November 2014

Goal met! Waihi to Te Oraha to Waimato Falls   Like many countries, New Zealand is promoting bike tourism and, to that point, has reclaimed old rail lines and converted them to bike paths. Our path today utilized 44 kilometers of that track, followed by an additional 25 kilometers to the county’s highest waterfall. This rail […]

An Olfactory Organism   Biking New Zealand is a sensory overload. While biking down roads, one hits wave upon wave of floral calling cards.  In the hills, Honeysuckle clings from the hillside; in the farmland, wild roses choke the hedgerows; fields are wild with pink heather; every stream bed is laden with moss; ferns and […]

It’s the End of the World As We Know It…   The northern end that is, of the north island of New Zealand….Whew, nothing dire. Taking the advice of locals, we caught a bus to the lighthouse on Cape Regina, where the Tasman Sea collides with the South Pacific. Words and photos don’t do the place […]

I Left My Heart in Whangaroa   We have arrived in the “Far North” as natives call it; we’re back on our bikes after taking a day off in the lovely wee village of Whangaroa. We stayed at a great motel and took advantage of their kayaks, a hiking trail and cafes. It was idyllic. […]

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men   We were being buffeted by winds. Sometimes, it was all I could do to just stay upright. As has been said, the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry. Our plans went awry today. We wound up taking an entirely new route. We headed […]

We packed early to try and beat the winds, but by 7 AM, the wind was back full force. Our most welcoming hosts in Matakohe (AKA Pooh Corner on WarmShowers.org.) volunteered to drive us to Ruawai, 20 km down the road. As that section would be directly into the 30 mph howling winds, I gladly […]

Perth to Fremantle Via the Swan River   Perth is a bustling city of over 2 million the largest city in Western Oz  (I’m not sure why but Aussie’s fondly refer to their country as Oz). Within this city, it seemed every major street was under construction. This part of Oz is jumpin’ economically as […]

When I recovered from my cancer bout, there were a few things on my bucket list that I set out to do. First was getting my scuba diving certification. The problem with bucket lists items is that they are fun, addictive, and one typically leads to five more. This is the case with diving. I […]

The outback is huge, red, dusty, harsh and sharp. Every plant seems to poke you or have thorns, bugs bite me, huge lizards scurry in front of my bike wheels and scare me, snakes slither across the dust, yet I love it.  Riding is so hot that it has to be limited to the morning […]

Ray is a man, and he has some man habits that are very different from mine, like communication or better put, lack thereof. It took me a while to understand why we had to get to this place until Ray explained that to him, if a place is hard to get to, it makes it […]