Pedallers Rest to Kaikoura

Today started with John Lennon's '(Just Like) Starting Over' as I skated my way back down the 1 1/2km gravel road to the highway with cool temperatures and a gentle southerly to turn into. The road is pretty flat all the way and follows the coast and the main trunk railway line. At times all you could hear was the sound of the surf coming in from the Pacific ocean (which stretches all the way to Chile!).

The wind dropped away to nothing for the the first 30km and the sun came out which was great. At one point I spotted a kea which is New Zealand's alpine parrot. At least I think it was a kea.

Unfortunately, like a lot of New Zealand's busier highways the stretch through to Kekerenga has a very narrow (non-existent in places) shoulder and I had some fun with the big trucks. (See my earlier posted rant.) At one point thought there were roadworks which meant that traffic was stopped and formed into short convoys, so I'd have the road to myself for about five minutes then a one minute blast of vehicles. But I did find a cellphone after being blasted off the road and to me that's karma and today's myPod classic 'Instant Karma' also by John Lennon.

Along the coastline there're many places to stop and one compulsory one is for the fur seal colony. I smelt them before I saw them but they come right up to and even onto the road to sun themselves. The coast is also famous for its crayfish with several shops and roadside vans selling freshly cooked crays. Kaikoura literally translates as kai- food, koura- crayfish or lobster. There were even a few hardy souls out surfing today despite the cold weather. I suppose it's all the same in the water, but I'd hate to try and stagger out afterwards with frozen feet.

I didn't see any other cyclists today and as I headed closer to Kaikoura the wind and rain started. The rain got heavier and heavier and by 2:30pm when I arrived I was pretty soaked, but it was good to get here. I headed to the Dolphin Lodge which Denise at Pedallers rest had recommended. After moving in I headed out to Hine Takeaways for a very fine feed of chips which will rank very highly in the final chip buttie stakes.

I'm sharing my dorm room with an Israeli couple. They seem to be everywhere. I reckon they probably travel as much as, if not more than, Kiwis.

Tomorrow it's off SH1 and up the Alpine Pacific Triangle into the mountains. And I'm told there could be snow.....

Big Trucks

Looking through the comments book at Pedallers Rest two things stand out. One - cyclists don't like headwinds. And two - they hate some heavy trucks.

Many of the big truck drivers are great. Some slow down or move right over to the far side of the road if there's nothing coming. Most move over a bit and leave a good metre or two. But a few don't slow or seem to move at all. They barrel through inches away and buffet the hell out of the bike.

Approaching bridges and tight bends I'm now becoming almost paranoid. I know that they're not out to hit me on purpose (I sure hope not), but when there's no shoulder at all it can be quite frightening. I bet most truck drivers have never been blasted off the road and I'd love for them to try standing on the road edge while a huge truck screams by.

In many places the shoulder of the road is pathetic - I've seen bigger shoulders on an Ethiopian famine poster child - but some truck drivers don't seem to notice. Maybe it's the bright yellow and red of the NZ Post Roadstars, but they seem to be the worst. Hang on, yellow and red? They're Galatasaray colours! It is a conspiracy!!! Seriously though, they seem to be worst along with Fonterra's milk tankers (which give off a very strong draft), Freight Lines and a few others. Mainfreight for some reason seem to be the best - they pull over or slow down more often than the others.

OK, rant over...... and besides, it's karma in a way. Today I got blasted off the road only to stop, catch my breath (and check my undies) to look down and see a cellphone lying right next to me. It's soaked but might come right and then I'll be up one fancy Nokia camera phone! Today's myPod hit - 'Instant Karma' by John Lennon.

Blenheim to Pedallers Rest, Ward

A couple of hours this morning and an hour and a half yesterday and the blog is back up to date. Having no done any since Wellington it was nice to logon and see the comments from Stu and Karoline (sitting eating cake indeed!) and Karo's friend Jenny. They (the comments) help motivate me to continue the blog and remind me how great this trip is. Every so often I stop and wonder why I'm doing this - the steep hills, the heavy vehicles, the wind and rain. But then I reach the top of the hill, or pass through a scenic reserve and hear the birdsong, or smell the suedes growing or a lavender farm, or sing at the top of my voice and I know why I'm doing this - NZ is beautiful and I'm travelling freely through its splendour.

From Blenheim it's only 55km to Pedallers Rest but the forecast said southerlies i.e. headwinds, so I set off about 11am to endure the onslaught. I was very wrong. 50km of lovely tailwind more than made up for the headwind over the last 5km. What could have been a very long struggle was a rolling joy through vineyards and farmland. The two steep climbs were made easier and though Weld Pass is a narrow winding climb and I kept an eye on the mirror for trucks, pulling off the road when they came along, the wind whisked me up the hill. The downhills with the added tailwind were even better and I topped 50km/h several times setting, at one point, a new trip speed record of 57km/h!

