Yearly archives: 2008

EXTRA
Breaking news story just in this morning of March 5th, 2008. With great crowds of cheering supporters, ActiveSteve climbed the world’s steepest street, Baldwin Street, in Dunedin, atop his trusty bicycle, Epicus, while the Burley Kid watched from below in admiration. This feat caused burning lungs and the taste of blood rising in the throat with the pounding heartrate, but the feat was over almost as quickly as it began. Onlookers were most impressed with this achievement, proclaiming aloud their respect for the task. Several keen eyes were even more impressed by the fact that ActiveSteve remained seated for the duration of the entire climb, and choose to attack almost the entire climb straight on rather than weave. However, in the steepest sections, the traditional alpine style of climbing was adopted for a short section, by weaving left and right to ease the slope. To mark the achievement, a certificate was acquired proclaiming the feat. The onlookers, so impressed, were clamouring to become signed witnesses to the act, even though there was no such place on the certificate. A quick addition to the scroll by ActiveSteve made a fellow from Pensacola, Florida most proud to sign his name proclaiming the validity of the climb. With great smiles and satisfaction, ActiveSteve, Epicus, and the Burley Kid continued back on the road, ready to tackle more hills for the day, albeit at much lesser grades!

04/03/08
Hello once again from Dunedin kids! Today was basically another day off from the bike, and a day in which I decided to take a trip on one of the Worlds Great Train trips on the Taierei Gorge Railway trip, departing from Dunedin and heading into the wilds of the river gorge for a couple hours. I must admit, getting up in the morning was something pretty difficult to do with my slightly hungover self. Luckily, my plans for the day were pretty minimal, apart from the rail tour. That would be over sometime around 1:30, so I’d have the rest of the day to myself. I passed the time with a trip to the movies, since it’s Tuesday and movies are cheap, and got my laundry all done. Also dropped back into the Art Gallery to kill some time, and had a bite to eat. Read on if you’d like a few more nuggets of info on my day and don’t forget the map.

03/03/08
Greetings folks. I’m back and I’ve got a couple new stories for you all today. I had the day off to enjoy some leisurely pursuits in Dunedin. Lovely city Dunedin is, and I suspect that it will be rather difficult to get back on my bike and start back on the road. However, I’ll sort out that little bit later. For now, you might as well here my tales of excitement in Dunedin. I did a number of things all throughout the city, and more or less stayed inactive for most of the day. I visited museums, shops, a really steep road and even a brewery to cap the day off. I put together my standard little map, and there are some pictures there for you to enjoy as well, so read on friends.

02/03/08
What’s that? You’re wondering why I say Edinburgh? Well, Dunedin is Edinburgh in Gaelic as it turns out, so my journey today was really to get to Edinburgh, not just Dunedin. As you can see by the picture, I had yet another very soggy day on the bike. In fact, this was the very worst day that I endured to date on the bike. I had to endure very heavy rains, cold winds, and numb appendages. For a while, I was actually concerned that I might end up with hypothermia. As a self-check, I kept singing to myself and talking aloud, to make sure I wasn’t mumbling. Of course, I’m getting a little ahead of myself yet again, so why don’t I start my story of the day from the beginning once again for you all. In the meantime, check out the map that I put together, and the pictures along with it. My camera was literally floating in a pool of water within my jacket pocket between pictures. However, I went the extra step for you today. Enjoy.

01/03/08
Hello sports fans, and welcome back to another chapter in the ActiveSteve saga. Today’s story is a familiar one folks. I woke up, it was raining. I cycled, and it rained. I got to my hostel, and it’s raining. As such, I find myself with very little in the way of exciting stories to share with you at the moment. I assure you that this isn’t a result of my lack of desire to write a lovely story for you, but there simply wasn’t all that much going on with me. However, I have, as usual, prepared a map for you, detailing my comings and goings, and I’m still prepared to give you an account of my day if you’re willing to read it. The highlight of course was the fact that I finally was able to find an Internet connection and upload my latest few posts and maps. Sorry for the delay, but as it turns out, the world wide web hasn’t fully made its way to the Catlins Coast yet. Anywho, read on for more about my enjoyable day.