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The landscape. It just keeps changing. Valleys, farmland, pine tree farms, mountains, mountain ranges, rolling hills, gorges... It just never seems to stop changing and never ceases to amaze me.
Just imagine how nice it would be to be cycling through the ever changing scenery taking in the abundance of lush greenery and charming wildlife on the seat of a bicycle without any worry in the world.
Unfortunately, as close as I am, this will never be my reality; at least not until nesting season is over (which is after my departure). Damn magpies.
I was on my way to Taihape in my own little world (as I usually am) when frightened by a medium sized bird flying to the left of my head about, oh, two feet away!!!
I scream instantly. Loudly.
In fear of falling into traffic I resume focus to the road but need to get my eyes back in the sky to locate my attacker. I see it; sitting on the telephone wire glaring at me. In one swift swoop with our eyes locked it dives directly at me. At this point I am not sure if its aerodynamic body is actually flying in my direction or away from me. Quickly it becomes clear - it wants me dead. I fumbled to unclip myself from my bike, still ride straight, cover my head, bat it away, and scream all at the same time. I was obviously executing this with supreme grace. Thank god there was no traffic coming behind me is all I have to say. The oncoming traffic must of had thoughts of their own.
Dive bomb after dive bomb, this bird has definitely ruined my ride. I couldn't enjoy a second of riding after that - between watching for traffic and magpies I was officially checked out. I just wanted to be at my destination and off that bike.
I got to town and checked into a hotel that was being upgraded from 1900 to 1901. I thought a ghost was going to come up and bite me in the ass while on the toilet. I just had to get through one night. I dropped by bags and headed to use the mcdonalds wifi.
I couldn't get a signal so I asked a young family to my right if there was a place in town where I could pay to use the Internet - I had to figure out where I was heading the next night.
Within three minutes of chatting this lovely young family had invited me to stay with them at their house on their farm for the night and that they would take me half way across the "gentle Annie" the following morning. This ride was over a mountain range and very long so I gladly accepted their offer.
Jacqui, Pete and Cory were such a pleasant family to share an evening with. They live on a stunning farm with sheep, cows, a couple of horses and of course some cats and dogs.
Pete and Jacqui gave me a crash course in rugby which was awesome because I was heading to Napier to try and get tickets to the Canada vs Japan match for the next Tuesday and knew nothing of the sport.
Jacqui and Pete have a little piece of paradise. They are living the good life as far as I'm concerned. Their son Cory at age 8 probably has more life skills than I do at 25. It's amazing really. Pete loves going to work in the morning - I wish I could say the same about my previous jobs. The problem is I struggle with a having a desk job. I even stopped drinking coffee because I was finding myself nauseous and light headed in the mornings; I think my body just hates a routine of waking to sit at a desk and stare at a screen for 8 hours. It rebels. Since I've been on holiday I've had no troubles with being light headed and have taken up the habit of drinking coffee again - life is good.
Pete drove me near 2 hours before dropping me off the next morning. It was such a treat. He brought me to a gorge where people bungy jump and took me through a country road that contoured the landscape. It was amazing. The road was gravel (which they call "metal" roads here) and it was just wide enough for one vehicle. There was no room for error but I'm pretty sure Pete probably learned how to drive on those metal roads and knew them like them back of his hand. To one side was the hill and the other just a drop that went down, down, down into the valley.
I picked his brain about farming, the land and New Zealand the entire ride out. I learned "heaps" and really enjoyed the lessons and the views.
These are the experiences that will define my trip and make it truly memorable. It's from the locals whom I will really get to learn from, build friendships, and experience kiwi culture.
Thanks to Pete for driving me all that way (!!!), I also had an absolutely ideal cycle to Napier. Mostly downhill and rolling hills, sunny, and beautiful scenery.
Life, she is good.
- comments
Lexi Oh Yessicka! I'm so loving hearing about your CRAZY-AMAZING adventures abroad! I imagine you'll have stories for a lifetime. Stay safe, drink it all in and watch out for those b****** magpies :) xoxoxo
Z Love.