New Zealand

06/03/08
Hello rock-hounds. I have another day full of rocky miracle stories to share with you today I suppose. My trails today took me 87km from Waianakarua to Kurow, along the way passing some mighty impressive rock structures, including the Elephant Rocks, some Maori Rock Art, as well as some very amazingly shaped rock cliffs. Now I’m by no means a geological expert, but I certainly appreciated seeing these things, even though it meant I had to take another ‘scenic’ route, which meant a whole pile more of climbing as well as twists and turns, narrow roads, and even a gravel section due to a slight navigational error on my part (actually turned out to be a distance shortcut, but the speed was much slower). To learn more about my day, read on, and to see just where I saw some of these cool rocks, don’t forget to check out the map I’ve got up for you as well. Who loves ya, babies? Oh, by the way, big congrats out to Alyssa and Greg, as well as Trevor and Julie on their recent arrivals! Best of luck sleeping 🙂

05/03/08
Greetings folks. Well, as you’ve already seen by the bonus post added to the site, I started my day with a rather taxing attack on Baldwin Street. Although my cycling day was to be 90km, I still had to give it a go on the way out of town, as it would be my only chance to ride up that street on my bike while in New Zealand. What a way to start my day! I was totally exhausted at the top, but had to bounce back quickly, as the next part of the ride was a rather long climb up to around 500m to get over Mount Cargill, which is the scenic (i.e. torturous) way out of Dunedin heading North. The day was a hodge podge as far as weather, scenery and accomplishments go, so without any further ado, I invite you to browse my little map and to read on for a few more exciting details.

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.