Days 15-17 -- R is for: Rotorua, Rafting, Rimjobs, and Rain

April 22.
I'll probably spend a few days in Rotorua, it seems there's a lot to do here: cultural stuff, geothermal stuff, extreme adventure stuff. Oh yes, it does smell kind of like rotten eggs here, but you get used to it and it's kind of pleasant. Apparently the smell is mostly due to hydrogen sulfide -- key word, of course, being sulfide. I go down to the isite and make my first real splurge: I book the Tamaki Maori Village and Kaitiaki Adventure Rafting on the Kaituna river combo deal. It saves me $20 or so off of what these things would cost normally. I'm skeptical about Tamaki -- actually I'm skeptical about all of these Maori villages. A friend of mine back at New College did her thesis on Heritage Tourism and the Holy Land experience, maybe it's from that, who knows. Nevertheless, despite the fact that I had a few Maori mates back in Wellington, read a book on Maori myths and learned a few phrases here and there, I know less about it all than I'd like. Besides, I figure if you're a tourist in New Zealand (and granted, up till now I haven't been) this is just one of those things you've got to do. And despite working with a Maori chef for a few months, I've never had a Hangi. A Hangi's where they dump lots of meat into a big pit in the ground and slow cook it for hours over hot rocks. I was originally going to go with Te Puia, as they seemd more authentic then Tamaki, supposedly their organization was created by an act of parliament. But I looked at a review site and the consensus seems to be Tamaki.

First though, I've got to run over to the grocery store and make myself some sandwiches before the rafting company's shuttle comes to pick me up at the campground-- I'm starving. I actually don't wind up having the time, so I stuff a banana in my mouth and some meusli (soft granola) bars in my bag and hop in the van,
Ian and Steven, from Manchester and Patrick, from Kent, are fun blokes. Ian and Steven are doing the Kiwi Experience, Patrick's doing his own little round the world trip.
Over at the rafting HQ, we put on our wetsuits, life jackets and helmets, and hop back in the shuttle with with Gopher and Chunky, who drove us here. Gopher and Chunky are exactly the kind of crazy mofos you'd expect to be working at a whitewater rafting company that takes people down the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world. Both unshaven, with a wild gleam in their eyes, they have a backcountry mercenary air about them. We are also joined by Corey, another professional rafter , and Amy, another Kaituna employee.

We carry the raft over to the river and Corey gives us a bit of history of the river and says a Maori prayer. I'm a bit skeptical of this, Corey has blue eyes, but I later find out he identifies as Maori. I get in the front of the raft with Steven, and we're down the river! Whoo boy.

Man, it was a blast, I gotta tell you. Steven was the first to fall out, which might have been my fault, the guys in the front are supposed to paddle in time and I was a bit busy snapping this picture:

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So after that I concentrate a bit more on paddlin'. Still, the professionals do most of the work, really. Ian fell out at one point too, and I think Patrick did as well. Chunky finds some leaf or something and just before we go down the "highest commercially rafted waterall in the world" (really it's only a 5 meter drop, although still hella fun) he flips it to find out whether the boat will capsize or not. It comes up backwards, but we stay rightside up anyway. There are quite a few little drops as well. We pause so Corey can point out some Maori burial caves. Towards the end, we all jump out and swim just for the hell of it:

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Patrick gasping for air in the Kaituna river.

Afterwards I go over to the Pig & Whistle with Patrick and have a few pints. Patrick's going to Hawaii as well, around the same time I am. It would be cool to meet up with him in Colorado as well to do some more rafting, but we'll see.

I switch my pickup point for the Tamaki thing to a nearby backpackers, because it's closer. I'm a bit more optimistic about it since Corey said he saw it and he thought it was "a good representation of our culture." The bus driver explains that the bus is our waka, which literally means canoe but can be any kind of transport. Rob explained the same thing to me back at Cornerstore, and I was bit incredulous -- so suppose you want to trade a motorcycle for a skateboard, how do the parties not get confused as to what they're acquiring? Some south african guy appoints himself our "chief," and he's pretty entertaining.

Over at the village, I really wish I hadn't had those pints because I've got to pee really bad. I try and hold it as we all wait in a courtyard and some women perched up above the gate sing a haunting melody and maori guys dressed in grass skirts run out really fast and try to intimidate the "chiefs" from all the tourist buses with their spears. I try to snap some pictures but I can't get a decent shot in the lighting:

which is just as well because even though there are tons of flashes going off, I feel weird about taking pictures.

Inside, the village is really well done, although it does have a slightly plastic look to it. The idea is you can just wander around and ask people questions and stuff. Some women explain how maori would forage for roots and make them into cake. yum. I ask one of the guys who's explaining all the ways to kill someone with a blade whether his facial tatoos are real. "Of course they are! How dare you insult me! ...just kidding." At some point he mentions rodents and looks over in my direction.

Afterwards there's a stage performance of various kinds of Haka, including some storytelling. The Chief's "tatoos" are messy in a really cool way.

And then the moment I've been waiting for....Hangi! I have four helpings of this stuff, plus dessert. There's chicken, lamb, fish, mussels (by the end I had a huge plate full of empty shells) carrots, potato, and kumara. You can really notice the smoky earth flavor in the kumara. Dessert is pavlova, I lick some from a bowl while I go outside and listen to a woman explain how the Hangi is done. Pretty much how you'd think.

On the way back the bus driver honks her horn excessively and goes around 6 times at the same roundabout, she explains that all the cops are relatives.

April 23

Something of a lazy day today. The weather's supposed to be getting worse so I've checked into YHA Rotorua, and I bought a membership because this is now the third backpackers I've stayed in, and at least one of those was a YHA. I meet Patrick at the pub again and we walk over to the Kuirau Park to look at some of the thermal activity. By this point I've realized that taking my "waterproof" camera in the river yesterday was not the best idea, some water has gotten under the lens and the picture is way too foggy to make anything out. Bummer. There are some cool bubbling mudpools and stuff like that, although nothing quite as expansive as I saw next to Wai-o-Tapu. I bid farewell to rick and wander around the park until I'm a bit lost. I watch a middle aged asian guy with a really expensive looking camera take photos of a big steaming pile of rocks. I've seen a lot of them around Rotorua, and I don't just mean asians with cameras. I mean middle aged asian men with cameras equipped with a telescoping lens, photographing trees in parking lots and all sorts of bizarre stuff.

In the evening I go down by the lake (I'm guessing it's lake Rotorua) and sit and watch some black swans and enjoy being in Rotorua, and once again thing about how I've gotten here under my own leg-power. I consider heading out in the morning to Whakatane to see White Island, although I'm still unsure if I want to blow the cash. It'd be a shame to head out this early thoug. I've just gotten to Rotorua and there's a lot more to do here, a lot of it free. I decide to go to some mountain biking tracks tomorrow. I'v been passing mountain biking tracks here and there on my travels, but I've been reticent to do them up till now because i've generally just been to exhausted by the time I get somewhere, and I usually want to do something that doesn't invovle cycling. Also, I've been a bit reluctant to jeopardize my ride -- what if something happens to the bike? But Rotorua seems like the place to go MTB'ing if I'm going to do it -- there are 8 cycle shops here and I've been seeing brochures all around for mountain biking. I've had a bit of a rest, and I'm enjoying the sporting binge I've been on, so tomorrow I'm going to the redwoods!