The trucks seem to come in convoys off the ferry so there's a flurry of them and then very few until after the next ferry arrives in Picton. And the roads seem wider and much less used than up north. One place where the road used to be narrower was the Awatere combined road and rail bridge which has a rail level on top and a single lane road level beneath. The road level has been replaced by a lovely wide two-lane bridge, but now the magic of queuing up to cross the road bridge is gone.

The low point of the day was the public toilet in the rest area about 10km from the day's end. It's a disgrace and is better suited to a Syrian service station than a rest area here. I stopped at the next service station I found and asked them to inform whoever maintains it. it's a well signed toilet and I reckon many tourists would stop there only to get a very bad, lasting impression of New Zealand.

One more uphill and a very quick downhill, with a truck driver choosing not to move over into the vacant oncoming lane but instead rush right by me, and I was at the turnoff for the 1 1/2 km gravel road up to Pedallers Rest. The place is lovely.

I spread my soaked tent on the grass and sat back to read a bit more of my book in the sun. A great end to an easy (half)day's ride.

Pedallers Rest is on a working sheep farm and they make their own merino cycling shirts. I got a yellow and black one (Wellington Hurricanes colours) there being no yellow and blue (Otago Highlanders) and no way I was opted for red and black (Canterbury Crusaders)!

Tonight I've got the place to myself, the National Programme on the radio and the wood stove well stoked. It's bliss. Just the occasional passing shower tap dancing across the roof and the odd branch crackling in the stove. It's the second best place I've stayed, topped only by the railway shelter at the Cross Creek end of the Rimutaka Incline.

St Arnaud to Blenheim

Today was the longest day so far, 102km but after the first 4km u pout of St Arnaud it was generally all downhill. It was only a shame about the slight headwind and all the rain. It began raining at 8pm last night and was still raining heavily when I woke this morning. The tent though was nice and dry inside and I was tempted to stay in side all day, but mother nature called and I had to answer. Getting up it was immediately obvious that today was, in the words of my good mate Stu Stone, "A good day for ducks.: and they were relishing it, swimming about in the carpark and on various parts of the campsite. Luckily I hadn't put the tent up in the nice wee corner I spotted - it was now a mini-extension of the lake!

I went for a quick walk along one of the tracks and decided that there was no way I'd be tramping 10 hours in this weather. The track conditions didn't look they'd be much good and I didn't have my tramping boots. Back at the shelter Toni and Llewyn preparing to ride out so I resolved to do so too hoping that ponce I was down out the alpine area the weather would fine up. It didn't and my drowned rat impression continued until about 12:30 when after 60km it finally eased off. The rivers were all very swollen with fallen trees being washed down. They looked a bit like a pale version of Willie Wonka's chocolate river.

The ride pretty much followed the Wairau river all the way to Renwick and onto Blenheim which meant it was a nice long downhill. The wind picked up in the late morning though so I was pedalling at times just to keep going - into the driving rain. Oh fun. I stopped at the Wairau tavern for hot chips but with no bread I couldn't have butties, so they won't feature in the final analysis. Which is a shame as the landlord would get extra points for all of the Otago-inspired decoration in the pub; lots of Speights signage and several framed photographs of Otago All Blacks from the mid 90's including my favourite - Josh Kronfeld.

The scenery changed through the day from alpine to sub alpine, then pine plantations and sheep farms and finally to vineyards. Blenheim is the capital of the Marlborough region which is one of New Zealand's big wine producing areas.



With the camping grounds in Blenheim charging for two people for a tent site I opted for the Koanui hostel which is right on SH1. "nui" means big, but I'm not sure what "koa" means - turns out koanui means a large and happy place to stay - and it was. I alerted the manager that my snoring could keep everyone in the dorm awake, so she gave me a room to myself! Could be a good ruse for the future......


Blenheim has this interesting sculpture of two beavers. They aren't native to NZ at all, or even introduced, but apparently the area used to be swamp and because of this, the locals of old referred to themselves as beavers!


The weather forecast looks like rain from now until the weekend, but I'll push on. My brother, Vaughan has bought himself a mountain bike and texted me to say he'd cycle out to meet me for a beer or two on the way into Christchurch, so I'll try to get there for Sunday afternoon. I don't know why he can't just come out on his Harley and ride really slowly...

Today's myPod didn't feature a lot of rain-based songs. Instead 'Venus' by Bananarama and 'Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves' by The Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin.

Nelson to St Arnaud

The forecast rain never eventuated and with a nice gentle tailwind I rode along the cycleway to Richmond before joining the highway through farming country to Belgrove.



