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.

Hey folks. Nothing much to report for this blog post. I decided to spend an extra day in Paihia, as I wanted to visit Russell, which has some significant history attached to it. What’s the point of touring and biking all the time if you can’t take a day off for yourself every now and again, right? Well, that was what I did for myself. There was only one hitch with my day off. It rained. Scratch that, it poured! When I awoke, it was actually not too bad out, so I got my things together and headed down to the town. I hit an Internet Cafe for an hour and a half, putting up a couple posts and some maps, but of course you already knew that, didn’t you? So what else is new this day? Tune in.

Glorious Day off to report to you all. I have so many great memories out of my long bus trip. I dragged the GPS along again, but I’ve appropriately labeled it as being a Bus Trip, not bike ride. Of course, if you thought I’d actually covered over 450km in a day, you’d be crazy anyway, but I did want to show where I went. Essentially, I’ve capped off my Northern New Zealand adventuring by taking the bus tour. I’ve seen Cape Reinga, 90 Mile Beach, another Kauri Forest, and a few other cool sights. I body surfed in the Pacific Ocean, and reflected upon where the Maori spirits leap off into the ocean, to complete their journey into the afterlife. Read on for a little more about the whole thing if you care to. I’ll try not to make you all jealous 🙂

Howdy folks. So, another day, and another 86km into the bike ride. Actually, it was a little more than 86km, since I went to the grocery store after finishing my day’s ride. I could’ve just had take-out again, but I decided it would be better to pick up some fresh fruits and veggies to munch on, along with the requisite pizza. However, I’m getting ahead of myself yet again, you’re probably more interested in what happened today anyway. I did in fact change my original plans of heading to the absolute north of the island by bike, and opted instead today to cut across the middle of the Island in order to reach the Bay of Islands, which are a beautiful part of New Zealand, and where I decided to spend at least two days. Read on.

Wow! What a day. This was truly a day of the biggest so far. I’m not even sure where to start with this one. I had the steepest ascent today. The longest descent, the most rain, the longest ride, the slowest average speed, and so on and so on. But you know what? It was a great day all told. I think it’s almost safe to say that I’ve gotten over my earlier apprehension, and I’m now ready to get on with this trip. Realistically speaking, it has become clear to me that the body is really an amazing thing. I have had to allow myself a little extra time to adapt to ‘life in the saddle’. Although it’s only been four real days with the weight behind me, I’m definitely feeling more at ease. I hit a top speed of 62km/h today going down a hill, what a thrill. But of course the thought of wiping out at that speed with all the weight is quite scary too. Oh well, taste death to live life, right? Anyway, read on for a little extra detail about what made today pretty cool and special for me.