Poor dolly

I've spotted this poor wretch a couple of times. Abandoned near the side of the road she lies in the rain a victim of society's neglect for those no longer loved.

Battery Life

Way back in 2003 I had the misfortune to spend a bit of time at the duty free in Dubai airport. I was on the way from Tanzania to Turkey to start work for Oasis Overland with my good friend Emily Newman. We were both very excited to be off to Turkey and yet really bored to be stuck in Dubai so as a way to chew up the time we hit the duty free stores. They were massive and, like casinos and other duty free areas, hid all of the signs of the outside world. It was a shiny, sparkly glass and chrome set-up with no hint of what time of day or night it might be. Eventually we ended up purchasing a watch each. After all, why not?

Emily went for an oversized Casio Pathfinder series watch with multiple bells and whistles: altimeter, barometer, thermometer, stop watch, compass, alarms ....


I went for a Tissot T-Touch. With almost as many bells and even a couple more whistles, the only major difference seemed to be the T-Touch's touch screen activation of fuctions versus the Casio's solar power. I took great delight in showing off the touch screen, while Emily kept reminding me that one day I'd need to replace the battery while her watch kept on going.

Well that day's come. Nearly six years later I've had the battery replaced. And what of Em's watch? Well a couple fo years ago it started to lose a few of the bells and whistles as one by one the functions started to play up and now the watch is in the hands on her nephew.

I still love the T-Touch even if it's on its second battery and doesn't tell me the day of the week. I'll be interested to see if it survives another six years.

Cold as Ice

It's freezing here and I thought the current myPod song deserved a post. Foreigner's "Cold as Ice"

I'm only the driver

Before setting off overlanding back in 2001 I needed a bus driver's licence. As I was in the UK at the time I surrendered my NZ car driving licence for a British one and then took the bus driving test. All easy peasy. My UK licence has taken me all over; India and Nepal. Turkey, Syria and Jordan. Even Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Lesotho, so I was a bit shocked to find that all of the driving I've done in NZ since 2004 has been illegal.

My understanding was that holders of overseas driver's licences could drive here for 12 months no worries. And almost all of them can. But not me. Because I'd previously had a NZ driver's licence and that had, in NZ, now expired, I was driving illegally. If I was stopped I could have been fined and the car impounded! Oops! So to all the people who've let me drive their cars here over the last five years, "sorry". To the rental company I hired a car from ... "More fool you."

So now I've got to apply again for a NZ driver's licence, but because it's within 90 days of returning from overseas I don't have to resit any tests. I might not mention my extended "holiday" here in 2006! The up-side, if there is one, is that I'll get to keep my UK licence. The downside is that my UK bus licence can't be converted to a NZ one - apparently we have "stricter requirements here."

Oh take me back to Africa where red tape is much less prevalent and oh so easily avoided.

L and R

And I don't mean left and right. It's the strange habit of switching the "L" and "R" that Far East Asians seem to have.

The other week I was in the local takeaway shop and got excited at the chance for a feed of felafel only to be told, by the Chinese woman behind the counter, that they had "lun out". In a joking manner I tried to get the lady to say "run". Nope she couldn't pick up the difference. So we tried "ring" as I repeatedly rung the counter's bell - much to my brother's amusement. "Ring the bell." of course came out as "Ling the bell." "Ring"? "Ling"! It was very funny and she took it on good humour. I ended up without felafel and just had chips.

And it's not only when spoken. Just a couple of days ago I hit the local Asian food warehouse, which is a treasure trove of everything from the Middle East through to Japan, only to find that the miso soup instructions said to "... stir gentry until ..." Stir gentry? Am I supposed to add some of the upper class to the soup? Is this a recipe for proletarian revenge?

Reflections on hot rods

Strolling through Cathedral Square in Christchurch today I stopped to look at the hot rods on display. All of a sudden I came over all arty and noticed the incredible reflections offered by the the chrome finished bumpers and highly polished roofs and fenders. The following photos got it out of my system.

They are a 1957 Ford Customline 300 (photos 1 and 2), a 1955 Chevy replica (photo 3), a 1935 Ford Tudor (photos 4 and 5) and a 1923 Ford Model T (photo 6).

1

2

3

4

5

6

And this has brought a new track to the myPod. "Love Shack" by the B-52s....

Christchurch's artie stuff

Christchurch seems to have a lot of displays of art like stuff. I'm sure there's a proper word for permanently on display works of art shown in a public space, but I can't remember it. Alzheimer's here I come...

