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60km/hr headwinds. 53kms. Major hills.
I was not about to cycle in those conditions with over 50 pounds of gear on my bike.
I went back to visit Christine at the information centre. Man, did she ever feel bad that I didn't raft with the Irish rugby team. I told her I needed to get to National Park and she told me that it was almost 60 dollars to get the bus!!!! Not fit. So, I waited at the info centre all day writing postcards to pass the time between hassling tourists about where they were going and if they could fit me and my bike with them. After 4-5 hours, we got a bite!
I caught a ride with four French men traveling the north island in a camper van. Was "sweet az" as they say here!
They dropped me right to the door of my hostel. And it's a good thing they did because when I last unloaded my bike the clip that attaches one of my bags to my back rack snapped off!!! Always something, eh!?!
Luckily a woman who works at the hostel, Megan, was super rad and helped me finagle a system to get my bag to stay on my bike until I can got to my next location. Zip ties are my new most favorite thing. I'll probably never again travel without them.
The spent the next day hiking around the base of the mountains. Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings was my backdrop. Pretty cool. It was absolutely stunning. I met 6 French guys who I walked with for a while (yes, frenchies are becoming a theme) and one of which was ... CYCLING around NZ! I finally got to meet another cycle tourist - and he doesn't speak my language. Great. Lol...
However his friends spoke english and asked me if I've yet been attacked by a bird? Magpie to be exact. Also known as a very beautiful and very big pest in the country. They are imports from Australia that eat other birds eggs. For some odd reason when I told people about my intended travels to NZ no one thought to mention that this pesky bird also ATTACKS CYCLISTS. Small details; I can totally see how that got overlooked.
At this point I had only been followed by one and had no idea how aggressive they could be. Would one actually attack me?!? Merde.
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Z That photo is jaw-droppingly gorgeous!!