Stopping off in Wakefield for a pee and some banana sandwiches I turned on my phone to have several missed calls and a text message saying "I can't get hold of you" from my sister Libby. Fearing that something was wrong with Dad I tried calling her and ended up getting through to her mother, my step-mother, Kathryn. Nope, nothing wrong with dad, just a letter needed from me to free up the bond on Libby's flat, which I been in for a month in 2006. Welcome to bureaucracy - Africa seems so much easier sometimes.

From Wakefield the road slowly climbs before two big hills after Belgrove, the Wai-iti Saddle and Kikiwa hill. The hills in the South Island don't seem to be as steep as in the North but they are a lot longer and taller. The top of today's ride, only 5km from St Arnaud, was 720m! But I was now in the alpine region and also in danger of attack from kiwis.



The DoC centre at St Arnaud is fantastic with lots of information on the various tramps and walks in the Nelson lakes area. Having seen the huge "Heavy Rain Warning" they had posted for that night and the next day (and the next) I thought about going for a walk around Lake Rotoiti tomorrow rather than cycle all day in foul weather. The walk is about seven to ten hours depending on how high the river at the southern end of the lake is running. If it's low you can ford it, if not it's a further 90 minutes up to a swing bridge.



The campsite, Kerr Bay, is another splendid DoC effort right on the edge of the lake and when I arrived the lake was looking beautiful. the water is crystal clear and it was mirror glass still with the odd duck and black swan idling about.



In the campsite I met Chad (aka Brian) who was in the process of moving to Stratford. His car was loaded up like the Beverly Hillbillies wagon with everything including a kitchen stove. (I didn't spot his sink!) Chad's done a lot in his 60 years and isn't afraid to share his tales. This man could talk both hind legs off a deaf donkey. It was nice to have someone to chat to at first, but after a while I just wanted the serenity to myself. Luckily later on two other cyclists, Toni and Llewyn from Taupo, arrived as did three Israelis so there were others to talk to (and listen to Chad's philosophy).

Nelson

I had a great weekend in Nelson catching up with my mate Alan, his wife Linda and their poodle Harvey. And before anyone asks "Yes, Harvey's fully grown - he's a toy poodle - and, yes they do have smaller poodles; the teacup!" It was really nice to be waited on hand and foot - which Linda excels at - and also to just vege out.

Alan and I worked together back in my Telecom days in the late 90's. When I say "worked" we did about as much as most people in a huge corporate and always seemed to manage to find time for a trip out for morning or afternoon tea. We've been in touch ever since and it was great to stay with him. Once again he delighted in showing me his rare book collection to which he's just added some documents in Arabic and Persian dating from a couple of hundred years ago. I think his oldest piece is from the 1200's!

Alan and Linda's house is just what I'd expected them to have. It's a Nelson one-level, detached version of the multi-level, attached townhouse they had in Wellngton. The colours and fittings are nearly identical. It's as if they took the townhouse with them and just got it squashed flat!

Alan's father, Doug is a keen handyman and is in the midst of redoing their garden. They got an incredible crop of vegetables last year and are looking forward to more of the same. We feasted on roasted vegetables on Suinday night manay form the garden and Linda made me a special vegan chocolate mousse using choclate rice milk. Absolutely yum-tastic!

While vegging out I managed to stay awake through the John Travolta film 'Phenomenon' - not because it was boring, but rather I was quite tired. It's a great film and raises some interesting questions about human potential.

The myPod over the weekend featured a lot of Susan Boyle's version of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Mis. She sang it on Britain's Got Talent and she sure shocked the audience. She doesn't look like the sort of person who could sing like and angel, but she sure did.

Nelson is a lovely town and vies with Blenheim and Whakatane for sunniest place in the country. Ironically, with the rain coming I set off for the Nelson Lakes region......

Pelorus to Nelson

I woke to a very cold morning. No ice or frost but getting out of the tent I was greeted by my own breath. Today was a supposedly easy 60km into Nelson. Someone obviously hadn't told the two massive hills along the way! I ended up stopping a couple of times climbing up, to rest my weary legs, and again a couple of times while racing down, to give my arms a break from braking.

There are quite a number of logging trucks which use the road between Havelock and Nelson and after being passed by a few I thought "Surely it's only a matter of time before two pass each other right beside me." What a stupid thing to think. No sooner had I thought it than it happened. Luckily there was a reasonable amount of shoulder for me to use and I didn't kak my daks! Even so, I'll be trying to avoid having such prophetic thoughts again!



Despite the trucks the scenery was once again astounding. Lots of native bush and the odd babbling brook and also a fair few introduced species which were loosing their leaves. The yellows and reds were quite breath taking.



I stopped in Hira to give the local shop a chance at the chip buttie award but one look at their offering in the pie warmer and I new they'd be a waste of an entry form. Instead I opted for a Whittakers dark chocolate peanut slab. And they're vegan. I think I have a new vice.....

