Archive - 7

29/12/07
Hi gang. Here I am, back to report on another lovely day in the lands down under. Due to a good bit of luck and some advice, I was able to shorten my biking day by about 24km, and still make it to the same destination. However, in order to do this, I had to take the fabled 309 road. Intrigued? Well so was I, which is why I decided to give it a whirl. Let me describe it in this way. It was basically my own personal Bolivian Death Highway! Okay, certainly not quite as extreme as that famous road, but it was something else, let me tell you that. Of course, I didn't have the luxury of only going downhill, so I had to climb a nice long ascent up a twisty dirt road with dropoffs beside me, before descending it on the other side. I was quite glad that I'd brought the full suspension bike today. Read on for a bit more about this day.

28/12/07
Today was another day of firsts for ActiveSteve. It was the first day that I got to jump on a trampoline. Yes, I nearly killed myself in the process, but that's just par for the course in my world, isn't it? I kid of course. I didn't get hurt or anything, but I did have some near misses. The other first of the day was this was the first day that I biked on the Coromandel Peninsula. I had originally been unsure whether I wanted to do this section of NZ, but after today, I'm quite glad that I did. The scenery is very nice, and the roads were uber-cool. A drivers paradise. Maybe not a cyclists' paradise, but I still enjoyed. Read on for a little story about it, and the map too!

27/12/07
Hi all. I hope everyone had a good Christmas and Boxing Day. I don't know about anyone else, but as for me, the day after Boxing day it was basically back to work. I left the comfort of Auckland and hit the high road. My goal was to get up and basically leave as soon as I could, since I had mapped out a fairly long day of biking, clocking in at around 90km including some rather large hills along the way. However, as with the best laid plans, things don't always go as planned. I was fairly effective the night before in sorting my gear out, but I hadn't fully packed it, leading to a bit of a delay in getting out the door. Read on for the rest of the day, and check out the map.

26/12/07
Howdy sports fans! Notice how I've finally added a date to the first part of my post? A few people have mentioned that they'd like to know when I write each of my blog posts, so I am now complying. Basically, I've written a post every single day, but I realize that you'd probably still like to know the exact dates, so there you go. This post will be relatively brief, as there was basically only one thing that I did all day long on Boxing Day. I went to a 1 day Cricket match! That's right, I got to spectate an International cricket match between Bangladesh and New Zealand,. I'll be the first to admit that I know pretty much nothing about Cricket, but I was very willing to learn, so I was quite excited to be able to do this on my day off of biking.

Merry Christmas all! As I'm writing this post to you all, it's actually Boxing Day over here in NZ. As you've probably seen, I managed to get some blog posts as well as some pictures up on the ole Internet for you all as a Christmas present. I've had the good fortune of finding myself in Auckland for Christmas day, and as a result, I was able to rudely impose yet again on the kindness of the Friesens. I tell you what, it certainly made my Christmas a little merrier over here, seeing as I'm all on my own. I even got to partake in a proper Christmas feast, rather than just another microwave meal with some sides that I prepare myself in a hostel. I've put together a little map of my ride yesterday, along with some pictures as always, so feel free to check those out. If you care to, I'll also spin another little yarn about the days ride. Read on.

Wow, I can't believe it's actually Christmas Eve. The lack of snow has really got me a bit confused about the whole Christmas scene over here. Sure, there are decorations around towns and even some hostels, but without a blanket of the white stuff, and the need to wear a toque outside, it just doesn't quite compute with me. Regardless, the day was fantastic for me again, although there was a certain amount of suffering as always, but there were some chance encounters and great views which once again made any temporary pain worth enduring in the long run. Check out the map for some pictures and the route. The maps will probably be the best place to see pictures for the rest of this trip until I return. It just isn't practical to try and upload lots of pictures unfortunately. Anywho, enough about that, on with the tale.

Hi folks. I see you're all back to read the next installment in my ongoing saga in New Zealand. Thanks. I'm happy to provide everyone with glimpses into my psyche and what I'm doing, why, and what it all means to me. This installment sees me biking from the Little Earth Hostel in Whangarei to the coastal town of Mangawhai Heads and the Coastal Cows Hostel. First thing I did before leaving this morning was to check whether or not the hostel would have room, so that I'd know whether or not I'd have to keep moving. Huzzah, they had room, so now I didn't have to rush to get there early, but could just roll in when I rolled in. That makes a big difference to me, and came in handy today. Actually, the owner even said if he wasn't here, just to let myself in. Well, as I write this, I've been here alone listening to tunes on the stereo, and working away, after having eaten. No owner has shown, but I showed two other couples around the place. Too funny. Anyway, on with my story of the day, and don't forget to check the map :-)

Hi Folks. I'm a post behind, so the next two posts might be slightly shorter than what I usually write. It isn't that I don't love you all, it's just that biking all day is hard work people :-) Yesterday was sort of a long day due to not just the biking, but the activities and excitement that followed the push to Whangarei. There were some interesting attempts at getting lodging, and some impromptu hill-climbing feats that I hadn't inteded in order to finally secure a place to lay my head for the evening. However, as always, everything worked out for the best for me, in spite of extra physical effort. You'll read all about that in a few paragraphs. As usual, I've put together a little map with some pictures that you should probably check out, and after that, come on back for the stories of the day.