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!