Coming into Nelson was easy peasy as the city has a very good cycleway network which leads straight to the local i-site. From there I rang my friend Alan who I was going to stay with for the weekend and we caught up for a coffee, though he had hot chocolate and I had tea??????

That evening Alan and I headed around to his father, Doug's place for a drink and catch up. Alan and his father do this every day and it was really nice to be invited along. Doug's in his 80's and has more than a few yarns to tell!

Today's myPod featured Billy Joel's "Allentown" (funnily enough) and also Inxs with "Need You Tonight"

Wellington to Pelorus

The ferry between Wellington and Picton is right at the top of my must do list for any visitor to New Zealand. The very top. It's a scenic splendour and the easiest 92km of any riding day!

I got up early and cycled to the ferry terminal via the Wellington waterfront. It was an overcast morning with a gentle southerly, so the crossing would be smooth but sadly lack the sunshine. Being the only cyclist on board I had the privilege of boarding the ferry on the rail deck and then binding the Surly in the cycle alcove. It was a little bit sad to have to go upstairs and leave my friend of the last 1000km behind.



I was sailing on the ferry Arahura (Pathway to dawn), one of the older ferries but it's been refitted and has all the mod cons. It's even got a movie theatre for those too scared to see the sea. But they'd probably show The Poseidon Adventure!

Up on deck the I said goodbye to Wellington and we headed out into Cook Strait. With little sea running and no waves the way the light played off the water was amazing.



While on board I feasted on my, now usual, peanut butter and banana sandwiches and also gave the Interislander a chance to enter the chip buttie competition. They won't be in the final big three! I also took time out to read a bit of Ian Rankin's 'Bleeding Hearts'. I felt like a change from Harry Potter and Rankin writes the excellent Rebus series, so this one should be good.



Once in Picton I was one of the first off and headed for Queen Charlotte Drive which winds its way westwards towards Havelock. I'd only been on the road five minutes when i saw my first two cycle tourists. Apparently the South Island is a much more popular cycling destination. I'm certainly looking forward to the lower traffic volumes.

Queen Charlotte drive drops into and out of bays along the way and the views from some of the headlands are simply magical. Along the way I could hear all manner of birdsong including the lovely bellbird. Unfortunately, my desire to get the 55km to Pelorus out of way overrode the chance to really enjoy the scenery.



Having got off the ferry at 1:30 it was always going to be a push to get to Pelorus and I considered stopping 9km short at Canvastown which boasts a camping ground. Turing off into the 'town' I saw a sign saying the campground was 8km away. Naturally I did a u-turn and headed onto Pelorus arriving at 4:30.

The Doc campsite at Pelorus bridge is absolutely beautiful and has hot showers and gas cooking rings. And I had it all to myself. Apart from the odd possum which I heard in the evening. All this for only $10. So I may have missed a bit of the view on the way, but it was lovely to stay here.

Wellington

I arrived in the rain and the wind and after a night of painting the weather gods smiled upon Wellington and me. Two beautiful days in the lovely harbour capital.

Most of the first day, Tuesday, was spent updating the blog. I've struck continuing problems with mapmyride, so might give it a rest for a while.

On Tuesday evening Ed and I went to Freyberg pool for a swim and a soak in the spa. I managed a leisurely 200m before hitting the hot pool to sit and enjoy the view of others toiling up and down the pool or running or cross training or doing anything active.

It was a beautiful evening and I only wish I had my camera to get a photo of the night time cityscape. It would have looked a bit like this (thanks to the net again) ....

Wellington is simply the most beautiful city I've ever been to. Sure on crap days, like Monday, it's awful, but on days like today it's stunning.

I cycled around the Mirimar Peninsula this morning. A lovely, flat 35km ride. Not too much traffic and plenty to see. Of course there'd been changes 1) The Chocolate Fish cafe in Scorching bay is now Scorch-o-rama, 2) Medway Seafoods in Island Bay (former home of the planet's best chips) is now a Chinese takeaway, and 3) Deep Blue Seafoods in Newtown seems to be gone; the building demolished. Progress?! Probably.

Generally Wellington looked fresher than I remembered. Like the Queen was coming and they'd given the whole place a fresh lick of paint.

Here're a few photos I got on the way round.....

Oriental Bay from Freyberg Pool

Oriental Bay (looking westward).
You can just make out my friends Stella and Mark's old house - it's the red brick building, an inch to the right of centre. Great place. Shame they're no longer there....

Scorching Bay

Surfers, Lyall Bay

Island Bay

Pretty stunning eh? Now if they could only sort out reinstating a couple of chip shops and fixing up the lane swimming hours at the Aquatic Centre, I might just move back here.

Later this afternoon I caught up with one of my Environmental Engineering lecturers from 2006. He's currently finishing off his PhD. I wish him well.