Anyway, so far, without even trying I've found some pretty incredible things. Like this park that's dedicated to dyslexics. It should help (as the t-shirt says) "Dyslexics Untie." Seriously though, it is really nice and has sit-down activated speeches.



Then there's the Firefighters memorial made from steel girders from the Twin Towers. The piece suspended in the centre of the larger bit in the background apparently comes form the 102nd floor! It's a very bizarre work of art, but also very thought provoking - especially as 343 firefighters died that day.



But the artwork isn't only modern. This building really caught my eye. Erected in 1929 as a combined streetlight, telephone box and clock tower it has really weird gargoyles spouting, not water, but the street lamps.

The number 19 bus

With the Surly out of action until I fix the puncture - my first two attempts failing miserably! - I took the bus to get to the University. This should have been easy, afterall Christchurch has an integrated bus system where you can jump on, pay a fare and then transfer at the Bus Exchange (or elsewhere) for free.

Arriving at the Bus Exchange I looked at the board and saw that the bus I'd picked wasn't coming for another ten minutes, but there was a number 19 bus going in two minutes. A quick check of my trusty bus route guide showed that the number 19 also goes past the university, so I jumped on. Eight minutes saved! After about five minutes the bus didn't seem to be heading in the right direction. After ten I was convinced it wasn't. I was on the right numbered bus but going in the wrong direction! Bollocks. So I got off, crossed the road and waited for the next bus back via the bus exchange and onto the university.

A half hour trip turned into an hour and a half, but I've got to laugh at the irony of having driven an overland truck through cities ten times the size of Christchurch without getting (too) lost and then being unable to catch the right bus.

First puncture

Sixteen hundred kilometres. One thousand miles. All the way from Auckland to Christchurch without a single puncture. All that way with a spare tube, a pump and tyre repair kit, even a spare tyre and nothing. Now during a quick 3km ride into town and back where "I won't need all that" I go and ride over this...



It was lying in the cycle lane, stealthily waiting for me to ride by before it leapt. It went through the bottom of the tyre and out the sidewall and the tyre went down faster than greased-up pig in a waterslide. So I walked the final 1km home. Even so Christchurch is still a gret place to ride around. And it's got a sense of humour about it all. Having said that I'll probably fall victim to the tram tracks next time I'm out on the bike...

One up to the fridge salesman

Sunday was Mother's Day here in New Zealand and with Mum having just moved here without a fridge (I don't know why) my brother Vaughan and I decided to do the proper thing and buy her one. Talk about a Laurel and Hardy event. Vaughan's girlfriend had told us we had to get a fridge/freezer with the fridge on the top so it'd be easier for Mum to get into. But they were all about $100 more. Surely it's neither that expensive to engineer the fridge on the top, nor that hard to lean down to get into the fridge. We traipsed around about four places before we came across a 20% off sale and Ken the switched on salesman. Up until Ken all the sales people had been happy to answer our questions and let us go, but Ken was in for the kill. Vaughan and I weren't going to be intimidated, oh no.

Vaughan said that he was after a fridge for Mum and Ken must have picked me as a friend because at one point he asked what sort of fridge my Mum had. Duh! Do we really look that different?

One of Ken's opening gambits in trying to get us to buy the more expensive fridge-on-top model was to ask me "Why do you work?" Without even waiting for my answer he sailed straight into line two of this winning sales pitch only to be interrupted with me saying"I don't work. I haven't worked for ages." His semi-stunned look had Vaughan laughing, but Ken wasn't thrown off for long. His second gambit was to ask me why I put petrol in my car; Sorry Ken, wrong again, I don't have a car. At this point I felt it only fair to tell Ken "And before you go any further, no I'm not married, I don't have a girlfriend and I'm not gay either." All of this was in good humour and we all chuckled as Ken sought to find the winning sales pitch.

But Ken wasn't to be put off, he then tried the "She's your Mum, you owe her" track. Which we do, but we were still pretty set on the fridge-on-bottom for $100 less, so we asked for a few minutes to have a think about it. Vaughan rang Melissa, his girlfriend and got a bollocking for even considering the fridge-on-bottom model, so we went back in and bought the fridge-on-top one.

So in the end Ken won. No extra discount, not even a crappy toaster thrown in. And we left thinking we'd won! Maybe everyone did.

They say "Travel changes you"

It sure does. Look at what it's done to my hands. I look like a forty a day smoker. They're tan lines, honest guv'.

