Howdy all, Steve here, reporting from the Hostel Estoril in Buenos Aires. I’ve made an executive decision as to how I’ll keep you posted while we’re over here. Flash blogs. Meaning, just short little posts filling you in on the basics, and some of my thoughts. Hope you’ll understand my brevity. There are better things to do than write on a machine. But thankfully, for the time being, the hostel has hooked me up with free access to updated the blog. The posts will be pretty much straight translations from my notebook, where I’m organizing my thoughts. When I get back, I’ll update these with pictures too hopefully. On we go…
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05/01/08
Greetings from a well-rested and soaked PassiveSteve. Yes, today has certainly been one of my most inactive days of this trip thus far. However, it has been far from a boring day, and I’m definitely glad to finally take a ‘personal day’ to recharge mind, body and spirit! So just what makes this day so passive? Well, for starters, I only biked 30km, and I only left Rotorua around 10:30am. The late start was not only due to my short riding distance, but also my late night listening to live music. I’ve only headed a bit south of Rotorua to an area known as Waikite, where the Te Manaroa Spring is located. This is the largest single source of boiling water, which puts out about 40-50L of 98 degree water per second. Even though it was a short day, I’ve still put together a little map for you to look over, with some pictures of the thermal pools at my campground. Read on for more on this quiet day.
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.
25/01/08
Greetings all! Your humble narrator is back once again to regale you with another tale from the land down under. Today was another great day for me, as I managed to get all my biking done by just after 1pm! That was in spite of pedaling 75km, and having to climb up two biggish hills. I don’t know if I’m getting more in shape, or if it was the days off the bike or what, but I really felt good today. Perhaps it was also the good night of sleep that I had. Whatever the reason, I’m in a good mood today, and have already planned a full weekend of fun for myself here in Nelson. Yup, even though I’ve only been biking a day and a half, I’m spending 3 nights here, so that I get 2 full days. However, it is with good reason. Read on to hear more, and don’t forget to check out the map and pics for the day!
Click here for pictures from Chilecito, Cuestra de Miranda, and Talampaya.
To save you the trouble, I´ll just come out and admit to you that the National Park was a bit of a letdown. However, the journey to and from was worth the money, so it all evened out in the end. A small group of four of us decided to be brave and sign up for a mountain biking excursion in the National Park. The details were very sketchy from the get-go, so we really weren´t sure how much it would cost, how far it would be, or how long and hot it would be. As such, we bought tonnes of food and water just in case. Didn´t need it at all! More on that later. As far as the journey goes, we took Ruta 40, a section known as La Cuestra de Miranda. This is one of the most breath-taking rides in South America I think. Seems I say that a lot, doesn´t it? Well it was. I´m not making it up. I believe it has something like 800 turns, and winds its way quite a distance. I believe the park was something like 154km away, which was to take 2.5 hours. read on…