South Island at last...

After four glorious days of spending time in Wellington aka Wellywood I took the Bluebridge Ferry to the South Island. The crossing of the Cook Strait was a bit rough and windy - we were even asked to vacate the outside deck of the ship.

Arriving to Picton and the sundrenched Marlborough Sounds by 4:40pm - the journey was a bit longer than the 3 hours and 20 minutes that they say it should take... but it was a great trip!
Was even welcomed to the South Island by a Dolphin (not sure what type, but a dolphin nonetheless).

A note on hostels in Picton and Nelson - all of them seem to be trying to outdo the others. For instance the backpackers hostel in Picton that I chose to stay at advertised giving out chocolate pudding and icecream every night at 8pm. The place that I'm staying at right now offers free ice cream to everyone...perfect treat after cycling 109km from Picton to Nelson. This place also has free internet. Pretty "sweet as!" Let's just hope that this trend continues throughout the south island.

T1 was taken to the Ride HQ (aka a bicycle shop) and was given a new chain and gear cables - the mountains have been tough on my bike - or maybe it's me... but at least I had the smarts and know how to get it looked at before problems arose. While it was in the shop I climbed 157m to the Centre of New Zealand (see pictures on here and facebook).

Beautiful day. Tomorrow off to Motueka and then have to climb from sea level to 810m over the Takaka Hill to make it to the Northern most point of the South Island - and see the Farewell Spit.

Looking forward to seeing more, For now I'm going UP South!

Auckland to Wellington - the Overlander experience

More glorious weather... as Crowded House sings "Take the weather with you..." I have been quite lucky with the weather so far and I just hope that it continues, especially as I head to the South Island on Monday, Feb 22, 2010 - via the Bluebridge ferry service.

On Thursday morning (just this past week) I had to be up early and head to the Britomart Train Station in Auckland by 7:00am - of course in true Nathan fashion I was early by 30 minutes. Not an hour of the day that I have been seeing that much of while I've been travelling - sigh the life of a backpacker/cyclist... actually I'm usually up by 7:30am, but not already packed and on the road or on a train.

The train journey was of epic proportions. It is called the Overland train and departs at 7:30am and arrives 12 hours later in Wellington - that is if you are lucky. The train is fairly comfortable, heaps of leg room, mind you I don't quite understand the point of overhead shelves on trains/buses that cannot hold more than a coat or lightweight objects. So as we left Auckland I promptly fell asleep listening to music and ignoring suburb upon suburb (I did open my eyes to once again see Manurewa where my cycling journey had commenced).

Unlike Via Rail in Canada if you want a drink or food you have to go to the beverage car or the "buffet service" as they referred to it. Lucky for me I had packed snacks and enough water to put out a small fire (if needed). However then the allure of the food called to my stomach... just past the National Park. I should've ignored them. Not because the food was awful, it's just that the series of events surrounding the purchase of the food was probably one of my least favourite experiences in NZ. The ladies operating the train were well...ummm... how do you say it.... BITCHES. They weren't friendly, they had attitude and none of them even had nice hair (the Canadian drama series E.N.G. from the 1990's comes to mind - "I don't like your attitude..." countered with "well I don't like your hair") Poor comment and I apologize if I've offended anyone.

In short what happened was I went to pay for my food and drink with my credit card. It didn't go through, so they swiped it again... It's not that I didn't have the money - it is that the card information is send via mobile phone to the credit card company and as it turns out the part of the journey that I was in was well without service. Anyway, I asked for proof that neither transaction went through... thinking this wouldn't be a difficult request to fulfill, and trust me I asked politely.

Sidenote: Considering I'm on holiday and won't see my actual bills for sometime... it would be nice to know that I haven't been charged 3 times for substandard food.

Anyway, my request - although simply was returned with a comment from the lady "Adrian" was her name - actually it was made to her colleague stating that "this gentlemen thinks we're out to rip him off..." Let's just say more words were exchanged. I paid cash walked back to my seat only to realize that they had sold me the wrong thing. ARRGGHH!

Okay... so that was boring and long.

Fun parts of the journey... having to slow down because the track was too hot? what? didn't quite understand what that meant... and I mean SLOW.

Arrived in the Capital about 33 minutes late and guess what it poured down. Nothing like cycling in a strange city trying to find your pre booked accommodation in the rain. I suppose I am relaxed as I saw the whole ordeal as an adventure.

Wellington has been GREAT so far - went and explored the Bays, even took a quick dip in the ocean - well up to my knees - it was cold. I've seen the Botanical Gardens and the cable car. I must say that having my T1 (aka the bike) along with me has been great as I can pretty much go wherever I want... tomorrow I'm checking out Te Papa (Our Place) National Museum. And then one more night before I cross to the South Island.

John Key and Me!

Kia Ora - so this post is a bit late... but I've been simply enjoying my holiday and taking a break from cycling as well.

A week ago I had the pleasure of meeting the Prime Minister of New Zealand. You see... every year he chooses a park to visit and then meet the kiwi public and their visitors. I guess it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. He shook my hand, asked me why I was in the country and for how long - similar to the Customs agent at the airport (except less scary).

I explained that I was cycling around New Zealand prior to cycling across Canada - that seemed to impress him a fair amount. He spoke about how he and Stephen Harper are good friends... that is when I lost interest. Anyway, although the picture isn't posted on the blog... it is on my facebook page.

BTW - the stuff about him choosing a park to visit each year wasn't true - you'll have to ask me directly to find out where I was and why the PM was also there.

The Cycle Race

Okay... don't get excited I didn't actually sign up for a race or anything. I was just looking at my journal and remembered that I wanted to blog about my close encounter of the cycling kind.

