Catchy title, isn’t it? That’s the number of squished possums I counted today on my 80km journey. They were in various states of decomp, some looking very fresh indeed. I’m happy to say that I didn’t run over a single one myself. Although I bet I could inflict some pain on the little varmin. It’s easy to understand why they are a target. They all but wiped out Kiwis in New Zealand, and the department of Conservation actually encourages motorists to attempt to hit the possums wherever possible. And it would appear that the overzealous NZ drivers have taken that to heart. Well, regardless of the roadkill, my day was considerably better today than it has been in the last two, in spite of it being my furthest day in the saddle. Read on for a little bit about my happy day cycling in Northern New Zealand.

Okay, so another day of biking is in the hole. I crammed in an astonishing 76km into this day, trying to make up a little percieved lost time, but have decided that I can’t really make up any lost time. There are just far too many biking challenges up in these parts. After a heavenly sleep in Helensville, I slept in until 8am. I had a 7am alarm, but when it went off, I was soooo cozy, that I opted to bump it by an hour. It was a good call. When I finally got up, there was a nice breakfast basket waiting for me in the common area. Two yogurts, two little bags of cereal, a banana, a kiwi, and some bread and jams. Talk about a power breakfast. I ate it all save the Kiwi. I also had some extra groceries from the night before, and decided to just take them with me as road snacks. Read on for more about torture day #2.

Saturday, Dec.15 was to be the official departure of ActiveSteve from Auckland to points unknown. Well, I sort of knew some points that I would hit. My first little while will be spent in the Northlands of New Zealand, as far as Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of New Zealand. Some say this area holds the most challenging biking, and if I could make it there, I’d make it anywhere. However, before I went anywhere, there was the matter of getting things packed up. This would prove to be a little more challenging than anticipated. I awoke shortly after 8:30 on Saturday, and dragged Kevin out for breakfast before starting the packing. Read on for my exciting first day.

Friday had me in Auckland for another day. Freddy, Elaine and Maya were getting in early that morning, and I had told him that I’d stick around to catch up a bit with him before I took off on Saturday for the real adventure. Even though they rolled in very early, I planned a few other things to do to fill up my day, since it would be my last Auckland touristy day before hitting the dusty trails. My first problem in the morning was that I had no way to get a hold of them. Kevin doesn’t have a home phone. Not a problem for a resourceful lad like me though, I just got set for my day, then biked over to their parents house where they were staying. Luckily I had the address, so I found my way. I rolled in around 10am. They had just had a little nap, so my timing was relatively good. I stuck around for a little bit, posted some blog entries, then headed out alone for downtown again, read on for what I did. You can also check out the map that I threw together as well.

Huzzah! I’ve finally made it. Well, actually, I’ve already been in NZ for over a day now, but am only now finally getting a chance to write up a little post about it. My flight yesterday went very smoothly, not a single complaint from me. I was supposed to be picked up at the airport by Greg’s brother Kevin, so wanted to make sure I got through customs quickly and efficiently. As my last post mentioned, NZ is very tough on their biosecurity measures, so I wasn’t sure that things would go all that smoothly upon entry. However, my fears were laid to rest, and I actually made it through in record time. I actually think it was one of my fastest customs checks of my life, especially considering all the gear I had. I was also blown away by how quickly my bike made it to me in the luggage area. I had barely gotten my duffle off the conveyor belt when a side door opened up, and a fellow rolled in the box. Sweet. Anyway, read on for the rest of the past 24 hours excitement.