Blog
Hello citizens,
Hope you haven’t missed us too much, I know it’s been a while, but we can only post when we have Internet, and where we have been recently, there must have been one of those holes in-the-net. Therefore, this blog post is big. You have been warned, if you haven’t made a tea or coffee, or a TV show is about to start, or you have a bun in the oven, or you need a poo (although the last option is void if you have a laptop with wi-fi (or have a nappy)). Maybe now is NOT the best time to begin reading. Make sure you have your game head on and can see this through. Otherwise back out now, and purge yourself of all unnecessary distractions. **
** This paragraph has been dramatised for purposes of the reader’s pleasures. Alternatives are to break the blog into sizable chunks that can be quickly and easily digested. One option would be by date entry; another option would be a sentence a day. There is a range of possibilities. You have free will. Utilise it at your leisure.
Firstly lets have a look at the poll results. Yes there was a poll and it closed about two weeks ago. Thanks for all your feedback. We had a whopping six people vote. We have counted up the ballets and done some fancy quantitative and qualitative math on the answers. The average vote was taken and the outcome to the question – What do you think to this blog? Is… “Not my cup of coffee”. Strangely though there were no actual votes in this category. Many mathemagicians would tell me to use a medium to understand the data. So I emailed Mystic Meg, and she agreed - I should have used the medium.
To try and improve on our feedback we have made a few alterations to the blog. See if you can spot them. Adding a new post doesn’t count.
And on with the blog.
13th Nov
Gareth:
From the last blog… We have our bike fixed, and we are recuperated after a two-day rest and a one-day hangover. We packed up the tent, and got our sea legs back on the bike. Today we cycled from Whangarei to Whangaruru. I know the places sound similar but they were very different. Bit like getting confused with Newcastle upon Tyne and Newcastle under Lyme. One is in Newcastle and one is just outside Stoke I think? If you put the wrong one in a Sat Nav, you would probably swear when you got to your destination. Anyway, there was a big hill between Whangarei and Whangaruru, and you know what, we went and cycled all the way up it. We seem to be getting stronger. Like a bull in a china shop with a hat hard on - Nothing stopping us. We also hit an average speed of 20km an hour and it took us about 2 and a half hours of cycling. I don’t know if you know, but I kissed my right thigh after writing that last sentence. Now you know.
We arrived and it was a really nice campsite Then went for a walk down a beautiful beach in a stunning bay. See the pictures if you don’t believe us.
That night we met a brilliant couple over dinner (which was another left over tomato pasta and a bowl of semolina for after). They were called (Verta) and Vannessa, he was from Belgium and she was from Spain, and they had a really cute girl of 14 months called Ella. They were cycling the length of New Zealand for a charity and were pulling an absolute mountain of weight behind them. We were dead impressed. He must have been tugging about 50kg and Vannessa was pulling Ella along in one of those kid trailers with more stuff pilled on her panniers. They were heading south and we were heading north, so we swapped cycle stories and conversed well into the night. Hopefully we’ll bump into them again sometime on our journey.
We also gave them our blog address so we had to be careful we didn’t put anything libellous, even though Ella did try it on with me a few times that evening!
14th Nov
Alice:
Gareth just told me we are doing a day each, to try and share the workload, and hopefully improve our vote rating. He said that the viewers liked what I had to say, and his bits were generally confusing.
Today was a very tough day of cycling. It didn’t start off too bad, rolling hills and some flat bits where we managed to get up to 30km/h! It’s starting to get pretty remote up here which is great for twitching, king fishers everywhere and big birds of prey at the side of the road. We passed over the border from Whangarei district to far north district and were a bit miffed that the short route to Russell was gravel so we couldn’t risk it after the last gravel fiasco so we had to take the long way round.
After crossing into the far north the serious hills started, we were going along the coast which was absolutely stunning but merding hard work (if you’ll excuse me French). We kept dipping down into bays and climbing back out again and with 25km to go we were both shattered. But we scoffed some banana chips (which you can buy a huge bags of here for $1.60 which is about 80p) and some muesli bars and pushed on with plenty of breaks.
There was one last hill then a descent into Russell, which is a very pretty town, it was the original capital of New Zealand apparently and has lots of quaint little buildings and plenty of character that you don’t get much in NZ towns. We had to guess where the campsite was yet again as the Kiwi’s don’t seem to like to advertise them too much which is great fun after a long day of cycling I can tell you! Finally arrived at Top 10 caravan park, Russell.