April 24

Weather's getting gradually worse, but it's not too bad yet. They say It'll clear up around Wednesday. By the time I pedal out to the Whakarawera forest though, I realize the drizzle won't make much difference once I'm inside. I buy a mountain biking map and decide to go on the Dipper first. The tracks are all graded, from 1-7, with 6 & 7 being pretty much suicidal. 3 & 4 seem to be mid grade. Genesis, the track which got mountain biking started in Rotorua, is a grade 3. Dipper's a grade 2.

They don't call it the Dipper for nothing! Oh man, that was amazing. I can't believe I've never done mountain biking before -- I mean every bike I've ever had was a mountain bike, but I only ever used cycles for transportation before. I don't know if all mountain bike tracks are like this, but it reminded me of the speederbike scene in Return of the Jedi. I was just zooming down these narrow dirt paths trying to take the sharp curves so that I don't go smack into the trees. The track is built so that most of the time, if you're quick enough you can just pull out the stops and not bother braking, just using your downward momentum to carry you up the next hill. Some of these bends you're actually riding on the trench wall! Half the time I'm hanging on for dear life because the bike is bouncing up and down so hard I'm almost getting thrown off of it. Good things I left everything but my backpack and water "pannier" at the hostel.

I try and find Genesis and someone tells me there's a little MTB track that leads into it. I should have asked him what grade it was, because it was rocky as hell with really steep falls. I took a little spill, but everything was sweet as. Genesis is only a grade 3, but I think it's a bit out of my league -- there was a huge hill to climb at the start, and there's a lot of lesser hills as well. I can't just zoom around the track like I did with the dipper. It's still fun though, and I'm determined to carry on even after 3 spills. Unfortunately by the 3rd spill my brakes have worked their way into the rear rim somehow -- I stop to adjust them, but I'm having trouble. I finally realize to my dismay that the rear wheel is buckled!

When Hayden gave me the bike he told me the wheel needed some work. Arthur over Mechanical Tempest Bike @ 128 Abel Smith St, an anarchist house, helped me true the wheel. Arthur told me the thing might go out of whack again, but after a week or so riding around town it seemed to be fine. I took a spoke key along just in case. Still, now's not the time and place to try tuning it up. I'm forced to carry the bike off the track and out of the park, I soon realize it's easier to put the thing on my back. On the way out I manage to hitch a ride from another MTBer into town, which is fortunate because it's probably around 5km or so into town.

I run into Rotorua cycles and they tell me they do wheel truing, but they won't get to it until monday -- there's a single speed race in town, so I guess they're busy preparing people for that, and ANZAC day is Saturday, so all the shops are closed until 1:00 an some of them won't open at all. Looks like I might be stranded here awhile.


My roommates in the dorm are three asian guys, two of them in their fourties or fifties, one of them a younger guy. One of the older ones snores so loudly and obnoxiously that I have trouble sleeping, and I can hear the younger asian guy toss and turn fitfully as well. Somehow, I drift off.

Day 14: Ride to Rotorua

April 21.


Distance Clocked: 90.964
Average Speed: 15.8 km/hr
Time Pedalling: 5:45:44
Total Distance (Since Palmerston North): 394.73

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Went over to the isite to pick up some rotorua brochures, saw Hannah there. We walked over to woolworths to get some groceries, afterwards had a chat with an english fellow doing a cycle tour himself, with his girlfriend. He had a bike custom built for the trip, said he was impressed that I was doing it on the bike I have. We were going in different directions, but maybe we'll see each other later on down the road. Said goodbye to Hannah and hit the road to Rotorua.

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It was a little tough until I warmed up, and not long after that it was nothing but flat road all the way to Reporoa, which is about 40km from Rotorua.

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On the way out from Reporoa, I passed a couple in their fifties cycling down the road, I cycled beside them for a bit and asked them if I was going the right way. They seemed astonished that I was going all the way to Rotorua until I told them I'd come from Taupo. I tried to assure them it really wasn't that big of a deal.

As I get closer I see some pretty cool steam vents:

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I had considered going to Orakei Korako, an isolated and supposedly very beautiful thermal park in between Taupo and Rotorua, but it's out of the way of the route I'm taking. Geoffrey also informed me about Wai-o-Tapu, a DOC thermal site in between Taupo and Rotorua. I looked it up on Google maps last night but for some reason it showed me that it was pretty much in Rotorua, so I figured Geoffrey was just wrong -- but sure enough, Wai-o-Tapu's just off of Highway 5. Unfortunately it's already 5:00, so they're probably closed, but I cycle over there anyway to check it out -- who knows, maybe I can camp near a hot spring!

Yeah, they're closed, too bad, but on my way out I do pass a really cool bubbling mud pool which I admire for a while:

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I have to climb long, but not too steep hills 15km or so outside of the city, but they soon drop off to some long falls. It's getting really dark and my bike light is slipping. It's so cold, partially from the wind that I have to put on my gloves and stick a handwarmer inside. I don't know whether it's just an optical illusion or if it's dark or what, but it almost seems like I'm getting pulled up some of these hills -- I must actually be going downhill, but that's not what it looks like! Edit: I am now of the opinion that what actually happened that night was I was actually going uphill, and was simply conserving downward momentum well while being aided by a very favorable tailwind.

I hear singing and chanting, I wonder if I'm passing one of those Maori village tourist attractions. I can't really tell.

I'm in Rotorua! It's cold so I stop into a BP for a hot chocolate to reward myself for getting there. Looking for a place to park my bike, I wheel around to the side of the gas station and see four girls sitting there with bags and blankets. I assume they're hitchhikers or something, and ask them if they know where there's a campground, and they say they're looking for one too. I tell them I've got a book with a list of campgrounds, and that I'll look one up and let them know after I grab my drink.

Turns out these girls are only 15, and are waiting out in the cold for a friend to go camping. They've all lied to their parents and told them they were staying at each other's houses. I stay and chat with them for a bit until their friend comes to make sure they're allright. Then I try and find the Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park in the dark. It's $14, prices are going up the further north I go it seems. But they've got free hot pools, which is just what I can use. They close in 45 minutes though, so I'd better hurry and set up!

I set up in record time just as someone comes running over to see if I need any help, and take a dunk with a travelling american couple and a resident canadian, they talk politics and a lot of bunk I'm not really interested in listening to right now -- I mean, you take a holiday from the states and all you want to talk about is fuel prices? Ah well, to each their own.

Day 13: Taupo

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April 20

Weather is, as promised, less than great this morning. No downpours just yet, but overcast and cold drizzle is not generally something wonderful to wake up to and have to break camp. At least I'm basically already in Taupo. The first order of business will be to replace my pedal(s). Since I'm not going to blow the cash on skydiving, and I did my Lake business in Turangi, I'm not sure that I'll really stay that long here -- Have a look around to see if there's anything interesting, maybe find an internet cafe, and then just shoot on to Rotorua, about 50k to the north.