After that I headed to Te Papa - Our Place (the national museum). They have some amazing stuff , including the only ever Colossal squid that was captured alive. It's 4.5m long, has eyes the size of soccer balls (the largest known eye) and has these wicked rotating hooks on its tentacles. Scary stuff.

They also have a pair of stuffed huia. They were treasured by the Maori who wore huia tail feathers in their hair to denote mana (status). Note how the male and female have very different beaks. the male would break up trotting logs and the female would pluck out grubs. After the Europeans arrived it became fashionable to wear huia feathers in your hatband and the demand rocketed to the point that huia became extinct. Nice one guys.

Te Papa sits on the edge of Wellington harbour and which has an interesting trail with quotes about the city and the harbour from famous authors. This one's by Katherine Mansfield:

"Their heads bent, their legs just touching, they stride like one eager person through the town, down the asphalt zigzag where the fennel grows wild ... The wind is so strong that they have to fight their way through it, rocking like two old drunkards."

Absolutely right for Wellington on a windy day. Very far from the truth today. Today was a gorgeous day and the inner harbour was like a millpond.



Plenty of myPod stuff today, but the classic remains the Mutton Birds. Tomorrow I'm off to Picton on the ferry. Let's hope the myPod doesn't start playing Split Enz - Six Months In A Leaky Boat!!!

Cross Creek to Wellington

I woke about 5am to the sound of wind in the trees and a brief shower. It was going to be a long, wet, windy day. The rain held off long enough for me to get packed up - no wet tent after a night in the railway shelter, thanks railway dudes - and have a good breakfast.

The first 5km is all uphill where the old fell engines used to use a centre rail with and horizontal wheels to clamp onto it to gain extra friction and climb the 1:15 gradient. I ground up it in first gear stopping every ten minutes or so for a breather. Pedallers Paradise's advice that the route is for lightly loaded bikes is pretty right!

After about an hour, two tunnels and a portage at Siberia gully, I'd climbed my way up to the Summit Tunnel which is 580m long and at the high point of the day's ride. Pulling out the torch I was surprise to see the silhouette of two cyclists entering the tunnel at the far end. Out here on a rainy day of all places? We met in the middle of the tunnel and exchanged hellos. they'd come up last night and were heading back down and off to the south Wairarapa coast. Good luck to them, the incoming southerly would make for a long day.

At the other end of the tunnel it was raining quite hard and I set off for the summit shelter about 300m away. There I found a grandfather, father and son up form Upper Hutt for a day's ride. they were drenched but cheerful and set off to explore the tunnel.

It's 10km of gradual downhill from the summit and I cruised most of it stopping briefly to find my gloves as my hands were getting cold. The showers came and went as did the wind. The threesome caught me up with about 2km to go to the road end and as happened yesterday I had helpful people on hand to help lift the bike over the two gates. How is it that I can cycle for hours and see no one and then when an obstacle presents itself there's someone right there ready to help?

The road for the Kaitoke end starts with a steep downhill and I had to stop part way down to give my arms a rest from the braking. With the rain and wind I wasn't keen for a fast run downhill. And there were some big, fast trucks once again.

From Upper Hutt I avoided the highway and followed the roads down the side of the Hutt River. It felt like each kilometre I got closer to Wellington the wind and rain grew stronger. The showers were heavy but thankfully brief but the wind did its best to hover between strong and gale force!

In Petone I didn't get my hoped for view of Wellington city. Instead of this....

I got this....

(I found the first pic on the internet. The second one, uncannily from the same perspective, is mine.)

I'd had about enough of the wind and rain and thought about heading to the local camping ground, but a call to my buddy Ed resolved it for me. I could stay at his. Ed is a very genial friend. I first met him at Ed's Juice Bar which he'd founded and we struck up a friendship of sorts straight off. We've spent many an afternoon trying to solve the world's problems whilst jumping from the wharf into the harbour or devouring endless smoothies and vegan delights at one of Wellington's many cafes. Ed's Juice bar is no longer and I'm not surprised - once Ed left it lost it's Ed-ness and, for me, that's what it was all about. Ed's since run for local office and now dabbles in the landscape gardening and building/decorating field.

My slog into the teeth of the wind and rain to Wellington was worth it. The wind at the Cake Tin (aka Westpac Stadium) and again at Bunny St may have stopped me in my tracks (and seen me nearly soil my dacks!) but getting to Ed's was worth it. We raced out for veggie curry and discussion on robotics and the philosophy of truth and then grabbed his painting gear to paint the Radio Active offices. Yep, my near 1000km ride to Wellington was capped off with a three hour, nighttime painting session. And that's what makes Ed such a great bloke...