Christchurch

I've never liked Christchurch. Growing up in a hilly, harbour city (Dunedin) and then moving to another one (Wellington), I've never understood how people can live in a flat town like Christchurch. Oh yeah it's got the port hills but they're mere bumps and on the edge of town. Having been here less than a week though the place is starting to grow on me. And on the Surly. Sans panniers I am racing everywhere at nearly twice the speed I was on tour. I hit 32km/h today with the help of a wee tailwind ON THE FLAT! Hmmmm. I might have to re-evaluate my opinion of the place.

In the centre of town there's Cathedral Square which features the cathedral (funny that),

one of those big chess sets



and this great big ice cream cone that my brother helped make.

And today is super sunny, even if yesterday was rainy and tomorrow's supposed to be more of the same.

Into Christchurch

A wee session on the blog and then frantic packing and a hurried four kilometre cycle got me to The Mak, a pub near the Waimakariri River, and one of Vaughan's regular stops on his Harley outings. Fearing that his text warning "gay lycra cycle shorts aren't allowed at the mac" I quickly pulled on some trousers. It was a good thing too as few of Vaughan's mates pulled up for their Sunday ride. He'd told them yesterday that he was going to meet me and that I'd ridden down from Christchurch. I don't know if they realised we weren't on motorbikes!



Mum dropped Vaughan off and looked after his four year-old daughter Meika for the day as we ambled our way into town. A couple of beers at the Mak and we were off - after I'd disconnected Vaughan's rear brakes so the buckled wheel could turn freely! I soon realised how slow the weight and air resistance of all my gear makes me. Vaughan - wearing jeans and a sweatshirt tore off on what he claims is his first bike ride on a "treadly" since he was a kid. I caught him and at one point passed him as he took the safe route around a roundabout rather than just cycling through like I did. A cry of "You f**kin' cheat!" had me in stitches. A couple of minutes latter we arrived at O'Sheas, a massive twenty five minutes and twelve k's from the Mak. Vaughan was puffing and blowing like a racehorse and had to order our drinks by the reliable "point and nod" method.

From O'Sheas we had a relaxed ride to our third and last pub. It was a great day and though only 16km in total (the shortest of the entire trip) I fell asleep on Vaughan's sofa after we'd put the bikes away. Vaughan's convinced that we'll go for more rides in the future.



So that's it. Riding over for now. 29 days. 1665km. Auckland to Christchurch. It's a bit hard to believe. I can't say I've loved it all, but I've loved it. What a trip. I'm almost tempted to throw in that nauseating Americanism "It's been a journey..." but let's get real. All I did was get up each day, throw my leg over the bike and ride a wee way. I've just been really lucky to have the opportunity and to see it all. Now if only this weather would improve maybe I can do some more.... which I suppose gives us a closing myPod song "Weather With You" by Crowded House.

Waiau to Kaiapoi

Boy was it cold this morning. I don't know when fog becomes mist or mist becomes cloud but looking out this morning I couldn't see too far. It was like a lovely Scottish Outer Hebrides "haar". With no wind to clear it the fog could have stayed well into the day until the sun burned it off, so I set out. Only a couple of hundred metres into the days ride I had to cross a long one lane bridge. Aware that the karma cycling gods were on my side I stopped for this picture. Just after I left the bridge three cars came speeding past....


I was surprised to see quite a few vehicles without their lights on in the fog and travelling well too fast to stop in the road they could see ahead. I had my flashing lights on front and rear and stayed well to the left. The fog cleared after about an hour and a half some 25km latter in Culverden and from then on the sun shone strongly all day. The air temperature though was still pretty low.



There were only two minor climbs all day and after Waikari it was all downhill to Waipara. I was passed by a couple on a tandem at one point. At Waipara I rejoined state highway one for the last 58km into Christchurch. I was travelling well an could feel the northerly breeze behind me. I'd originally planned to spend the night at Amberley but arrived there before 1:30pm, so I took a quick photo of the statue of Charles Upham and headed on. One of only three men to win two Victoria Crosses, Upham is a national hero and is the only person to receive the VC and Bar (two VCs) for combat roles. (The other two chaps got theirs for rescuing wounded under fire.)


From Amberley it's 30km to Kaiapoi where my aunt and uncle live and only a further 20km into Christchurch. About 20km out I decided I'd better rig them rather than just show up, but nobody answered. I rang my brother in Christchurch and he offered to come and pick me up. "No way," I said. "I've cycled through wind and rain and up and down all sorts of hills. I'm not going to get 'picked up!' I'm riding the whole way." Vaughan had sent me a text a week or so ago and said he'd ride out to meet me. I thought he mant on his Harley, but he was going to do it on a pushbike! There was no way I'd miss that, so I pushed on.

