Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Pic in Paper




Livin' the life,

BagLady

Facebook: Kathryn Mossbrook Zimmerman

"I saw you in the paper!"

December 28, 2014
Owaka, NZ

"I saw you in the paper!" she said grinning and waving from the sidewalk. The article the photographer and reporter from the Otago paper must have been published. "I just read about you this morning!" she said as another woman cornered April in a grocery store. So the clerk got a copy of the morning paper and we flipped through it...twice. "I know I saw it this morning." Do you have yesterday's paper we asked. Yup. So we flipped through and on the 2nd to last page, there we were!

(I deleted the picture because it wouldn't upload, but I'll try and send it separately.)


Also, the other day when we pulled into a picnic area, a little boy about 10 years old was smiling about our bikes. Then he asked, "were you on Road Cops?" Yes! So that's the name of the show! I wondered if someone was going to tell me they saw me on it...and you just made my day:)

And as we were biking yesterday so many cars beeped and waved, flashed their lights and gave thumbs up! We're thinking it's because they saw the article. We get a lot of attention, but it was more than usual. Today a guy came over to our picnic table at lunch in twin and said he saw the article and had seen us twice over the last 2 days. Just wanted to say hi and tell us he admired what we were doing.

And yesterday a car going the opposite direction pulled over to tell us we were making good time. He'd met us our first day out in Christchurch when we were climbing Evans Pass, the road that dead ended at the top.

So fame has been keeping us busy and April's been thoroughly enjoying it. She says I'm used to it, but it's a first for her:). I don't know about that.

We're heading into a pretty remote area of the South Island taking the more hilly and remote scenic route. With 130 kilometers to bike and no towns, we've stocked up on food. Our bike's are bulging with extra bags hanging off the sides. Don't want to run out! (Always a worry of mine.)

The weather has finally warmed up this last week and summer has arrived. Blistered lips have tormented us right from the start. We get them healed and they blister again. Quite painful. Using lip balm with SPF but maybe too late. The sun is so hot that it sears my thighs and yet the air may be cold. It's so strange. Due to dryness. No moisture in the air to heat up. And today we had headwinds. I was biking along with bare arms and a buff on my head. Go figure!

So the plan is to cycle this scenic route across the south end over to Bluff and store our bikes there while we backpack Stewart Island. So today we met a family on holiday who live in Bluff. So you can guess what I asked them. Yup. Can you store our bikes and stuff while we tour Stewart Island? Of course. But they won't be home for a week and we may be ahead of them. But I've got contact info...maybe a neighbor can help us. It's all about contacts!

Been a bit challenging finding camp spots. The farmers fence off every scrap of land. Last night we camped in a mowed section at an intersection maybe 50 ft back from the road. People honked and waved:).


Tonight we're halfway up a windy road on a grassy knoll that leads to an old, unused gate. Beautiful views in every direction.








Livin' the life,

BagLady

Facebook: Kathryn Mossbrook Zimmerman