It's a pleasantly gradual uphill ride into town, and I'm reminded a bit of the ride into Taihape. The difference is all the motels on the side of the road, and the Lake to my left, which is nice to look at after all despite the weather. A sign tells me that I'm on the "Thermal Explorer Highway," complete with a little glyph of a fire. That's cool, I was told there were thermal pools here and stuff, even though I thought that was Rotorua's claim to fame. I guess it stands to reason that the whole area is geothermally active though, considering the stuff I saw in Tokaanu, the volcanoes in Tongariro National Park just to the south, and again the fact that Lake Taupo was itself formed in a volcanic eruption.

I'm not in town yet, at least not what seems like a CBD, but I notice a little shopping center and decide to take a closer look to see if I can find a cycle shop. I notice an outdoor place towering behind the main shopping center, so I cut through because cycle shops tend to be near outdoor places in Wellington. The guy in the outdoor place points me to a cycle shop just down the street, and I pop in and take a look at the pedals. I buy some metal alloy pedals for $30, and the guy tells me they've got a little shop area where I can put them on. Actually the mechanic there offers to do it for me, but these pedals have the wrong kind of thread, so I'm forced to upgrade to $45 pedals (at a $5 discount). the mechanic advises me of a backroad to Rotorua which avoids a lot of traffic and some hills. Cool.

A little ways out of town the weather turns really bad, nasty headwinds make a small hill really intimidating, and I'm just not in the mood to cycle in this so I head back to town to see if I can find an icafe to kill some time till the weather's better (good luck, right?) I wind up paying $6.50 to soak in a heated public pool, which includes unlimited use of the steam room and sauna. I watch the families and kids -- never had a chance to observe kiwi "suburbia" quite like this before. Not sure what the policy is here with the steam room & sauna so I leave my swimsuit on. It's a nice warm escape from the cold outside.

The weather hasn't gotten any better and I'm still making decent time so I book into a backpackers. Urban Something Or Other. I've been really impressed with the quality of the hostels here overall, they're practically like resorts for backpackers. The irish guy behind the front desk, which is also a bar, is friendly and laid back and puts up with all my dumb questions with lots of "no worries." They've got $5 chili meals and I can't make myself dinner for that price, so I go for it. Over dinner and really cheap alcohol I have a nice long chat with Erin, a pink-slipped Wisconsonian interior decorator who lives in Seattle now, Hannah, from Munich, and an English fellow named David. Hannah's living in British Columbia now and invites me to crash there at some point. Apparently Hannah is considered a fancy name in Germany. Go figure.

Well, hope the weather's better tomorrow, I'm really looking forward to Rotorua. Goodnight.

Day 11, 12: Lake Taupo Region

April 18
Distance Clocked: 61.151
Time Pedalling: 2:54:31
Average Speed: 21.0 km/hr
Cumulative roadkill/smelly truck ratio: 20/10

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Yesterday I left my bike chained down the hill in the cafe area, and David's lock is on there too so I have to wait until he or Jenny can go down there with me to unlock it. The power is out so I use my gas stove to boil tea for the work party, and then I make David one when he comes back from an errand.

I get down there a little later in the day, 11 perhaps, and am all rarin' to go after my few days 'rest.' (well, from cycling anyway). Unfortunately, my motivation is sapped a little when I discover that somehow or other, possibly from being in the back of the truck for a few days with stuff piled on top of it, half of one of my pedals has broken off. They're just plastic,so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I take it for a spin around the parking lot and it's a little bit uncomfortable but seems to go fine. Jenny tells me there's a cycle shop in Turangi where I can get them replaced.

By the time I finally head out, the previously beautiful sky is now difficult to see through a thin layer of fog, and it's getting a bit chilly. Going down bruce road is quite the adrenaline rush, especially given that my brakes need tightening up! (they work fine enough in most situations so I've just been procrastinating). the first 20ks or so whizz by, and I need to stop to put on gloves because my hands are freezing from the speed and the changed weather. Except a few k's later I need to take my jacket off because the sun's come up now! The rest of the ride is quite smooth with some gradual uphills. The scenery is wild & untamed, there are no farms. I'm passing through the whole national park area after all. There's some sort of plant that looks like a big white feather on a stick all through this area, and in general the region doesn't look like anything else I've seen in new zealand. I pass by Ruapehu, Ngaruhoe,and Tongariro one last time.

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Once I get to Turangi I'm quite tired, I book into a hostel that has a tenting site, $12. prices are going up. I put my tent in the wrong area and slightly regret it because I notice there's a bicycle right next to a yellow tent in the proper tenting area, perhaps we could have chatted.

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Somehow not registering that the New World is right next to the campground, I decide I can't be fussed to go shopping and make do with my budget brand 89c canned spaghetti for dinner. gradually a party of 25 university of auckland students trickles in to the kitchen, and they're pretty noisy and obnoxious, which I dont' really want to deal with in my tired state, so I finish quickly. I say hello to one of them outside and it turns out they're down here to raft the Tongariro River. The lady at the checkout later mentions that they pull out various dams at different times which creates exciting rafting conditions, and they've just pulled out a few. I'd love to do something like that, but of course I don't have a group to go with. The internet kiosk here's a pain in the butt, I have to buy three 20 minute time codes and can only top up once I'm in the last 5 minutes of the current one. I ask the checkout lady about the weather tomorrow and it looks like it's going to be less than pleasant. The general word is that it's going to be like that for a little while, so I think rather than go to Taupo tomorrow I'll just enjoy the good weather here and do some fishing or something like that.

=======April 19===========

Distance Clocked: 58.79km
Average speed: 17.1 km/hr
Time pedalling: 3:26:23
Total distance since palmerston north: 283.77km

I ask around in Turangi about cycle stores but there are none -- i guess I'll have to wait till Taupo to replace my pedal. Turangi is a mid-sized town on the Southern Edge of lake Taupo, in case I hadn't mentioned. Lake Taupo was formed relatively recently, geologically speaking at least, when a volcano in the middle of the north island erupted and left a gigantic crater in it's place. Apparently fishing is Turangi's claim to fame, they've got heaps of trout here, fly fishing and trolling both seem to be popular. I asked around yesterday about hiring some fishing gear (i've got some tackle but I left my $20 kid's pole in wellington), and though I've had days on my tour where I've really wanted to do relax in the sun and read a book and do nothing but sit with my pole in the water, I'm not really feeling it today. Besides I can fish back home. So I decide to enjoy the last-good-weather-day-for-awhile by cycling the 10k west to Tokaanu and go kayaking.

I pull up to Wai Maori and sure enough, the lady who helps me is Maori. Her name's Tui. I pause. "Oh, like the bird." I don't say, "like the beer." This should score me points, but somehow it doesn't.

After a needlessly confusing refresher on paddling (i've done this plenty of times in florida) I'm off! At first the stream isn't anything special, you can tell it *isn't* a canal in florida but somehow it's qualitatively the same. But after less than 30 minutes of paddling the stream opens into Tokaanu Bay, which is presumably part of Lake Taupo. it's a little overcast, but there's no one else out here really, which is a bonus. I paddle over to the Western edge of the Bay and with the aid of the map I find the steaming cliffs and the private waterfall. I sit here awhile and just enjoy being where I am.