The myPod started with a resounding version of Motorhead's 'Ace of Spades' with the Young Ones intro "To the station" ringing out, but soon turned to 'Wellington' by the Mutton Birds (today's myPod classic.) It's lyrics start "I wish I was in Wellington, the weather's not so good. The wind it cuts right through you and it rains more than it should" and today they were oh so right.

Eketahuna to Cross Creek

It was cold night and a frosty start to today. The tent had ice on it again, so after a huge feed of porridge for breakfast Paul and I set about trying to thaw and then dry out our tents. By the time we'd finished and were ready to depart the two Dutch girls had risen having had some 12 hours sleep!

Paul and I said our goodbyes and wished each other luck in Eketahuna town where Paul stopped for a pie. He was only going as far as Masterton today and I wanted to get on a bit further.

My first stop was at the ANZAC memorial bridge in Kaiparo. It's a small bridge in an even smaller village but during the First World War six local men lost there lives and in 1922 the bridge was opened as a memorial to them. ANZAC day (25 April) is big in New Zealand and Australia and remembers not only those that fought in WW1 but all ANZAC servicemen and women who've fallen overseas.


Not far from Kaiparo is Mt Bruce and the Pukaha National Wildlife Centre. It was amazing to visit. the interactive section at the beginning is very fun and informative and just outside the cafeteria is a takahe enclosure. These birds were thought to be extinct until the 1950s but there are now about 225 remaining. Basically they look like big, overweight pukekos without the white trim, but it was really cool to see them.

The highlight of Pukaha for me though was the kiwi house. They artificially light and heat the enclosure so that the normally nocturnal kiwi will be active during our daytime. The light levels are really low but I was surprised to see the two kiwi as soon as I walked in. I don't know if they were fighting or preening one another but it was incredible to see them scratch at each others backs and necks with their beaks.


I tried a few different techniques to get a photo. Without a flash and in near pitch blackness this was about the best I could get. The kiwi is about 40cm long and went around grubbing in the leaf litter layer.

I also saw a kokako about 3-4m away - beautiful, but didn't manage to see a blue duck or the tuatara. Next time...

From here I had a tailwind all the way to Masterton and by pushing it along I managed to get in a foodshop, stop at the Corner Cafe in Greytown for hot chips - the BEST so far and they came with Watties tomato sauce - and keep on to Featherston. From there it's a further 10km south to the turnoff for Cross Creek and though I was starting to flag I started up the two km gravel access road.

Cross Creek is at the Wairarapa side of the old Rimutaka Incline railway which used fell engines to climb a 1:15 gradient up to the summit on this side. The railway has been replaced by a tunnel and now, with the tracks removed its a cycling and walking trail. At the Cross Creek car park I met two boys who'd cycled over. They said it was really easy and seemed to be a little bit disappointed by how easy it was. I was just lad to have arrived. Although I soon noticed that the Cross Creek campsite was a further two km up the track. Luckily the boys helped me manhandle the bike over the gate in one hit (taking off the panniers and reassembling would have taken about ten minutes and I was knackered) and then I set off half walking, half riding the narrow gravel track through to my home for the night.



What could be better than this? Shelter, a ready made fireplace (I don't know if fires are allowed) and a fresh, clean running creek one minute away. I settled in for the night hoping that the forecasted southerlies and showers wouldn't arrive tomorrow.

Palmerston North to Eketahuna

Many of the extra people at the hostel last night turned out to be Massey extramural students up for a few days on site. it was interesting to listen-in on their conversation over breakfast especially as one or two were considering going teaching after their current studies are complete.

The ride up to Ashhurst is a nice, gentle rise, barely noticeable. I stopped there for a look at the wind farm - there's a special wind farm lookout. They look rather alien slowly turning round and round. I remembered driving through Egypt at night past massive wind farms on the Red Sea coast with War of the Worlds blaring out. The burn off from the oil refineries adds to the whole spectacle.



I'd been warned about the narrowness of the Manawatu Gorge and on entering it I tried to follow the walkway. It only lasted about 300m and then descended a huge flight of stairs below a bridge. I'd have to ride. Amazingly it was incredibly easy. A long string of winding corners but it's so narrow that the vehicles have to slow down for you. It was actually more enjoyable than on the open road either side of the gorge.



In Mangatainoka I headed to the Tui Brewery. It's famous in New Zealand and is apparently staffed only by incredibly hot women - if you believe their TV commercials - Yeah right! There I met Annie, Jeff, Luke and Paul form the Dannevirke Multisport club. They were out for a ride and lunch with Paul Mack and invited me to join them at the nearby Lavender Farm - "It's much cheaper" said Jeff, winking knowingly.

We talked bikes and riding all through lunch. Annie wants to do the Ironman one day. I wish her the best. She'll love it and it'll be one of the best things she ever does. I still rate it as my single best achievement.

