December 27th
Havelock, South Island NZ
Last night I took the ferry to the South Island. Some folks I met at the grocery store near Moa's suggested I could camp at the little town park just off the ferry in town. "By the time they go to kick you off, you'll be packed up to go." It took me a little while to find it because I came in at a terminal different from what the couple said. But my new Google map app has maps available even if it doesn't show me where I am...so I was able to find the right street, pulled into the park, find a spot behind the rose garden hidden from the bright light. Windy stormy night, but I was snug and happy to be camping:)
Breakfast in town brought engaging conversation with Bruce from Auckland who "accidentally bought a boat". Hope I get to hear the rest of that story when I get up that way next month:)
The road west is a rolling road with good grade that was totally doable. And the views were to die for...green mountains and waterways...beaches and turquoise water. And hydrangea grows wild here. Picked some and attached it to Blaze's nose. Saw some other loaded cyclists...some passed me quietly...others waved from the other side. Met a guy hiking and told him he needed to look into "ultralight". He had a huge backpack, a full front pack, a large tent dangling from one hand and a satchel in the other! And he'd come from Pitt Head which is probably about 100 kms from here. But he was happy and upbeat. I suggested when he got home that he should think about everything he took out of the pack...did he use it? how often? could something else have done double duty?
Got into Havelock, a coastal town, about 4:30 and the hostel said it had tent sites and free wifi. Well, I'm in the backyard next to the picnic table and the free wifi was 30 min free...then $4 an hour. oh well...I did get all my devices charged and that was needed.
I'm lovin' being back on the road and camping. Plus it's much cooler here...at least today. Christmas Day broke a 78 year record hitting 90*! Today was probably in the high 60's. And overcast. Great biking weather, for sure!
December 28th
Hwy 6 east of Nelson
In a gravelly clearing sleeping on rocks and stinging nettle:)
After a delightful first day, the 2nd day started off with issues first thing. (This is BagLady's Travels and Torments, so I get to bitch some time:)). My credit union has charged its security access and I'm locked out. It requires a texted code to your cell phone but the format doesn't allow for international numbers. Because it said I only had to do this once to recognize my device I thought I was all set when I skyped my daughter, Avery, and had the code sent to her phone and then she relayed it to me and I entered it. IN! Done! Not so! It doesn't recognize devices, it recognizes your device on the same location. But every day I'm on a different wifi network. Gotta redo every time. So I skyped the credit union trying to see if there was a work around and my Internet time ran out. Prepaid wifi. Not free in NZ. Another gripe of mine. No resolution. I guess if I want to review my account I have to schedule a call to Avery in her evening and at the same time have wifi access myself. Banks are my biggest issue traveling. Enough said. Shuck all that negative energy.
Tough ride today. Hills. And all of Malaysia was pretty flat so I feel very out of shape. The first long climb I was going only feet before stopping and resting. Slow and steady. Best part was I guessed wrong at how long the climb was and I was at the top before I expected. Pleasant surprise.
Rain is the other issue today. Out came the umbrella:). But it was quite heavy at times.
Around 5 o'clock I started looking for a spot to camp. I had seen great locations earlier in the day, but now nothing seemed to be showing. I'm in the mountains. No roads off to the side. Only deep ditches. No farms. And a major climb before Nelson is expected so when I started climbing and the rain got heavier, I was concerned about having to set up a strange tent in the rain. Trying to keep things dry us always a challenge when the outside of everything is already wet.
Do I see a mountain road winding up the hillside? It's got to have an entrance somewhere. That might work. What? It's gated? Arrghh! But there are large openings in the gate. Maybe I can unload Blaze and slip her through. Lets wander around and see if there's a place to camp. Not the smoothest ground. Lots of rocks and stinging nettle. Sorta flat. Will stakes go in? I'll make them! Rain's letting up. Let's try it. Pull the panniers. Carry them over. Pull all the flags and other paraphernalia had haul it to the "campsite". Lift Blaze's front wheels through. The seat's to high. Quick release and drop it back. There. She's through. That wasn't too bad. Now lets see about the tent. Rocks everywhere. Weeds. Thorns. Borrowed tent. Gotta take care. Tyvek dropcloth will protect. Stomp the weeds. Pound in the stakes with a rock. Barely go in. Get it up. Get inside with all wet panniers. Water everywhere. This tent is adorable and a backpacking model I love (Henry Shire's Rainbow Tarptent) but its smaller than the 2 person Big Sky tent I used in Europe last summer so there's less space for all the wet gear. And now that I'm inside, it's all cockeyed and not well set up. If it stops raining I'll try to fix it.
Dry off. Change clothes. Dry tent floor. Man, this has got to be the worst site I've ever had. Lumpy. Downhill. Wet clothes everywhere. And last night it looked so orderly. I'm out of control.
But dinner was good. Started with sips of wine. Yes! Moa's family gave me this great bottle of wine for Christmas that came in a plastic screw top bottle! Just made for hiker bikers! Definitely a treat after today. Then I had pâté on crackers. Yup! Can't come to NZ and not eat the meat! I've been enjoying it immensely!! And Nutella for dessert. Good thing I didn't plan on cooking tonight because the rain us not letting up.
As awkward as this spot is, I don't think anyone will see me and tell me to move. And I always manage to sleep somehow. The only thing I'm missing is a book. I left the heavy one I was carrying behind and the ones I thought I had downloaded to my iPhone don't seem to really reside on it. They seem to need Internet to come up. Guess ill have to listen to my audiobook tonight.
Oh, ya, the scenery...amazing! Steep, pointing mountains, lush hillsides, sheep, cows, and fast drivers coming awfully close. Can't say I wasn't warned. And I wear my helmet except when I'm climbing and just can't take the extra heat from it. We'll see if that argument holds with a cop:)
Tents leaking from one spot. Oh! Oh! Seems to be on a seam. I have sealer with me. Maybe I can seal it if I can mark it somehow. Hmmm.
Enough babbling. I've bored everyone I'm sure. Easy to tell when I'm alone, isn't it!
G'day...G'night...
BagLady
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