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15 minutes later or so I turn around, paddle past the wharf and the marina, and back towards a wider stream which forms a near circuit with the one I just came out of. I pass a small mountain covered in trees, whose name I cannot recall but is something like Mangananaganui. Yeah. Thereabouts the stream flows into some sort of hydroelectric plant so I have to take my kayak out of the water and carry it over to where the canal begins.


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Now I'm pretty much following SH41 on my way back downstream. As I splash down in my kayak, the water is clear, the vegetation has a different character entirely. and it's absolutely beautiful. I'm actually so happy paddling down this little canal that I laugh a few times as I go.

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As I near the starting point, I pass the DOC thermal area which powers the hot pools that I went to with the Sherlocks a couple of days ago. It's awfully mysterious floating past bubbling mud and steaming hot water! I beach myself for a closer look:

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...and am lucky I don't burn my foot of as it slips into warm mud that I thought was solid ground. Tui warned me the water in this area can be scalding.

I consider camping in Turangi tonight but I'm refreshed and in such a good mood that I decide to continue on to Taupo. It's not all downhill, but there's no fierce uphills at first. This area is really pretty as well, kind of reminds me of new england in autumn. Or maybe it's just that it's autumn. I don't remember wellington being this colorful at this time of year. There's also still not too many farms, it's mostly open forest by the side of the road, which could make good camping in an emergency. Somewhere along the line I pass a small, inconspicous sign that notes that it's 330km to wellington and 330km to auckland, which makes this the halfway point between the two cities. at this point, however, I'm planning to arrive in auckland by way of whakatane, so it won't be my halfway point. the road passes by lake Taupo for a good portion of the ride, which is a treat, especially when it gets darker and you can see the lights of the city of Taupo across the water. There's lots of downhills, but as Taupo edges closer there's some more uphills as well. As the light fades I'm thinking I'll just camp immediately south of Taupo, perhaps by the lake.

About 15km from Taupo there's a really long hill to climb. I move to the side of the road to rehydrade and take off my jacket. Once I head out again there's a truck by the side of the road. I pull up and ask if he's okay. He's fine, he's there to see if I wanted a ride.I ask him how much further the hill is. He says it's not much longer, but I've still got a way to Taupo. I tell him thanks but I'll be fine. Honestly, what is it with these kiwis? Real nice people, but enablers. I gotta do this on my own guys!

The hill is quite a bit further. I take a few rests before I'm done. Eventually it ends, and now it is all downhill from here.It's a bit dark and spooky, there are these hilly figures on the sides of the road which block the lake, which is disappointing. I don't know whether they're landfills or natural or what. There's another car by the side of the road, and these guys are outside fiddling around in the trunk. I inquire after their health. He says he'll be fine as soon as he changes the tyre. It's an older couple so I offer to help but he and his wife are fine.

It's not too much further before I see the "Welcome to Taupo!" sign, and just beyond that is a "scenic lookout." I decide to see if I can find camping there. There's plenty of space and lots of picnic benches. Unfortunately the "scene" is behind a fence a few hundred metres. I hop the fence and get closer to the lake but the ground is really not pleasant to walk on, so I double back and make camp on the nearer side of the fence behind a bushy tree. I later wish I'd camped further back the road, as there are cars coming through here practically all night to enjoy the "scenic" lookout. Honestly there's not much to look at at night. It's better in the morning:

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Day 10: Because It Is There

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Ruapehu Beckons

Last night David and I looked over my DOC map of the Ruhapehu summit area and more or less figured out the route we would take. We decided to take the ski chairlift to 2240 metres and hike from there, with an ultimate goal of viewing the crater lake at the summit (around 2797). Supposedly one doesn't actually go the full height, I guess there's the risk of noxious fumes or falling over the edge or something. I figure the chairlift isn't really cheating-- if you're going to climb Everest I'm pretty sure you don't start from the bottom anyway, you get helicoptered to the hard part and cut out the B.S. Besides my quads are still sore, so piss off!

So the real hike will start right past the Knoll Ridge T-bar and we'll inch our way slightly west over Restful Ridge where the incline isn't quite so steep. This will take us right past the Whakapapa Glacier on our right, at approximately 2400 vertical meters. If all goes well, we'll see Glacier knob on our left before we get up onto the summit plateau, and things will be nice and easy as we go past the Dome and in sight of the Crater Lake.

There's always the chance David will have to stay in the lodge and look over the "work party" (they're basically putting in a new kitchen in case I hadn't mentioned it), but Jenny and the kids are coming along regardless. Let's just hope the beautiful weather holds!

Next morning is slightly hectic getting everyone together, there's a bit of fretting over whether there's enough water. I've got nearly 4 liters, which is more than enough to share, so I'm not sure what the problem is. But we board the first chairlift and off we go!

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Cheating: The first chairlift

As we near the end of the second chairlift we can see the knoll ridge cafe has totally been burned to the foundation. The second chairlift landing station which is nearby has also been damaged, but it's been sort of patched together with wooden planks and whatnot.

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They're ready for a tramp up the mountain!

David's watch can actually keep track of our vertical ascent. We stop frequently for snacks, like over here at an emergency shelter:

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Jenny's using her ski poles to help her get across the incredibly rocky terrain, and I'm really impressed at 7 year old jay who's leaping his way across these boulders and not complaining one bit or asking "are we there yet?" Although he will sometimes bug his parents for attention when he's got something to say ;)

We're not the only ones doing this hike, although perhaps there's a bit less than you'd expect. Certainly far less than the Tongariro Crossing, but that is a marked route after all, and this is not. All the way up there are spectacular views of Mt. Ngaruhoe and the plateau, although to be honest Ruhapehu itself is a bit of an ugly wasteland of scoria. The Glacier's definitely cool though!

From cycling new zealand 2

It's pretty easy to get traction on this terrain at first, but eventually it gets sandy and difficult to hold onto. As we get closer to the summit the incline also gets hella steep and I'm definitely climbing as opposed to hiking, my backpack is practically climbing over my head. I'm surprised Hamish hasn't spilled out of his Dad's backpack!

We can see a sort of cliff-ridge thing up ahead which we'll have to skirt around to get to the summit, but we reach a bottleneck of sorts with a group up ahead. everyone's kind of going single file across the only navigable bit of the mountain at this point, I'm bringing up the tail end. We get substantially delayed waiting to pass. Some of our party are having difficulty holding on and are very uncomfortable about continuing, so the decision is made to pull the plug and head back down. A bit disappointing, but I had a good time regardless!

From cycling new zealand 2

A view from approximately 2760 meters up Mt. Ruhapehu (37 from the summit)

I was originally going to head off to Turangi/Taupo today, but I'm quite tired from the hike and David says I can crash again. So I do. A bunch of other Ski Club people come to help out with putting in the new kitchen, and I help out with cooking chili, although Chef David (as he actually is) teases me for the way I chopped the onions and steps in to rescue the situation. But the Chili comes out allright, if a bit mild for my taste. I swear, I don't know what it is with Kiwis and their sensitive pallete! Chili ain't right unless you're steaming out of the ears, right hombre?