Paul Mack is cycling 42 countries in eight years the Blanket Earth Project to "help as many people as possible and to try and bring a message of love, hope, change and kindness to the World." We cycled part if the afternoon together and decided to both stay at the campsite in Eketahuna.

Paul is an amazing man and to hear parts of his story and read some of his press cuttings was a real privilege. I rustled us up a "5-star" soup for dinner and we sat and chatted and tried to drink Ranfurly beer - it's not the nicest, even after two or three! At one point we joked that all we needed was for a couple of girls to arrive and not long after two Dutch girls pulled in for the night. hey set up their tent and went to bed leaving Paul and I to wonder about folk nowadays.

myPod for the day? No idea, but a quote from Paul... "Resentment is like a stray dog. If you keep feeding it, it comes back for more."

Feilding to Palmerston North

Well as expected the Malaysian and Indonesian workers must have left in a frenzy this morning as the kitchen was a right state. Oh well.

The ride from Feilding to Palmerston North is a flat, easy 22km. On the way I got my first view of the local windfarm - apparently the Southern hemisphere's largest. But with little wind most of the turbines stood idle.

I opted for a hostel in town rather than camping. For an extra $NZD8 the Peppertree Hostel is fantastic with an incredible kitchen and super hot showers.

I spent over two hours on the blog today mostly trying to get mapmyride to do one long route but as the route gets longer it seems to get slower and slower. I may just have to wait until I've got all day and then do the whole route in one hit. It'll be worth it though - it'll look good.

I went to the Rugby Museum late in the afternoon. There's some amazing stuff there including the coin used for the toss in all the Rugby World Cups so far. New Zealand has only won once, having been (in my opinion) the best team at all bar the '91 tournament. Hopefully 2011 will be our year again.....

Here's David Kirk holding aloft the Webb Ellis cup in 1987 after we'd won the inaugural RWC.

PS. The South Africans don't recognise winners prior to 1995 when they first played in the RWC.

After dinner I ventured out to the Icons Bar in town to watch the Otago Highlanders (my team) play the Auckland Blues in the Super 14. We lost. Deservedly. Auckland came out all guns blazing and quickly posted 14 points. Otago looked rattled and never got back in the game. it didn't help (me at least) that my least favourite ref, now that 'Whistling' Ed Morrison's retired, Stuart Dickinson was in charge. Final score 26-6. Pathetic.

When I returned to the hostel there were many more people than when I'd left and my dorm room which had had only two of us in it was swelled to six or seven. No need to worry about my snoring either; one guy was out to it and sawing a few cords of wood already!!

I finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets this morning. Karo's friend Jenny is right - Gilderoy Lockhart is hilarious, but Hagrid's still my favourite. Roll on book three, if there's space in the panniers.....

How much is that dollar in the wondow?

Strolling through Palmerston North I saw this sign....




Tragic isn't it when NZD30 is worth about USD15 which would get you gazillions of Zimbabwean dollars. Kinda sad how someone's profiting out of the misery of millions, eh.

Wanganui to Feilding

For once I woke to a dry tent. (Does that make me sound like a bed wetter?) The warm northerly blowing had kept the dew off but as it picked up after breakfast I knew there'd be odd bits of headwind and more sidewinds. However, the weather forecast was for the wind to drop off in the afternoon.

Leaving Wanganui was easy but I though my new mirror was faulty. Coming up behind me were two cars flashing orange lights and a HOUSE! I had to stop to check that out. It only just made it between the parked cars either side of the road and once it passed I slipped in behind for a free run for a kilometre or so until we parted ways.

The road from Wanganui to Turakina has a few good long climbs and descents. None too steep but on one downhill I got up to 53.5km/h. I'm surprised how stable the bike feels at this sort of speed.

At Turakina I left SH3 and headed to Marton. The last part into town felt like it was all very slightly uphill and being a long straight IO began to wonder if I'd ever get there. As I rolled into Marton I met a guy out on a training ride. He's off to France to ride the stage of the Tour that they let amateurs ride too. Apparently they get about 5000 people entering to crawl along and finish some four hours after the top pros. Kind of like me at Ironman, I suppose.

Away to the left I could faintly see Mt Ruapehu and to the south I could see the Tararua mountain range. both stunning. In between was just farmland. Grazing cattle and sheep...


- a glimpse of Ruapehu -

Marton provided a good feed of chip butties and then I was off to Feilding. It's a rolling road with quite a few stock trucks between the main highway (SH1) and Feilding - tomorrow being saleyards day - but as always none got too close ad a couple even slowed right down. Maybe the mirror acts as a lucky charm or the drivers see it and realise that I'm a bit truck-shy.

At one point I burst out laughing when I passed a pile of baleage (plastic wrapped hay for stock feed during winter) and the plastic was making a farting noise in the wind. I laughed.

