will either lead to me backtracking to Wanaka or having to hitch to Greytown which I really don’t want to have to do.
As people have been telling me there are worse places than Wanaka to get stuck which I sort-of agree with, I’d much rather be cycling rather than having to have my bike fixed though. Other than that Wanaka is another Queenstown, just half the size of it which fits me much better than Queenstown. I stopped by Arrowtown on the way to Wanaka yesterday and it was the definition of quaint, it’s an old mining town and they are in the midst of their autumn festival, the hot chocolate there was excellent.
Getting stuck here gave me a good excuse to upload some pictures.
A Nice ending to a long trekIn Stasis
Current Location: Te Anau, Aotearoa
After riding the bus one last time (I’ve vowed that it be the last time while in New Zealand) is that the seats are more uncomfortable than my bike seat. I can literally sit in my bike seat for 4 straight hours without any uncomfortable while I can’t sit in a bus seat for longer than 2 hours without getting uncomfortable. One of the many things I don’t care for on the bus. The view from behind the glass also loses some of the charm that a bike affords, the hills seem so inconsequential as compared to a bike and distances seem so small, but it’s infinitely more gratifying to do it by bike.
I find that I’m truly more comfortable when moving forward or just moving, as long as it’s not backwards. I’ve found myself in Te Anau for the past 3 days now waiting to get onto the Milford track. I did a 100 mile ride yesterday sorta by accident. I meant to ride to Milford Sound which should have been a 120km (~80miles) to Milford Sound, but in between here and there is a 1.2km tunnel that is unlit, something I was none to keen to try. So what ended up happening was me riding to the Divide, turning around and making my way back. I find that my body takes care of itself while riding and my mind is free to wander, it’s peaceful.
I’m disappointed to an extent with how expensive this hike is becoming, I guess also because I haven’t moved forward in the last few weeks since I’m back where I was a few weeks ago, a touch discouraging as the days keep getting shorter and the I know the cold is coming. Which isn’t to say that I’m not excited to do the Milford, I just hope the experience will outweigh the cost.
As for how wwoofing affects my theory of being happy when moving forward I think it gives me a purpose which I think I need from time to time. When I’m riding my bike that is my purpose and when I’m wwoofing it becomes my purpose but when I’m waiting for something I’m purposeless which makes me restless.
New muscles hurt after switching over to clipless peddles, I imagine I’ll be used to it after a week or so. I fell for the first time yesterday, fortunately it was into the dirt and not the gravel. I was more interested in using the bathroom than getting out of the peddles. I tried to step out like I’m used to and thought “uh-oh, I’m trapped”, Thump. Fortunately nobody else was around.
I’ve added a few pictures
Name this lake!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 nowhereedit: Pictures uploaded