Day 9: Being Lazy on the Pathway of the Prophets

From cycling new zealand 2

A view of Mt. Ngaruhoe as viewed from Mt. Ruhapehu

I wake up in the ski lodge bunkroom and look out the window onto the mountain, it's foggy outside. Go figure, eh? I go out and have some breakfast, hardboiled eggs from the day before.They're a bit dusty. I meet the kids, Jay, 7, and Hamish, 3. Also Nick's girl, Gemma (Jenna?). They may be young but they're precocious, and both of David's kids ski. I help make them some breakfast as well.

From cycling new zealand 2

Above:What passes for civilization on Mt. Ruhapehu. A cafe and a shop that sells ski equipment.

I walk down the mountain a ways with David to the Cafe and we chat a bit over drinks. Then we bring up the "ut" to the ski lodge. It's a bit of a rollercoaster ride going up the hill over a "path" made of huge freaking stones and you can understand why you're not allowed to drive up it after 5pm. I help David a bit with some lifting, then go down with Jenny and the kids to play some frisbee:

From cycling new zealand 2

In winter this area is the beginner's skiing zone.

We walk down a bit further and watch a helicopter load cement into a vessel for transporting up the mountain:

From cycling new zealand 2

They're rebuilding new zealand's highest cafe (Knoll Bridge), which caught fire (arson) 8 weeks ago. I wonder whether it was Maori activists? Despite the fact that tongariro national park was created from a gift by a consortium of maori tribes to new zealand people and the world, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing is still controversial. Later I find out things aren't so cut and dry -- there's what's called the "gifted" area, which is the actual summits of the mountains, roughly speaking. Tongariro national park was expanded by a great degree (the original gift area was a few hundred hectares, the park is now nearly 8000 hectares) by government purchase of surrounding area. The gifted area has tighter restrictions on what can be built, etc. So perhaps the Cafe is right on the border of the "not-gifted-area" and is seen as somewhat offensive by it's encroachment, who knows.

From cycling new zealand 2

The Iwikau Ski lodge, where I bunked last night.

Back up at the lodge I hold some stainless steel benches together so Nick can clamp them together for welding, and he tells me about a sort of "shop" competition that he lost when he got distracted by a pretty lady in a red miniskirt. How Keanu Reeves. "Were you paying attention to me, Neo, or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?"

David tells me the work's taking a bit longer than expected so we'll go up the mountain first thing in the morning. That's allright, I can use a little downtime.

Later we drive over to Whakapapa Village and let the Department of Conservation know that we're reckless bastards who value cheap thrills over human life, and are going up the tallest mountain in the North Island tomorrow so we can see a little ditch with water inside of it. We will, of course, have to ring them tomorrow to let them know that we're still alive.

Then we head over to Tokaanu, on the southwestern edge of Lake Taupo. There's a Department of Conservation Thermal Baths, just what I need for my legs. I stretch in the hot water and listen to David tell me about training for the Speights Coast to Coast challenge. It's this huge athletic event which involves running, biking, kayaking your way from one coast of the south island to the other. I remember Vic telling me about this back in Palmerston North and how you have to qualify for it and everything, but I still think it would be fun to get in shape and come back and give it a shot sometime.

Anyway it seems like David's trained for it a couple of times, or for similar events, and stuff always seemed to go awry, especially on the bicycle portion, wrong sized tyres, etc. Kayak mishaps that ended with half a dozen people shivering in an emergency shelter. Fun stuff. This is obviously where the real New Zealand is at, I think I somehow realized that when I decided to go on this cycle tour. No wonder I was bored out of my mind in Wellington for the last few months, everyone was out of the city doing crazy adventure sports and athletic competitions. I've had quite a number of people come up to me already and tell me about their own cycle tours, I know this happens in the states but I'm certain it's much rarer. Anyway it's fun to be a part of it in a small way.

From cycling new zealand 2

Day 8: Touring, touring, it's never boring

Man, I was so tired last night, and I could barely move my legs to the point where I just booked into the backpackers that the shuttle dropped us off at rather than attempt the impossible and pedal th 3k back to the campground.

Have a leisurely morning (wake up at 7) I check out at 10, and I'm not quite settled on what I'm doing today. Kurt Russell gives me directions to get out of the plateau area, says I should go up the west road, but I'm not sure if I want to do any major cycling today anyway.

I think I'll just rest for most of the day, maybe look into fishing or something else that doesn't use my legs, like kayaking on the Whanganui river.

Unfortunately, it seems that none of the kayaking places will rent to single paddlers for safety reasons. So that's out. I'll need a day fishing license, which isn't really a problem, but it doesn't seem like I can really get to any good fishing sites close to Ohakune, so I guess I'll just chill out around here for part of the day.

I talk to my grandfather on the phone for awhile, he's down in florida visiting from virginia he seems to be doing allright.

A maori kid with a bleached emo/hipster haircut sees my bike and asks me how far I've come. I tell him I started the biking leg from masterton, and he's all wowed and whatever.

You know, it would be a damn shame to leave this area and not do more. I pedalled through a lot of middle of nowhere towns to get here, and I haven't even really seen Mt. Ruhapehu. Then I remember that Whakapapa village, north of here, is actually an entry point into the park. it's about 40k or so, I can have a leisurely day of cycling and camp out in the area, then see Mt. Ruhapehu tomorrow once I"m rested.

So that's what I do. Before I head out the Maori kid catches me and thrusts $1.80 into my hand. I ask what it's for, and he says for whatever I need. I protest and try to give it back but he won't take it.

Unfortunately I don't get out of town until about 2pm and I've seriously underestimated my need to rest. That's ok, I don't really care what time I get there, and I take plenty of rests. about 30k or so up the road while I'm resting, I turn off my bike lights so nobody can see me, I don't need to worry anyone thinking that I'm injured or having mechanical trouble.

Turns out that I've been seen anyway -- a pickup truck heading in the other direction asks me if I'm allright. "Yup, sweet as, just resting." They want to know if I need a ride, but I decline, really I'm allright. They swing back around -- it turns out they're going a few kilometers up the road, and I guess that's not cheating too bad, so I take the offer after all and chuck my bike in the back of the "ut" -- utility truck.

David, the driver, and Nick are doing a "work party" up at the Iwikau ski lodge which is actually on Mt. Ruhapehu and invite me to crash up there. Well that's super convenient, because otherwise I'd still have to bike up Bruce Rd tomorrow (which leads to the base of the mountain, another 14-20km or so of hilly as road before I begin my trek -- and i'm still dirt tired and could use a decent bed.

David and Nick are fun guys, and the ski lodge is quite cozy -- I meet Jenny, David's wife. it turns out she's something of a cyclist herself. She's qualified for some triathlon or something in Australia in September. She's a bit tired from dealing with the kids all day, and is reading a book which I later find out is Graeme Obree's autobiography -- the manic depressive cyclist who won the world hour (beat the world hour?) with a bike designed from washing machine parts. I snuck a peek at the book later on, and it turns out despite the fact that he was known for time trials, at the beginning of his cycling career he was really into long distance and touring as well.

Anyway, David actually says he might be interested in going up the mountain tomorrow with me -- whether it's out of genuine interest or whether he just doesn't want to see some tourist kid kill himself on the tallest alpine mountain in the north island, I don't know, but hey I'm not gonna refuse -- it'll be good to have the company, and he's been skiing up here for years, so I'm assuming he knows the mountain fairly well.