When I left the National Park the first part was amazing - very fast pace (travelling about 35km/h down some steep hills and even went quickly up some (dare I say it) pleasant hills. Anyway, I was coming upon Raetihi (once again I apologize if I've put in the wrong name or spelled it incorrectly) and I was probably cycling at around 40km/h when I passed a sign that said "Caution Cycle Race" and there was a girl (about 20 years old) directing me to turn onto a highway toward Ohakune. I ignored her wishes and said I wasn't apart of the race... then it occurred to me that this was an opportunity to see other cyclists in action and also have a break... so I stopped and went back to chat with her.

She was just about to head back to Otago University in Dunedin - seems everyone goes there... for the full on "uni experience". She apologized to me for thinking that I was apart of the race, but she had been told the first cyclist wasn't that far off... hence the other reason to stay and chat up a stranger at the side of the road. Anyway, we continued to chat about my journey and wait and wait. I finally asked her a few more details about the race, typically it takes people at least 4 hours to finish the race from Ohakune - up the Desert Road to National Park and then back... and the longest finishing times are about 8hours. Usually the first cyclists would be due to pass this area at 11:30am - and the current time was 10:40am. So I asked her how much longer I should wait to see some cyclists. This is when the light bulb went on - she said that two race organizers had come by about 20 minutes ago (in a Ute) stating that the lead cyclist was about 20 - 30 minutes away and that records would be broken in this race... now I think some of you will see where this is going... realizing that they too had confused me with being in the race, I must've been impressing them with my speed and grace...hahaha!

After this realization... I just smiled and kept moving on!

Trust, Peace and Paradise!

Finally having a relaxing day not cycling (well maybe a bit)- and trust me it's nice to be out of the saddle... the distances have been as follows:
Friday - 47km uphill to the National Park - passed Mt. Doom for all of you Lord of the Rings fans Mt Ngarahoe (pardon the spelling)
Saturday - 123km up and downhill - see the running of the sheep blog entry - I should also note that during this day I was mistaken to be a part of a cycle race which took me 25 minutes to actually figure out while I was waiting for the leader of the actual race (which in essence was actually me... I'll explain at another point in time).
Sunday - 103km fairly flat Wanganui to Hawera (wind in my face the entire time)
Monday - 97km Hawera to Oakura (finally a CBC drama day - aka Wind at my back... I know I keep using that joke)

So what brought me to Oakura? Good question... on my flight overseas I sat beside a woman named Shirley Fisher, we were both flying from Toronto (to NZ) and she sat beside me on my flight from Toronto to Vancouver. I obviously made a good impression and in Vancouver she provided me with her home number, email address etc... and she gave me an offer of a place to crash if I made it to her home. Anyway, she lives pretty much right on the beach (black sandy beach) just outside her front door and beautiful Mt. Egmont National Park in her backyard. Blissful paradise!

I arrived at her place yesterday, was given a place to clean up - a big bedroom with ensuite and was made to feel like I was apart of their family, even did a load of laundry.

Bill (her partner) came home after we had been to the beach for a swim in the refreshing Tasman Sea. We ate a lovely meal of lamb snags (sausages), chicken and beef with heaps of wonderful salads.

Today they are both at work... I have access to the internet, was given a key to their place, and was even offered a car to drive (I politely declined the car). This is paradise. Such a trusting lot...so peaceful - waves crashing in...someone pinch me this has to be a dream. Picture is of last nights sunset!

Running of the Sheep!

A few days ago while I was cycling from the National Park to Wanganui I came upon 5 sheep (escapees) on the highway. They were just grazing at the side of the road and freaked out a bit with me cycling toward them (please no sheep jokes)... so they started to trot up the hill. Trust me it was steep and I actually stopped at a rest area just nearing the top to give me enough steam to get to the actual top. Thinking this would also allow the sheep time to get back to there field, afterall a car had gone by and had pushed them along.

So I get to the top of the hill and start my descent - I see the sheep off in the distance...I start cycling with my speed ever increasing to about 40km/h (side note: this normally wouldn't impress me, but with all the gear I have on my bike I'm pleased to be going faster). The sheep haven't left the roadside and start trotting at full speed. I would have to guess that they made it up to about 30 km/h before ducking under a fence back into their field, just as I passed them... with looks of shock and horror in their faces (of course I'm being dramatic)... I think that I actually had the look of shock and horror on my face - not because of the sheep but because I hit gravel almost immediately after that whole experience...anyway, it struck me funny and thought I should share.

The whole experience made me appreciate the life of a sheep in NZ... you try to escape... your escape is thwarted by a Canadian cyclist... you realize your reality...that being your purpose is to provide wool for a few years and then ultimately you become chops on a tourists plate. Good Eats!

The Tongariro Crossing

Okay... I think I may be a bit insane. A few days ago I left Rotorua and cycled 142km to Turangi and then immediately signed up for a day of relaxation on the Tongariro Crossing a 19.4km hike through volcanic terrain (considered by many to be one of the best ONE day hiking tracks in NZ).
Then yesterday by chance Liz Cutmore (who I met in Auckland) came and picked me up and we went out on Lake Taupo for a sail in a beautiful yacht.

Today was back in the saddle climbing UP UP UP and AWAY! It was no CBC television show... unless they have come up with a new one called Wind in my Face! Oh well it was only 45 - 50km all up hill.

Tomorrow the plan is to head south to Wanganui and then to the west part of the country to the Taranaki region. The weather is beautiful and the sun is just setting and it is 8:56pm - Summer is wonderful in the Southern hemisphere.