Just north of Kaiapoi is the Pegasus development. It's a massive, planned urban area that will feature a hotel, a school, shops, a golf course and all manner of other amenities. Right now it's got a lovely gateway and about six houses. With the recession it could become a white elephant, but good luck to them.


Further phone call attempts in Kaiapoi went unanswered so I stopped in Subway for a sandwich - yummy, and their revised veggie patties are now vegan - and another phone call attempt. Still no answer, so I rode around to their house where I could see my uncle through the window. Brilliant! Ring the doorbell.... no response. Hmmm? Look in the window again... Yes there he is. Ah, he's on the phone. Ok. Wait.... wait a bit more. No sign of him now, so ... ring the doorbell, and... you guessed it. Nothing. I didn't want to go wandering around banging on windows but this looked like the only option until my Auntie Denise pulled up. Thank heavens.

It was good to see them but I noticed immediately that they were in the process of packing up home to move. It seems the whole family's moving at the moment. I'm about to have a go at settling in Christchurch, my mother has just moved to Christchurch lat week and now Auntie Denise and Uncle Randall are moving in with their daughter, Lauren, IN CHRISTCHURCH.

We rang Mum who was surprised to hear I'd made it that far in one day - it was my longest day 106km - and she came out for dinner. With everything packed up though, we had to make do with couple of bowls and some mugs. Over dinner we caught up o everyone's news and I spent a bit of time showing them my photo book of Kids' Week, from Harare last year. It was great to talk about it and it made me want to go back and teach there at some stage. But for now there's one day left to ride. Kaiapoi to Christchurch, a 20km pub crawl on bikes with Vaughan. This will be a laugh....

Kaikoura to Waiau

It was raining at he hostel when I got up this morning. The hostel normally has a magnificent view of the bay where whales can sometimes be spotted. The highlight of the rained in view was this lovely paua shell which like so many in New Zealand doubles as an ashtray. The swirling blue and green colours of the shell are used in jewelry too and in Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, I've seen paua shell listed as a precious stone used for marble inlay!






Anyway as fate would have it the rain had stopped by the time I left. Right on the outskirts of town and as a reminder of my rant yesterday I spotted this sign. Maybe a few more could be erected north of Kaikoura. (I saw one for sale in a junk shop between Waiau and Christchurch too!) Having passed the sign and pleased that drivers would be much more aware I turned off the main highway onto the Alpine Pacific Triangle, or SH70, or the Inland Kaikoura route. Instantly there was no traffic. Another day and road virtually to myself.






The first twelve kilometres is an undetectable slow climb and I was averaging about 12-13km/h. At his rate it was going to take all day, but once the road levelled off my speed picked up again. The route follows valleys up to a couple of passes and the countryside is mostly sheep stations. I even spotted some shepherds practicing their sheep dog skills, trialling being a minor sport around here. It's pretty popular and back in the 70s there was a TV show every weekend featuring NZs top sheep dog triallists - they even had the occasional trans-Tasman clash against the Aussies! The show was "A Dog Show" and had an instrumental version of 'Flowers on the Wall" as it's theme - I bet Quentin Tarantino didn't get the desired result amongst NZ audiences when Butch starts singing along to 'Flowers' during Pulp Fiction!








The road is beautiful and dips into and climbs out of river valleys. Some of the drops in and out are over 100m but generally it's a steady climb from the sea to the high point of 500m just before Mt Lyford. Only one loaded logging truck passed me all day and I don't know if it's karma or what but it passed when I was pulled off the road eating my lunch. Weird???






Mt Lyford is a skiing area and I stopped off at the lodge for a pot of tea and to warm myself by the fire. It's a lovely place (and $4 for a tea's not too bad). From there its downhill and free wheeling almost the entire 23km to Waiau, but once again the rain came back in to finish my day. Karma again???



In Waiau a new national champion chip buttie source was found. Great chips and plenty of tomato sauce. A huge feed too. Well done Waiau.

The camp ground is noce too and I had the place almost to myself with the only other people a couple who are in the area trappng possums to prevent the spread of TB to the local cattle.

And I watched one of the funniest shows I've seen on NZ TV, it featured a real gem from a guy called Gish - a takeoff of The Eagles 'Hotel California' reworked as 'Big Girl in the Corner' which I'll make today's classic and dedicate to my good mate Stu Stone who at one time had a run in with one too many of these big girls. (Note - this has a PG rating.)