We ended up joining as members of Top 10 as this gives you 10% off your stay and also discounts off local attractions and most crucially, 10% off the inter islander ferry between the North and South islands, worth it for $40. After pitching we had a little explore of Russell and even though we were both tired we still managed to have a bit of fun with a cannon that had been placed next to the harbour.
15th Nov
Gareth:
After such a hard ride the day before, and being kept awake by all the boozing Zealanders celebrating the football win, we had decided to have a rest day, and after a substantial bowl of porridge, we went on some lovely walks along the bays, on long beach, and back through the town.
We are both getting into Avocados out here. They are relatively cheap and a good substitute for butter (which we can’t carry around with us). They go well with a nice cheese and tomato sandwich for lunch. We did manage to buy some Internet time here and talk to a some family and friends back home, It’s always nice to hear a familiar voice. We watched a bit of T.V. ate too much semolina to try and finish it off. (Which has put us off semolina for a while) Then headed to the tent and into bed for an early quieter night.
View to Paihia from our campsite
16th Nov
Alice:
Back on the road again today, or should I say water! We had our first ferry crossing with the bike, which we were pretty excited about. The ferry man was very friendly and helped us get our bike on board, I think he’s quite used to tourists bumbling up and clumsily trying to lift their bikes on, he was very patient with us bless him and even seemed to take a bit of a shine to us as he gave us a $1 discount and didn’t charge us anything for the bike. The crossing only took about 30 minutes and Gareth was sick over the side, and if you believe that you’ll believe that Dr Spock has three ears, a left ear, a right ear and a final front ear (and if you believe I wrote that last bit you’ll believe that Gareth has three thumbs, a left thumb, a right thumb and a final fat thumb) (and if you believe that I wrote that last bit you’re not paying much attention).
We disembarked at Paihia, which we were quite glad we hadn’t camped in as it was a bit like New Zealand’s answer to Scarborough so we just pedalled off to KeriKeri, this was a hilly 26km away and the road was very un friendly.
At one point there was a bike painted white attached to a fence, which was a memorial to a cyclist who was killed there, that gave me the willies.
In Kerikeri we stayed at the campsite of the crippled ducks (also known as Kerikeri top 10) and made some duck friends, one leg, half a leg and cripple wing. They had ducklings that weren’t old enough to have been crippled yet but I’m sure their time will come.
We headed into the town to buy me a knee support. My left knee has been giving me a bit of trouble over the past week so we had to get something to try and make it a bit more stable, also got a cream to rub on it after the days ride to stop it swelling. We then had an interesting trip to the supermarket, which is always an effort with Gareth but today was particularly hard work as it was an expensive supermarket.
After about an hour of following him round and round with a basket he chucked all the food we’d gathered on the floor and announced that we’d get fish and chips, which we did, and very nice they were too.
Laundry, bed.
17th Nov
Gareth:
What do you call a frog with no arms… Hopper. (As in space hopper, cause it can blow up it’s chin.) I just thought of that joke while Alice was typing the last bit. Thinking about it though, I probably should have just got on with the Blog. Remember kids, it’s cruel to dismember frog’s for the purpose of a joke.
Alice donned on her new knee support today, which I thought she looked very sexy in. Although I’d think she looks sexy in lycra pants and a cycling helmet. Which she does.
Today we made our way onto the first page in the map book. The North of New Zealand a special place to be and a good driving force. Alice has been colouring in the map book. We might reveal our route at the end of the Blog. Alice, can you remember to remind me to remind you to put the map pictures on at the end of the blog?
Alice:
Yes
Gareth:
Thanks.
We biked another big 200m hill today no problem and Alice’s new knee pad had stopped us cycling around in circles. We stopped in a place called Kaeo, and had two of the best sausage rolls we have ever had, meaty with chunky bits of onion. Not to everyone’s taste, but was just what we needed to get ourselves to Whangoroa. This was run by a guy called Dave. He was funny in a way that was odd.
There was no hot water for the showers until 16:00pm or 4:00am UK time. I didn’t realise this so here is a picture of me coming to tell Alice the showers are cold, she said she knew and laughed. I said ‘why didn’t you tell me?’ and she said she forgot! Even though she’d seen me getting ready. I was annoyed, so we decided to have a little bounce on the trampoline, which turned into a marathon big bounce when we found our little kids inside us again and I cheered up.