I'm really tired, so I say goodnight. Well, I didn't get too far on the bike today (32.6km, with about 10-20 hitching) but it's certainly been interesting!

Day 7: Tongariro Crossing

From cycling new zealand

Mt. Ngaruhoe from the east.

Today I'm doing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. It's an 8 hour hike which passes between Mt. Tongariro & Mt. Ngaruhoe. Tongariro, Ngaruhoe, and Mt. Ruhapehu (the tallest mountain in the north island) form the center of Tongariro National Park, which was created from a gift by a local Maori tribe to the New Zealand Government in order that they might be preserved for all time. This is an alpine environment, so I'm well prepared -- I have polypropylene overpants, thermal pants, enough food for a day and a half, a first aid kid, a space blanket...

The walk begins and ends in different places, so I've had to get a shuttle to take me there and pick me up.

Heading to Matai shuttles from the campground, the road is slick with dew or rain, and I'm there at 6:00am, an hour before the shuttle leaves. I use the hostel facilities to dry my sweatshirt & towel, and make breakfast.

The driver reminds me of a kiwi Kurt Russel, loudly gregarious he gives us some local history and fills us in on the essential need to knows of the Tongariro Crossing. Essentials like the fact that Ngaruhoe was Mt. Doom in Lord of the Rings, it's actually a parisitic cone of the Tongariro volcano. Summit hikes up either Tongariro or Ngaruhoe are optional.

On the hike up, I chat with an english guy (nottingham), an ex-enron engineer who tells me all about the intricacies of building a power station in Manilla. The sunscreen starts to run off my forehead into my eyes, so I tell him I'll see him further down the track and wipe it out of my eyes.

My quads are really burning -- I thought hiking would be a rest from biking, but I guess you really do use the same muscles after all. At this rate I won't have the time to do the 3hr return up the summit of Ngaruhoe and still meet the shuttle, so I reluctantly continue on the trail. However, I do catch a spectacular view of Meads Wall:

From cycling new zealand

which was a major filming site in lord of the rings, I believe.


Fortunately a little further up there's a marked path up the summit of Tongariro which is only 1 +1/2 hour return, so I climb up that sucker and nearly fall off the side about a dozen times, but I get to see some snow,

From cycling new zealand

and the view of the valley is spectacular. I sit up there for a few minutes and think about how awesome it would be to live in the mountains, away from the nasty mess of civilization. On the way back to the main trail is a view of blue lake:

From cycling new zealand

The weather up here is really beautiful, and I'm actually hot in my thermals and jacket. I guess I came a bit over-prepared, but hey, better safe than sorry.

back at the main trail, I run into the israeli kids from last night. We come up on red crater:

From cycling new zealand

and then the emerald lakes. I wish I had time to swim in them, they smell of sulphur and are probably geothermally hot. but I've got to move ass if I'm going to make the shuttle. I move fast enough that I slip and tear the damn overpants.

From cycling new zealand

The walk finishes in an awesome wooded area. By the time I'm out my legs are completely shattered, and I practically fall asleep waiting for the shuttle. But it was great fun! The only thing I regret is that this walk didn't take us that close ot Mt. Ruhapehu, which is a bit further south of Ngaruhoe. As it is with my legs being shot, maybe I'll stay and rest for a day and then go up Ruhapehu? We'll see...

From cycling new zealand

DOOM! (mt. ngaruhoe)

Day 6

Distance Clocked Today: 62.327
Maximum Speed: 61 km/h
Average Speed: 13.1 km/h
Time pedalling: 4:40:57

Confident that i will reach Tongariro national park today, I manage to get in the zone pretty quickly and before you know it, it feels like I'm going a constant 20km/h! I'm concentrating much more on using the momentum from the downhills to get me up the uphills easier, and I'm actually using my left shifter, although it's making an nasty grinding noise.

I reach Waiourou, about 30km from the campsite, seemingly on the edge of Tongariro National Park. Tongariro Nat. Park is huge though, and I'm not sure if Waiourou is actually a point of entry or whether I have to go to one of these other towns all along the edge of the park. So I ask at the army museum, turns out I need to go to Ohakune, another 30ks. Okay, not bad. I stop for lunch & coffee and listen to a couple of bikers who've just come back from a rally in the south island. There are no supermarkets here, I don't ask whether everyone just buys their food from the garage (gas stations)

From dms

Heading off again, the scenery is very Lord of the Rings, I even catch my first glimpse of a north island mountain on right:


View Larger Map

I also pass the Tangiwei Disaster Memorial, a beautiful garden oasis on the side of the road. I wonder what kind of a disaser? Later I find out that Mount Ruhapeu (which is probably the mountain pictured) has a crater lake which overflowed and drowned a whole village.

I pause for breath near a truck depot and a trucker pulling out informs me that it's downhill all the way to Taupo!

As I get into Ohakune and am greeted by a statue of a big carrot. I wonder what they grow here. It looks like I shouldn't have used that left shifter after all, the chain has just popped off, as well as a little plastic guard.

From dms

I put the chain back on and leave the plastic guard off, I don't think it's actually necessary and I don't know if I have enough screws to put it back on anyway.

I buy a shuttle ticket to Tongariro Crossing at the isite, it turns out that the track begins and ends in different places, and you need someone to pick you up. I buy some thermal underwear (long johns) and nylon overpants to keep my jeans dry. I have no idea what the conditions up there are like but I'm prepared for the worst.

I pedal out to the DOC campground, it's really dark and I can't find the actual campsite so I just camp by the picnic area. Tomorrow I'll be hiking up the mountains!

Day 5

(pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/wedemandoblivion/Dms )

Distance travelled: 68.1 km

Use up the last of the iso-butane to make myself soup, decide to forgo the instant coffee -- I'm trying to purge myself of substances, albeit gradually!

The early start (around 7:30) has me hopeful for the day, and the road is beautiful! Autumn's definitely here, and these country roads are positively idyllic. I would have snapped some more photos, but I was zooming past the scenery downhill at close to 60kmh! Of course there were some uphill climbs as well. So it's still a bit difficult going but the weather gets really nice and sunny around noon. I stop for lunch between some high hills and put on some sunscreen. When I stop to catch my breath occasionally, people in pickup trucks will slow down and ask how I'm doing now and then. That's nice of them.

I pass a beautiful gorge area, this is the kind of scenery that's closer to what I imagined NZ would be like. Downhill all through this area!

From dms

As I rejoin route 1, traffic zooms by -- people coming back from easter weekend. It's a long, long, but not too steep hill to Tahiape. Then we get some more ups and downs, more down then up! These are the kinds of proportions that life should be made of -- a little had work and 2-3 times the fun!

The welcome to Taihape sign has got a big gumboot on it. I guess it's their mascot. Later on I pass a big colorful sculpture of gumboot. Turns out they have some sort of boot throwing festival here?

From dms

I finally get into Taihape as dark comes down and I'm stoked at today's accomplishment -- 65ks, not bad! I get a mocha at the wild bean in the petrol station to warm me up and wake me up, and ask about the campground in the area. it's right out of town. New world is closed for easter, so I hope the campground is open! I called them twice but no answer.

