80+kms. What a great day; so much better than the day before, even though it seems I've brought the cold Canadian weather with me! You know what I feel like when I cycle through such beautiful scenery that I'm so taken aback it makes me say "WOW!!" aloud? I feel like I'm a character in a Disney movie; that life is so great I must have somehow surpassed reality and entered a picturesque faireytale. Sometimes I'm so overwhelmed I immediately break out in Dis...

The first day of really getting some distance under my belt I put in 50kms. That was yesterday. That, my friends, was a very hard day. Here are some of the reasons I think it was so hard: - I'm out of shape - it was mostly all uphill - I need more gears on my bike - there was a head wind most the way, plus rain. - I had a spare tire strapped to the back that was rubbing against my back tire - my back rack was angled downward so the over 40 pounds on my...

My day with Bill. Bill is the shuttle driver who hosted me for a tour around the Waitomo area. He picked me up at 930 and I didn't get back until about 430. Bill is around 80 years old and kept telling me that our day together really recharged his batteries. We saw an amazing natural bridge (breathtaking), took a walk to view a gorgeous waterfall and spent some time at a hot water beach. The sand was black (yes, black sand!) and if you dig down far enoug...

Accents everywhere! (Said in whatever accent you wish... I'm thinking Bronx right now because a girl next to me screams it and is totally hilarious!) Note: I promised my new friend Alex I would correct the above statement - she is NOT from the Bronx but from New Jersey! My bad. ;) It being the Rugby World Cup here in New Zealand, there are people here from all over the world. The list so far: Ireland Scotland USA England Luxembourg Australia Germany S...

The next bike shop was north (I'm heading south) and quite far. So naturally I started crying at the information centre. That got attention. And then that got me help. Fast. People are so great here - sometimes I feel like i could be back on the rock, just with very different scenery and accents. So a local Joe, well actually his name was Steve, saved the day. He fixed my bike (well... kind of fixed it. I've succumb to the fact that its just not ...