This tired us out, so we walked into Whangoroa town for an ice-cream to top up our energy levels. Arrived back at the campsite and washed away all our cycle and trampolining sweat.
We were the only ones at the campsite, the kitchen had a T.V. so we made dinner and watched Gordon Ramsay swear his bleeps off at the dumb apprentice chefs.
Over.
18th Nov
Alice:
Tried to set off this morning and got as far as the kitchen where we half packed up our stuff before listening to the wind and rain and admitting defeat at about 9am. We’d hoped the weather would start to clear but it didn’t and the forcast looked good for the next day so we decided to stay put at Whangaroa. The wind was really strong and it kept raining hard so we didn’t fancy it.
Dave the campsite man took pitty on us and gave us some out of date noodle meals for lunch, which Gareth liked because they were very spicey and I didn’t like for the same reason. We generally chilled out in the kitchen and when it cleared up in the afternoon we had a little bounce on the trampoline for exercise, it was like our hamster wheel.
Having had the campsite to ourselves all day we were quite happy to see some people arrive in the evening. A retired couple from York turned up first and we had a good natter to them, although the man was a bit deaf so his wife had to echo most of what Gareth said in his deep voice.
Later on another two young lads turned up called Tomo and Marcus. Tomo is long boarding the length of New Zealand for a cancer charity, which is pretty remarkable. Marcus is following in the van and cooking the meals etc. They were only two days in and Tomo was already limping with a blister on his foot, he’s only taking Sundays off and planning to travel 50km a day, which is incredible. His friend died of cancer 2 years ago, which is what inspired him to do it but he has to walk and carry the long board up the numerous hills and it’s a momentous challenge so we wish him all the best, especially as he seems to be fuelling it solely on Heinz spaghetti on toast! His website is www.freedomskate.co.nz if you want to have a look. It made us think we should have done our cycle for charity had we been more organised, we will if we get another chance.
19th Nov
Gareth:
Weather better today, which meant we had to move on. We had planned to stay in a place called Taipa which we made in about 2 and a half hours. When arriving we realised the map had lied and there hadn’t been a campsite there for a good few years. The next stop was another 40km away. This was turning out to be a big one. We prepared ourselves by going into a small market and buying bread cheese and ham, eating a few sandwiches then back on the bike. About 2 stops and 3 hours later, we made it to the bottom of ninety mile beach to a place called Waipapakauri. It was tiring, especially when the wind was against us and we had clocked ourselves up an 80km day. This was mega and we felt pretty pumped at achieving it.
At the campsite we booked in and also got ourselves onto a coach tour up to Cape Reinga along ninety mile beach for tomorrow. This would be the furthest North we would go and right to the tip of New Zealand.
Alice was craving the special French dish “Beens en Tost wis Cheeez” I cooked up the feast and we ate heartly that night with a fudge slice for dessert.
20th Nov
Alice:
We have come to realise that a lot of our thinking is food related at the moment, pretty much as soon as we’ve finished one meal we’re thinking about the next one! The first reason is that we can’t carry very much food so we always have to think of the next meal in advance and get ingredients where ever there’s a shop, the second reason is that we’re burning about 500 calories an hour on a cycle day. We are quite good though and don’t have massive meals, we eat little and often especially at lunch because you can’t cycle on a full stomach. We snack on muesli bars and dried fruit when cycling and always have a big supply in case of emergency. It has become a little bit of an obsession with me though, as you can probably tell by the last paragraph about food and the fact that where ever there’s a TV I switch on prime and watch master chef, hells kitchen, Ramsay’s kitchen nightmares and Australia’s biggest loser!
Anyway, today has become known as ‘Alice and Gareth’s fun day out’. Because today we have treated ourselves to a coach trip up Cap Reinga and are thoroughly excited about it.
Gareth:
“Is it Giro day?”
Alice:
The coach picked us up at 9.30am and we were ready and waiting at the coach stop with our raincoats and rucksacks. The first bit of the journey was up the highway and not that interesting although the bus driver was a bit of a joker! He was quite funny but not as funny as the German guy behind us who laughed hysterically at everything the bus driver said and repeated it in his funny German accent then churned out random English phrases that didn’t really fit like ‘that’s the way the cookie crumbles’. A Japanese woman at the front was sick and we had to pull over for that, that made me feel a little bit sick but luckily there was no sick smell.