It's super dark pedalling out the campground, I'm glad I have that headlight.

The campground's open! I pay the $10 to the sleepy looking Maori/Islander and pedal over to the white box he pointed to. I hear Hebrew. "Are you guys Israeli?" I sit down at the bench and introduce myself, they're four 23 year olds on a several month long Aussie/NZ tour. I puff some N'argilah (hookah) and we smoke some other things as well. Fun, friendly guys! They invite me to put down my tent closer to where they're camped, and even help me set up in the dark. They share some cookies and stuff. Rambunctious, but I would be too if I'd just gotten out of the army. Turns out they're going to Tongariro tomorrow as well, maybe we can meet up. They giggle like schoolboys in the tents, I wonder what they're doing in there?


As I scribble these notes down in my tent, there's a ladybug. They say ladybugs are a good omen.

Tomorrow, Tongariro!!



View Larger Map

Day 4

(pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/wedemandoblivion/Dms , will attach to post when I have a chance)

Headed out a little later than I wanted to, but that's ok, I needed the R & R last night. I do some shopping at countdown and Kmart, get some groceries, a replacement cycle computer, and some good (but cheap!) gloves to replace the ones I thought I'd lost. I don't wind up hitting the road until noon.

Road to Fielding was windy as, I felt like I was going in circles (or rather, squares.) Headwinds, a bit of drizzle. Having a bit of trouble with the cycle computer, I kept the old magnet and it keeps moving out of place when I go downhill at 55kmh. So I replace it and everything works fine.

Fielding's a moderate sized city, smaller than Palmerston North but still with its own little shopping area and a few cafes. Quirk architecture. Good character overall. Most things are still closed for Easter weekend.

Out of Fielding going's pretty hard, I don't know whether it's the late start, the weather's getting me down (it was supposed to be nice today) or if I pushed myself too hard the second day and still need to recover, or of it's just that I know I probably won't wind up anywhere interesting tonight.

Decide to go up a country road rather than take route 54, hoping that if I make good distance this will take me close to the DOC campground in Ruahine forest park, otherwise it's too far out of the way. As the day progresses though I realize I probably won't make it there.

Well, there are less interesting places to end up than illegally camping practically on the street between a building and a recreational park in BFE Kimbolton.

From dms

At least there's a bathroom with a toilet and sink a fence hop away, and sort of bleacher/picnic bench a short walk across the park. It's easter weekend so I know there's probably no one around to bust me, but I'm still a bit paranoid, especially when a car pulls up in the early morning with its radio going. Of course they just wanted to use the loo. Here's to a better day!

From dms

View Larger Map

Day 3

Had the Alarm set for 5:10 but woke up around 5:30 and it was already way too bright outside. Bad sign, I really hope no one sees me as I sneak over the chicken wire with my bike. Damn I've got an adrenaline rush. I pedal out the way I came but there's a gate: I guess I didn't come that way after all. I go out the only other way but there are...farm animals? I guess they're using them for nefarious experiments. Ok, back to where I started and I can see that the gate isn't even locked, they must have closed it after I snuck in last night.

I snap a photo of the aformentioned sign, no velociraptors, which is surprising because I could swear I heard one last night:

From farewell & cycle trip part 1

Trying to find my way out between houses that have been converted into labs of some sort, I see a middle aged guy run like hell between them, and I hope he's not running after me. Damn sheep must have had radios on them. Everything seems to have been fenced off since last night, and I have to maneuver my bike through bushes to get out back onto the road. Once on the median, I adjust my bags and have a hot cross bun -- my stomach is rumbling. But I feel great!


I pedal towards town and find a nice sized park with a huge kiddies park inside it, all sorts of weird playground toys and buildings around some picnic tables. Some weird contraption that could be a grill (it smells like cooking oil), a sink, a liquid waste disposal unit (it is near some rubbish bins) or possibly a sacrificial altar with a blood drainage system.

From farewell & cycle trip part 1

I have a generous breakfast and reactivate my handwarmers in some boiling water, reorganize my backpack, and enjoy sitting in the park. Wish I'd camped here last night, there are some wooded areas I could have tented in and I don't think I would have been nearly as nervous about being caught in this idyllic setting.

Since it's only 8:00 and I'm thinking I'll have a bit of a rest this morning, I text ---- and let him know he's welcome to come and meet me here if he wants. Of course he wants me to do the research, so I pedal into town to find out about buses & backpackers for him.

The isite is closed and it's already past 9, the sign on the door says 9, what the hell? I ask a maintenance guy if it's a public holiday, it's good friday of course. Wait around till 10, sign on the door says they open at 10 on public holidays. Nothing. this whole town is shut down. And I was hoping to get some shopping done. What's the point of being in Palmerston North if everything's closed?

I find the bus station and find the timetables and price, let ---- know the story. While I'm waiting for his reply I order a filter coffee (their espresso coffee is all fake) and have a nice chat with an older woman taking the bus from wellington to gisborne to visit her mother. She gives me some travel tips. ---- still needs the backpacker info. there's an accomodation list outside the isite, Ashhurst Domain is $7 on napier road and he's on a budget, map shows napier road's not far. I decide to check it out in person rather than spend the money on a phone call. I get about 7km when I see a sign that says "ashhurst 10km." Screw that, so Ashhurst Domain is in Ashhurst, not palmerston north. Well I'm not going all the way there, ----- can call them to find out the details.

From farewell & cycle trip part 1

Pedal back to town and realize I should probably rest today and not make for Bulls. Actually I'm tired as hell. I get another coffee and search for an internet cafe. they're open all night, big gaming night. Good Friday Gaming Night. Lousy Asian Accent Night. Ok, I'll be back, I just need to get some cigarettes somewhere in this town.

Was thinking about camping in that park, but honestly, I'm so tired I just can't be bothered. think I'm going to just check into a backpackers -- I promised myself a shower and the opportunity to wash clothes after the last coupla nights of illegal camping, and I keep my promises.

Can't really say I know what it's like to chill in Palmerston North, since it's good friday and all. But it's a nice seeming town with a central square. I spent a good deal of time chilling out there and enjoying the sunny weather today.

From farewell & cycle trip part 1

Sorta reminds me of your average suburb back home I suppose. If I had more energy and the pubs were open I'd totally go find some students to hang out with. Ah well. Better rest up. Maybe I can make it to Wanganui tomorrow. Whaddaya think? It's only 75k....


View Larger Map

Here's some fun from yesterday:

From farewell & cycle trip part 1

To keep my mind of the numbness in my fingers on the road, I've been counting occurences of roadkill. In order to matter towards the count the roadkill must be identifiable as such: no shapeless masses, I've gotta see some ears, or a tail, or a claw, or something. So far I've counted 5, which is far less than I saw in the south island. granted I've still got a ways to go. weirdly enough, the roadkill number seems to keep even pace with another number I've been keeping track of: the number of trucks that pass me and leave me with a whiff of livestock. could be wool, could be shit, could be actual animal. who knows. so so far the roadkill/smelly truck tally is 5/5. I'll keep you posted. Because I know you're waiting in breathless anticipation.

From farewell & cycle trip part 1

Look at that thing, he's in 3 pieces! Poor guy... (Hi, Natalia!)

