Yearly archives: 2008

19/03/08
The byline for this post would probably have to be “Camera Survived, GPS Didn’t” Yup, that’s right, after months of faithful service and helping me create great custom maps of all my cycling trips, my little Garmin looks like it can now officially be called dead. She fought bravely in the cold ocean waters, but in the end, it appears as though it suffered death by drowning. Too bad, it had always been waterproof in the past, but I think some of the knocks it’s taken on the road caused cracks in the housing, and the salt water rushed in and fried the thing sometime while I was frolicking with seals. Seals? Yup, I made my way to Kaikoura today, and the highlight has got to be swimming with New Zealand Fur Seals. Hunted to near extinction, but making a comeback. Of course, you’ll have to read on for the whole tale, and you can check out a partial map of the day as well. Sadly, this will be the last map you see. Good thing I’m almost done. Looks like I’ll be on the market for a new training tool now as well. Jealous Kevin? I’ve already come to grips with it, and I’m not that upset about it. It functioned great for a long time.

18/03/08
Greetings from high in New Zealand at Arthur’s Pass village. I’m in the cafe/store at the moment just killing some time before my train gets here to whisk me back to Christchurch. I’ve taken advantage of the time to book all my remaining rail travel, and just made the realization that this is Easter Weekend coming up. Looks like I might end my trip in the tent, as hostels are booked pretty solid for that weekend already. Oops. Hadn’t counted on that at all! However, that’s the future, you’re probably much more interested in the recent past and present, n’est-ce pas? Today was an absolute stunner of a day up in the mountains. I must have a tramping weather horseshoe up my butt, because yet again when I tramped hard and fast up into the mountains, I was rewarded with clear blue skies and some of the most magnificent 360 degree views I’ve had in my entire trip. I’ve looked at my pictures, and sadly, they can not do justice to what I actually saw. In spite of that, please check them out, and the map showing you just where I went hiking.

17/03/08
Yes, I realize that it’s St. Patrick’s Day, and you may have been expecting an appropriately themed blog post from me as a result. Well, sorry to disappoint, but after the weekend debauchery, I haven’t touched a drop on this, one of the holiest beer days. I just didn’t have it in me. Rather, I was carrying on with my trip, now heading back into the mountains of Arthur’s Pass. Tonight I’m staying in NZ’s first hostel for the night, and tomorrow I’ll be doing a full day of hiking before getting back onto the train bound for Christchurch. The journey today took me right from one coast to the other, in what would probably have taken me at least a couple days. The train was quite comfortable, but I’ve gotta be honest, doing nothing all day is a pain in the ass. I was nodding off several times due to lack of stimulation. However, I’m getting ahead of myself. Do read on and check out the day’s map for full gory details of the trip, and my attempt at physical activity at the end of the journey.

16/03/08
Hello again, and welcome to another chapter of InactiveSteve’s adventures. It’s now been a full day since my cycle journey ended, but I’m still trying to fill my days with exciting things to do. Today’s post is all about a day trip that I made out to the beautiful Banks Peninsula, and more specifically, the town of Akaroa, one of the only places in the world where the French and the English lived peacefully side by side in the days gone by. There is a history of settlement there by both nations, and the little town the remains there is a very picturesque and charming area, well worth the visit I reckon. The weather wasn’t perfect for my day trip, but at least it wasn’t pouring rain. I sort of wish I’d been able to spend a night there as well, and see the area in better weather, but at least I got to stroll around for a few hours, have a good meal, and sample some tasty cheeses later in the day. As a result of two days worth of accumulated hangover, it was a very low-key day for me, but you can still check out my map and the pics from the ensuing day. Read on and enjoy, friends.

15/03/08
Howdy all! Hope you are all having a great day. I’ve been having a blast since I got off the bike in Christchurch. I immediately set off to book some day trips to get to some spots that I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to see while on my train trip heading back up north. The first such tour that I booked was a Backpacker Tour of Hanmer Springs with an outfit called Way Out Tours. They only set up shop this year, and they’re targetting the younger demographic, by enticing us with the offer of Beer School. It was to be their last tour of the season, so expectations were high. Of course, to get the tour started, I had to actually make it out of bed, which proved to be a bit of a challenge, given that I actually didn’t get to sleep until somewhere around 4am! Bars stay open pretty late, and we had ended up at a club called Fat Eddie’s, where the ‘Batmen’ were laying some excellent tunes down. However, since I’d paid for the tour, I forced myself out of bed at 7am to get ready. A quick shower helped as well. Check out the map, and read on for the full details of my adventurous Hanmer Springs Hangover Tour trip.