Feb 21, 2013
At the foothills of the Three Sisters (3 volcanoes)
Had a serious catastrophe today. My spork broke in half. It's now truly an ultralight gadget. Like cutting the handle off the toothbrush. But it's so small now, it's a bit challenging to use. And how will I stir my coffee? Hope I can find something in this wilderness to use as a substitute.
I'm on schedule to get to Tongariro National Park tomorrow. The rest of the tramping group is driving up from Wellington Saturday morning. And we'll head out that afternoon for a 4 day, 3 night hike. Hoping the pack I've borrowed from Moa isn't too uncomfortable. Tough it out. It's only a few days!
Today was a town day. And it's hard to get much done when everybody wants to talk to me about my bike. First was the 76 former champion bike racer. "That looks like hard work!" No it's not really. It's my trike-a-lounger. "Still looks like hard work."
And this I hear often: "We passed you on the road!" Sometimes it was days ago. Often it's a store clerk or other local.
Most frequently asked question: "How far have you come?" And I have no clue how to answer it. Today? In New Zealand? This month? This year? Since I got Blaze? Then..."How far are you going?" This is an island. How far can one go? To Cape Reinga (which is the most northern tip), I say.
Then there's: Traveling alone? I can handle that one.
Aren't you afraid? Of what???
How do you afford to do this? Saved my money. Live cheap. Only have to buy food mostly.
Where'd ya come from? Back there.
Where ya going? North.
You're too young to be retired! I love that one!!!
You must be fit! Of course I am! If you did this all day, every day you'd be fit too. And some days I do interval training where I push myself in sprints, especially uphill. Gotta keep that old ticker a pumpin'!!!
And so it goes. But I never tire of it. I appreciate the curiosity. And I think it opens minds to what might be possible for them to do in their lives.
The last guy I talked with was walking the sidewalk as I was trying to get out of town. We must have chatted for half an hour. He said he was so inspired to meet me but it wasn't going to make him bike around the world:)
But alas, another goodbye. I gotta get some miles behind me tonight and its after 4 o'clock. And off I pedal.
Then going down the road, all the toots and waves...just warms my heart to see all the smiling faces my crazy bike creates.
And now tonight. Absolutely alone. Absolutely quiet. And a gorgeous night sky out my tent door. Camped by an aqueduct that must supply water to Wellington, I would guess. Reminds me of the LA Aqueduct in the Mohave Desert.
Someone asked if I missed my home when I'm on the road. This is my home, wherever I am.
I do miss staying still for a bit, so I'm heading back to Manaia (the boat) and Bruce after the volcano hike to put my feet up for a week. Then I'll catch a bus back up here to Turangi and continue north. Got lots of town chores to do like get my hair touched up (come on! it's been 4 months!), reprint my Triker cards (I've run out), go see a movie (it's been a long time), and work on organizing my pictures. I'm probably going to need to show some soon after I get home and that takes some culling. And stretch and yoga. And sunbathe to fill in the white spots:). And rest. I've still got a lot of miles to go yet.
A gent this morning who has a retirement avocado farm further north gave me his number to stop in and stay. Another guy the other day while I was at a rest stop (sunning in my bikini) stopped and gave me his contact info too for a place to visit further north. I'm gonna be busy when I finally get up there:). See how friendly?
Picked up this new paperback at a 2nd hand store. It passed the size test.
Its 1400 pages! The picture doesn't really show how big it is. Biggest paperback I've ever seen!! Hope the story is good.
And one last photo.
Its not a good shot, but those are deerskins hanging on the fence. And one seemed pretty fresh. Don't have a clue why they're there. A kiwi mystery.
Goodnight!
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