It was a good idea to stop for a day. Even if Harihari is not the centre of the universe it has rained on and off all day and I have managed to make more sense of what I am going to do between now and Auckland.
The weather was not terrible to start with so when I woke up I had a bit of a guilty conscience, however I did not have to wait long before the rain started and it truly went on most of the day.
I found the ideal place here in Harihari for what I need today: clean and cheap room, excellent internet connection and not much to do outside the motel. This set of things has kept me dry, not given me any excuse for not doing the necessary bike maintenance and allowed me to plan a bit ahead while searching for relevant information.
I started the day by checking on home. Morning NZ = late evening Europe. After that I did the only bit of exploration of the day.
The walk was up the ridge in front of the Motel and was well laid into the bush. It is incredible how thick these bushes are and how much you feel like you’re actually walking into a living organism.
After the walk I came back in the Motel and that’s when the work really started. I got onto Google maps and mapped out the path Intend to take for the rest of the south island.
According to this calculation, including the fact that I’m taking a train (Middlemarch to Dunedin) and a bus (Invercargill to Dunedin) it’s still more than 1000 miles to be cycled in the south island.
I should be able to do that by the 8th or 9th of April which will leave me 35 days to get to Auckland and the rest.
There are only 500 miles to be ridden to get to Auckland as I intend to get a bus between Napier and Whakatane so I hope to be able to cover that in less than two weeks. This is necessary if I want to get to the very top bit.
The tob bit itself should be another 500 miles so it will take me to the very edge of my staying. I’ll have to consider if there are still legs in me by the time I get back to Auckland or if I should be better served by some rest.
Whit a possible 2000 miles to go and nearly 1000 behind I am just, or already, one third of the way to cycling New Zealand. with another 1000+ miles in Australia I should get back to Europe with a tally of more than 6000 miles on the clock since I left Glasgow, I think this would not be a bad thing for 9 months on the road.
Remember to tell us when you reach the Bay of Plenty.
Hopefully we can catch up again
All of us enjoying your posts.
Maureen
I most certainly will do so 🙂
Questions?
Where are you in July / August?
(We will be in New Caledonia / Vanuatu and New Zealand!!)
Cape Reinga?
Have you met Hamish and Mary yet?
Why buy a new chair?
Wow, so many questions.
In August will be in Europe, not quite sure where but he adding UK way for sure in September, so will see you then.
Cape Reinga would be just a vanity exercise, I might have time constraints.
I’m planing to make contact with them in a week or so to give them a couple of weeks notice of my landing at their doorstep, by the way do they like single malt?
Just to wind you up 🙂