Hiding from the sick smell
NZ historical building!
After a few stops at various places we went for lunch at Tapotupotu bay which was absolutely beautiful and the weather was perfect. We had scones and all sorts of tasty snacks, we got pretty excited about all the food and went back for second helpings of scone then filled our pockets with biscuits, muesli bars and le snacks then happily walked along the beach scoffing our faces before realising we were the only one’s left on the beach and ran back to the coach 5 minutes late.
Next stop the very tip top of Cape Reinga where the lighthouse is. The views out to three kings islands were gorgeous and it is here where you can see the Pacific ocean collide with the Tasman sea. The Maori’s believe that the spirits of the dead come to the tip of cape Reinga from all over New Zealand and depart for the homeland of their ancestors. I am not a particularly spiritual person but this place is definitely special and very peaceful.
The meeting of the Pacific ocean and Tasman sea
Back on the fun coach again and off to Te Paki stream, the coach drives down Te Paki stream (over the quick sand!!) to the sand dunes at the top end of ninety mile beach then stops for a bit of sand tobogganing. Our cycle training came in handy when we had to climb up the massive dunes but the sledging down but was very fun even though we got sand in crevices we didn’t even know we had! I hate sand. I went up 3 times and Gareth 4 and we were both cream crackered from running up the dunes, mmm cream crackers.
The coach then drove us back down the beach itself strait to our campsite where we waved farewell to Mr bus driver, sicky Japanese woman and laughy German man and Alice and Gareth’s fun day out was over.
21st Nov
Gareth:
Whaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
It’s Esther’s Birthdayyyyyyyyyyyy!
Get out of the Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
She’s havin a Babyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Alice:
Happy birthday big sis, hope you have super smashing great Saturday birthday day. Wish we could be there to party with you on the old orange juice. We bought special Cadbury chocolate to celebrate your birthday, Esther birthday chocolate we called it and jolly nice it was too.
Gareth:
I ate your birthday chocolate really quick and then did a dance, but it made me feel a bit funny so I sat down again.
Gareth:
This is it, the last day of the blog. I hope you have enjoyed your read. I think we have been rather lucky this week and nothing bad has happened. Some of you are probably only reading the blog for some more questionable content, but (un)fortunately this week has been rather tame, and for that we are quite thankful. Hope this didn’t put you off the blog too much.
Today we made the short journey from Waipapakauri to Ahipara (This was only 10km away along the beach) However, we had to go inland with the bike and ended up doing about 35km (Mostly flat) and we hit our highest average speed of 22km/hour even in the prevailing head wind. So here we sit in a new campsite yet again. We have done the usual, ate sandwich lunch, pitch tent, have shower, walk on the beach, ate early dinner, Alice made a few friends with her easy chatting, I think I even heard her speaking the French Lingo this time. I sat here quietly hoping no-one would start talking to me. Then we ate chocolate and wrote the blog. I did a dance and then had to sit down.
So Happy Birthday Esther and Happy Weekend everyone else.
Lets see how we get on next week. Alice wants to take over, the keyboard, to put the pictures on, which reminds me can you remember to remind me to remind you to do the route maps?
Alice:
No
Gareth:
Thanks
Alice:
Tomorrow we are off to Rawene (pronounced Rah wi ni) which is about 65km and a ferry ride away. We are now heading back down through the map book south to Auckland and beyond, in our heads this means that we’ll be cycling down hill all the way although the map book refuses to agree and tells us that in two days time we have two monster hills to get over.
I know I usually go on about how useless Gareth is but I’m going to take this opportunity to tell him, and you guys, that I do jape and that he’s doing a pretty sterling job on the front of the bike, and a pretty sterling job at ignoring my crabby moments and making me laugh and generally being wonderful to travel with.
Gareth:
*Wipes away tear*
I know, I feel the same, I am pretty brilliant aren’t I.
By the way the change to the blog was the title. Did you spot it?
Good night and Blog off.
Alice and Gareth. xx
P.S. Route maps next time, this blog has taken 5 hours so far and the internet is slow and it's time for bed!!