Another chuckle came when I cycled by a crew working on the railway tracks. Well one working and eight standing watching. I cried "Give your mate a hand" to which they replied "He's the boss. He can get fucked!" I laughed and cycled on.

It was bit weird coming into Feilding. My ex-wife, Cath, had grown up here and so I've visited a few times. In fact the campsite's only a few hundred metres from her parents' old house. Naturally I cycled by to check it out.

After arriving and setting up camp I headed into town to try and get the blog more up to date. I managed to get a fair bit done at the library and I'm now only two days behind! I couldn't upload photos though so I'll have to try tomorrow.

On the way back I got passed by a girl out riding. "You're making me look bad," I called as she pulled away. And Feilding's dead flat! I caught her up at the next intersection where she'd stopped. Asking if she was OK I was told that she didn't like the traffic here. In Feilding. A twon of 10,000. I suppose it's all relative.

Back at camp a veggie picking crew of about twenty Malaysians and Indonesians rolled in from work as I was cooking dinner. Mayhem ensued as each man made his own dinner. Some smelt good and some didn't. Some were elaborate but many were just poached eggs with two minute noodles. One bloke wandered in with a freshly skinned animal about he size of a cat. I hope it was a rabbit......

I had a chat top one guy, Morgan from Malaysia. He's been doing this for three years, moving around New Zealand as part of a team picking produce. He's been all over; grapes in Cromwell, cherries near Clyde, squash in Hastings and squash here too. He likes it but it must be hard work and he admitted to often forgetting which town he was in.

And the myPod? "When Will I See You Again?" by The Three Degrees - not for Cath's parents (who I didn't ride into) but for the William Webb Ellis trophy for the Rugby World Cup; I'm off to the Rugby Museum tomorrow.

A day off in Wanganui

After a leisurely breakfast and a bit of laundry I cycled the 7km back into town to the i-site. Tony who helped me there was excellent. He showed me where to find a good bike shop, a supermarket and an internet connection. He even let me stick my bike in their bike shed. Tony, you're a gem. The best i-siter so far!

I went first to the Bike Shed where Doug had a mirror. Pedaller's Paradise recommends one so I thought after recent traumas with trucks I'd give one a go. Doug admired the Surly and was taken by the braze-ons for holding the spare spokes. It was good to have someone who knows bikes admire the Surly.

The internet session as a chore. The connection crashed a few times (I think it might be mapmyride????) and I only managed to catch up as far as Whangamomona. So I'm only three days behind.

Uploading the photos is taking the longest and I can't work out how to reduce their file size. Oh well.

So a nice, very sunny, easy day off the bike and a very yummy sweet and sour tofu for dinner. And, yes I cooked it all myself!

The myPod was a bit confused by the campsite's radio but "Shout" by Tears For Fears featured a little.

Hawera to Wanganui

The day started with drizzle which continued off and on for a while until I made it to Patea. The road though was good all the way with a reasonable shoulder except on the uphill sections where there are passing lanes and on bridges. Despite what I've said so far about trucks most of them give me plenty of space, some even slow down and a few acknowledge my friendly "thank you' wave after they've passed. It's just a few, truck and car drivers, who seem to be more worried about getting too close to the centre line WHICH IS MADE OUT OF PAINT rather than give me a little bit more room AND I'M MADE OF FLESH AND BONE. But then you could argue that the paint didn't choose to be there and I have. Anyway wee rant over......

In Patea I stopped off at the beach. The black sand is beautiful and the myPod switched to poi e by the Patea Maori club. (Funny that.)



It's a generally rolling ride but at each river crossing the road's steep downhill to the river and then steep back up again. Somehow this seemed worse than going over a similarly steep hill. maybe it's nicer to do the uphill first and have the downhill to enjoy later.

In the afternoon the wind switched to the south east and so I had my first taste of battling a headwind. It's not fun. At least with a hill you can see the top and know when it'll end! the wind and the strong sun combined to burn my left ear - the bigger of the two.

I was glad to get to Wanganui but possibly pushed it too hard and too far. Once again i drank too little.

Tomorrow is a day off and then I'll look at days of 75-85km to see if they go better than these 90-100km ones.

I'm staying at the Castlecliff Seaside Holiday park. It's nice but quite a way out of town (about 7km) and there's no supermarket nearby. I ended up resorting to a can of soup for dinner after the regulation chip butties which I had down at the beach at sunset. The sunset was pretty stunning with the black sand and lots of driftwood from the Whanganui River.



If you're wondering why the town's called "Wanganui" but the river's "Whanganui" - it seems to come down to the chosen spelling of early British settlers based on the way the local Maori pronounced the word at the time (mid 1800s). There's currently an ongoing debate in Wanganui about changing the spelling of the town to Whanganui with die hards on both sides.

Other than the classic Poi E the myPod featured a good length rendition of "Ant Music" by Adam and The Ants.