Sue and Brian are retired Dairy farmers. They love to cycle tour together. Bill is a bike nut and recently built a shed just to house all of their bikes and also have a space to repair them. I got to learn some interesting history about the area while Brian fixed up my bike rack to fit my panniers perfectly. He also switched my brake cables because in New Zealand the front and back brake cables are switched- a potentially dangerous thing for me if I go to s...

And now for a less romanticized take on cycle touring Here are the reasons why people likely choose NOT to cycle tour: 1) The weather: I haven't had one day of nice weather since I arrived. Dreary, wet, windy, unpredictable, pain-in-the-ass weather. Ive literally had head winds that can stop you dead in your tracks. And if it were hot? I'd probably complain about that too. Who wants to cycle when you're sweating just standing still? Nobody. 2) Traffic and...

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...