Monthly archives: February 2008

29/02/08
Hello, all my global friends. Isn’t it odd that I’m writing a post on the 29th of February? Good old leap year. Only comes once every four years, and this happens to be one of those years, so there you have it kids, my Feb. 29th post. Hopefully not too many babies are born today, as it would sure suck to only get presents once every four years, wouldn’t it? Lucky for me, I don’t have a whole lot to write about today, as it was another one of the now-familiar Catlins rainy days for me. Due mainly to my departure time, I basically had rain most of the day in some form or another. It was a bit frustrating, as it would slow down for a bit, and I’d try to take off my jacket, and then the rain would pick back up to full force, forcing me to put it back on. Oh well, I’m getting used to all the different types of weather and riding conditions, so it really doesn’t bother me too much anymore. My ride today was from Curio Bay to Owaka, which is 1/3rd of the way to Dunedin. One more stop in Milton, and I’ll be in Dunedin. Read on for today’s story, and remember the map, etc.

28/02/08
Hey dudes and dudettes! How are you all doing? For ActiveSteve, the fun just never stops. I spent an extra day in Curio Bay, because there are a number of worthwhile things to see and do here, so why rush on, right? I think I already mentioned that there are Hector’s Dolphins, Yellow-Eyed Penguins, Sea Lions, Petrified Forest, etc. etc. Also, in the surrounding areas, you can go to Slope Point, the Southernmost point on the South Island, as well as some other choice viewing spots of the rugged Southland coast and the ocean. Of course, to get to those, it’s via gravel roads, and can take a while on a bike. As you can see from my little map, I did 70km, but my speed is very high. Why is that? Well, I must confess that I toured the area in a car, not on my saddle! I also finally took a surfing lesson and tried my hand at riding the waves on a longboard. For the full details on how I did all this, read on my friends.

27/02/08
Howdy gang, and how are you all doing today? Me, well, it was a soggy day for ActiveSteve. As such, you’ll have to forgive me, but there aren’t all that many pictures on my map. You can still see my route and all the stats, but not much for entertainment value I’m afraid. For the first while, there really wasn’t all that much reason to pull out the camera anyway. The scenery was just more rolling farmland, with sheep, deer and cows, much like the last few biking days. It was also really coming down, so I was pretty bundled up. Overbooties on, arm warmers, gore-tex jacket done all the way up with the hood over my helmet, and even my ski gloves to keep my hands warm, so as you can imagine, the camera wasn’t in a ready state as it normally would be! All that being said, I guess I can fill up a couple more paragraphs with some info on my day and evening in the beautiful Curio Bay area of the Catlins Coast. So, read on, dear literati.

26/02/08
Good day to you all. Welcome to the Southernmost chapter in my Aotearoa Adventures. That’s New Zealand to most of you 🙂 Today I would like to tell you a little bit about my journey by car and boat to Steward Island, the Island off the south coast of the south island from Bluff. Yup, my main goal of this trip was to get all the way from the far north of New Zealand to the far south, and you can’t get much further than actually leaving the main island and getting onto one of the other smaller islands off the coast. Granted, there are islands much further south, but this was really the best I could do. Things got off to a bit of a shaky start for various reasons for the day, but eventually everything worked out, which it always seems to if you just relax and go with the flow. Check out my map, pictures, and of course read on for the gory details. Or at least some of the details. I’m going to try to be brief, as I find myself again 3 posts behind, which sucks when you’re me 🙂

25/02/08
Hi gang. I bet you’re all wondering what I’ve been up to, aren’t you? Well, the truth is, today was very quiet for me indeed. So why was I so inactive? Well, the title of the post should pretty much give you a clue. It was windier than I could have ever imagined this day in Invercargill. Yesterday’s winds were repeated again, and that pretty much put the kibosh on any plans I might have been formulating to go to Stewart Island. Actually, there are a few reasons for me sticking around. Firstly, I’m tired, okay? Secondly, I was getting caught up on my domestic chores. Also, I had planned to leave for Bluff later in the day, but then decided that didn’t make any sense. Accomodations were fully booked in Bluff and on Stewart Island, which meant I would have had to camp, and rain was definitely going to happen soon. Plus, I figured, why pay for a night down there, when I can just hitch down to Bluff for my Stewart Island day? After all, it’s only 27km between the two. I could get up, and still make the first ferry, then catch the last ferry back and sleep in Invercargill au gratis both nights! That’s really what clinched it for me. Anyway, read on for a little about my restful day. There’s a map, but it’s pretty dull, oh and there are also some pictures over on Flickr.