New Zealand Day 1 - 9

So I haven't updated in a while because there's hardly any Internet out here but here it goes.

August 22: I landed in Auckland and got all of my luggage. I had to go through customs because I brought pepper spray (oops) in one of my bags. I was nervous that something I owned would be damaged on the plane so I was reluctant to open up the duffel bag and see how everything turned out. Surprisingly nothing was damaged, even my ukulele which I just shoved into the bag, secretly hoping it would get smashed. After that I unpacked my bike which was also in good shape. Getting all of my stuff there in one piece was one of my biggest concerns so that eased my mind a lot.

I put my bike together, got it packed and took a bus into Auckland. I picked up a pamphlet listing a bunch of hostels and on the way into town I passed right by one that was next to a bike shop so I got off there. Unfortunately, when I got off the bus I forgot one of my bags so I had to wait an hour for the bus to come back around to get the bag back, but luckily I got it.

The next couple of days I spent in Auckland adjusting to the time difference and picking up equipment that I needed. I got a new tent, an air mattress (finally) and a couple other things. I was going to wait before taking off on my bike, but I didn't like the idea of staying in one city so I took off going north a few days after arriving.

Day 1 Tuesday Aug 25: I took off going north out of Auckland. Of course, as soon as I started to leave, it started raining. Another wonderful way to start the trip. It took forever just to get out of the city and it was a bit difficult to navigate but I made it. I did 60 KM the first day and made it to Hellensville. I feel really out of shape. I have picked up a few extra pounds with more clothes and haven't traveled fully loaded in a week or more. There was a nice (overpriced) hostel there which I stayed at pretty much by myself. I am probably going to be staying mostly in hostels until it gets a little bit warmer.

Day 2: I took off not feeling well and feeling out of shape. There were a few really steep hills (9, 10 and 11% grade hills, damn you New Zealand) and only did another 60 km. There were no campgrounds and the nearest hostel was a ways away so I stayed in a pub. It was fairly cheap ($30 NZ) and it was ... well a pub. It was a small and dirty room but at least it was indoors because it was raining again. I felt sick and this place didn't help.

Day 3: I woke up feeling worse, with a sore throat. It was another chilly day and managed to do another 60 km. Not much, but with the hills, my health and the temperature it wasn't bad. I got to Paparoa feeling pretty wiped. I found a motor camp and was going to camp but the guy let me stay in a trailer for the same price. I wasn't too excited but it rained AGAIN and it was heated and had a TV (yey Friends reruns). I spent the rest of the day in my sleeping bag hoping to feel better but no dice.

Day 4: I still felt like crap so I packed up and went all of about 6 km to the next town. There was a nice museum there where I spent most of the day. Then I got a tent site with a nice view and relaxed the rest of the day. A lot of camp sites out here have kitchens in them which is nice so it doesn't feel like camping, which is a good thing. I got to test out the tent and air mattress and both are much nicer than what I was using before.

Day 5: I'm feeling a little better, but still feeling out of shape. It was a flat, 50 km ride to the town of Dargaville where I spent the night. I've been feeling really weak the last few days, I think mostly due to being sick. Even after 50 km on a flat surface I was pretty tired. It was a decent size town but a little run down. So far I've spent most of my time sick in the farm lands of New Zealand, but I'm almost feeling better...

Day 6: It ended up being a really nice day outside and on my way north I decided to take a detour and go 11 km off the path to some lakes that I heard about (Kai Iwi Lakes). I got there pretty early and it was really nice out and there were some people there so it was nice. Then around two in the afternoon it got pretty dark outside and started to rain and got really windy and everyone left but me. It was a little hard to sleep because the wind kept blowing my tent in to the point where I thought it would break. Luckily it didn't.

Day 7: I woke up and it was still very windy and cold and sprinkling rain every so often. The day ended up being very difficult. There was a lot of strong head winds, a lot of steep hills and a lot of swearing from me. I did close to 80 km which still isn't much, but getting close to what my average was across the US. At the very end of the day, after being too exhausted to ride on flat land, I ran into a hill... or rather, a wall. I don't know how steep it was, but there were hills I rode earlier that week marked 11% grade and this hill was much steeper than that. In my book it shows it being 1km long and 200 meters high which is a 20% grade but I doubt it was THAT steep, though it sure felt like it. I somehow made it up then back down to a small town where I found a hostel to crash for the day. I almost passed out from exhaustion at 4 in the afternoon but drank about 5 cups of coffee and managed to stay awake until 9.

Day 8: I took the day off to recover. I think I'm finally over whatever sickness I had and I'm starting to feel like I'm back in shape after pushing myself yesterday.

Day 9: I took off today feeling pretty good. I left at 9:15 and was told the ferry I needed to catch left at 10:30 and 11:3o and was 22km away. So I hauled ass to get there. It ended up being 26 km away and I missed it by five minutes. Still, I felt good going there even though I ran into some decent hills. I got on to the 11:30 ferry and from there on out I was feeling good. I made it 70 km and was halfway up a 5 km climb when a dry cleaning van asked if I wanted a ride to the top. I was pretty tired and took them up on the offer. They ended up just driving me all the way to Kaitaia which was all right by me. So, now I'm in Kaitaia and tomorrow I'm going to shoot for Cape Reinga which is almost the very northern part of the north island.

So I hope to update again soon, but there seems to be very little internet out here, and when there is, it's expensive and not reliable. Wish me luck!