Update: Checked into Peppertree Backpackers, very nice place. Vic, who was working there, and Miriam (UK) are friendly young women and generous with their wine. We chatted about pretty much everything, played cards and swapped scandalous stories. Was glad to meet them, Vic in particular is a counterexample to my growing hypothesis that all (presumably) native kiwi women are boring as hell. I took a much needed shower. Yay!

Day 2

Woke up at 7:15 to rain. Yuck. This made it take longer than it would normally to pack up the campsite. I used my jeans with the cycle-computer-losing hole in the pocket to towel everything off before I packed it away, and then threw them away. Cooked up some hard-boiled eggs and the rest of the sausages and debated about whether or not to dig a hole and do my business. It turns out I'm running low on water and don't know if I can spare it to wash my hands. Got a decent amount of cranberry juice though, so at least I won't get a urinary tract infection ;)

My $4 “glacier” gloves have holes in the fingers, and started to freaking hurt in the frigid air. Got out the handwarmers, cracked them and watched white snot seemingly shoot out of the metal disks to fill the plastic. Stuck them under my gloves and made a world of difference.

Eketahuna was not far at all! Unfortunately it's about 9:00 and nothing's open. Spent a very slow shopping trip getting a can of soup and hand sanitizer, and an 80c pair of gloves to go under my existing ones. Got a coffee and lamb and mint pie with green snotty mint sauce oozing out of it, all for the express purpose of using their toilet to fill up my empty cranberry juice bottle with water. Keep seeing the same people around this town, it's ridiculously small. According to Wikipedia “Eketahuna” works in Kiwi English like “Timbuktu” does in American English, and can designate anywhere in BFE.

It's funny but I keep seeing signs like “enjoy country living” as if it's the most glamorous thing in the world. Since it's obviously targeted at city folk, I can't help but wonder if “country living” has a better reputation here than in the states where farmers are without exception idiots who have sex with their daughters like Cletus on the Simpsons.

Weather is nasy all around the north island apparently, but I'm going to get out of the Eketahuna library and brave it while the sun is at it's zenith.

...........

Getting to Pahiatua was easy enough riding, weather calmed down for the most part although was still a bit cold and wet. Unfortunately it started coming down again once I reached Pahiatua. I decided since I was making good time why not keep the momentum going? I had originally been aiming to make camp in Woodville, but after looking at the map I noticed there was a shortcut route to Palmerston North:


View Larger Map

First though, stopped at New World and got some Hot Cross Buns for breakfast. (I guess the whole easter craze has managed to influence my jewish stomach if not my brain)

A woman warned me that there was "a bit of a hill" going up route 2, which I had originally planned to take, although I'd get to see some gorge or other which was quite pretty, but perhaps dangerous in the dark on a bike. There was a "hill" on the shortcut route I planned to take as well, but I decided to stick to my guns and get to Palmy by nightfall. The hill turned out to be a veritable freaking mountain so I scarfed down a few buns and some cranberry juice for energy and am not ashamed to say that I stopped for breath a few times. As it started to get dark, though, it was downhill practically all the way to Aokautere. I figured there weren't any campsites *in* Palmerston North, so I'd camp here, but...Aokautere is less of a stick town and more of a city suburb with a New World, a video store and Pacific College, what seemed like a 3rd rate university. Had to put a new screw & nut in my bike rack, one of the bottom mounts somehow came off and started scraping against the chain spoke (or whatever you call that thing.) Hope that doesn't happen again at an inopportune time. It was freaking cold so I got a hot chocolate at an italian pizzeria with real italians (!!) and after talking to a kid at the video store, decided to head for Palmy proper, thinking maybe I could camp in a park.

On the way, I passed Massey University and figured what the hell, I'll camp on the college grounds and they'll just figure I'm some student doing an ISP sponsored by John Moore or something.

Unfortunately I somehow missed Massey Proper and headed into where all the science laboratories were. after some mucking about on campus and passing about 6 "warning: hazardous chemicals" signs, found a wooded area guarded by a scary looking sign that probably said something like "Danger: landmines" or "WARNING: VELOCIRAPTOR CLONING" but like an idiot I didn't even stop to check. there was just a chickenwire fence that I could easily lift my bike over, but first I scouted out the area, probably trampling valuable botanical research in the process, and found a nice secluded spot behind a big bushy tree with a stream nearby. I made camp there all the while wondering what kind of fine I would get if i was caught, and whether I could get extradited for trespassing. Tomorrow, Palmstern North!

Day 1

3 1/2 hours of sleep and I still missed the 8:25 train to Masterton by 10 minutes. I took the advice of some mates and decided to take highway 2 to avoid the winds on the kapiti coast, only problem is highway 2 goes over the rimutaka mountain range (or something), so I'm cheating and starting out the cycle portion of the trip from Masterton to avoid the nasty bits.

I had time to kill while I was waiting, so I said my last goodbyes to a few people downtown:


Anton over at Victoria Street Cafe


Kimi over at Gloria Jeans




and Geoffrey who made time out of his busy MINISTRY OF HEALTH work schedule to meet with me over at the train station. (this picture, however, was taken at cornerstore over some farewell drinx.)

I even saw blanket man strolling down lambton quay like a man with a mission, and I swear he nodded to me with recognition.

I had time to print out the blessing of the sun from iPlay, hey man, it only happens once every 28 years. I said it silently by Cuba Street & manners mall. At least the weather seems fine today.

Once I got to the train platform, a very nice maori lady showed me where to stow my bike, unfortunately she seemed to be very confused on where I should put the darn thing. We had to shout over the roar of the engine (I'm guessing it was the engine), as I explained to her that I'd rather stow it somewhere where I could either tie it to a pipe or something coming off the wall, or stow it lying down so it wouldn't fall over and buckle the wheel or something. I must have moved the bike eight times, and there were only 5 other bags in that huge compartment.

I grabbed an hour of sleep on the train. This trip is going to be the best thing I've done in a long time.

Got to Masterton around 3:00. There I realized that the pair of jeans I grabbed had a hole in the right pocket where I stashed my bicycle computer. Needless to say that ticked me off quite a bit, I really could have used the odometer to pace myself. Oh well.

Asked for directions to highway 2, I guess they must call it something else because the guy at the garage didn't know what I was talking about.

I figured since I started late I wouldn't make it to the Eketahuna campsite in time. As it got darker I started to get desperate and considered Hansel & Gretel time options:


but finally settled on camping out on a scenic trail in Kaipororo. Illegally of course, but hey, there were no signs that said "No Camping." There was a fence that I had to lift my bike over, and once I got to my location it was dark and scary but I told myself the cows mooing on the downside of the cliff probably didn't have american bovine growth hormone in them, and so probably couldn't climb up the ledge to eat me. It was a little difficult setting up the tent in the dark but I somehow managed, and then went back out to the picnic bench and cooked up some sausages and ate them. Back in the tent, looked at the map by flashlight and tried to figure out how far I'd gone, those little red numbers couldn't be right because they said I'd gone about 60km, and I hadn't even reached Eketahuna which was only 40km from masterton. Hopefully I'll be able to work up to that by tomorrow!

(see https://photos.app.goo.gl/HmE5Goxpr5nUxSQq6 for more pictures)