How to make a glow worm happy? Cut off its bum... It'll be delighted

Alice:

Right, here I am again.  We did indeed run out of time in the library in Opunake so I’m now happily typing away in the library in Patea which is where we are now, get ready for another blog session.  You lucky things.

As Gareth is still downloading Diablo 2 and losing at Civ I will be your host again, he may join us later if we're lucky with a few choice comments and words of wisdom.

29th November

Alice:

We woke up a little bit hung-over after our escapades at the Indian restaurant but had a big bowl of porridge to perk ourselves up.  We wandered into Hamilton, had a cheeky cheeseburger, Gareth browsed the games on offer in the computer game shop and reminisced about his X-Box 360.

Gareth:

Hope you’re looking after it Woody? Have you completed GTA IV yet?

Alice:

Then we headed to the library for the free Internet.  We hadn't been there long before it crashed though and we thought beggar it and left. 

Gareth: I t could have been me who crashed the Internet trying to download as much as I could before anyone noticed. And yes I think I crashed the ‘whole Internet’ not just the libraries network!

Waiting for the library to open in Hamilton

 Alice:

We had planned to have a walk round Hamilton, go to the lake and park and generally see the sights but we were a little bit worse for wear so we decided just to go to Pak'N'Save and buy dinner.  Ended up buying quite a bit of unhealthy food (never food shop with a hangover!) and a massive custard tart which we ate in the park on the way home and felt a bit bad for all the joggers who were passing us and looking longingly at our massive cake.

Gareth:

Although the food was unhealthy, Most of the food was bought on special reduced ‘in the bin’ price. So where we might have put on pounds with the food we ate, we saved other pounds in our wallets.

For example 1/2 a pound for two massive custard tarts. Who else here would refuse that?

Alice:

Back at camp we set ourselves up in the kitchen and were about to start cooking our chicken and chips when a huge group of Mum's turned up and started preparing mammoth amounts of food for their little 'angels' who happened to be on a cricket tour and were wreaking havoc outside.  So the kitchen was a fairly busy place to be for a while but we stuck it out and got our dinner on after they'd finished.  I trotted off to do my teeth and after we got back to the tent Gareth told me that two of the boys had been pointing and laughing at him which he wasn't happy about.

Gareth:

It takes you back when kids point and laugh. I know I look like a big hairy version of Chewbacca, “Rhhowwww’, but they could have laughed at me away from the vicinity of my eyes. Luckily I took the higher ground and thanked God for making me the way I am.

30th November

Alice:

Tried to get up early to avoid the cricket team this morning but didn't quite manage it.  I left Gareth alone again while I went to do my teeth and when I came out he was no longer in the kitchen.  I found him by the tent looking pleased with himself and it transpired that the following conversation had occurred while I’d been away and the boys had started pointing and laughing again.

Cricket boys: *snicker snicker*

Gareth: "What are you *bleeping* laughing at?

Cricket boys: *stunned and frightened silence*

Gareth: "Show some respect"

*Gareth packs up and makes to leave the kitchen where upon the cricket boys start snickering again*

Gareth: "What's so *bleeping* funny?!"

Cricket boys: *silence, some reddening of the face*

Gareth: "Ignorant little sh*ts"

I suggested that it might have been better not to swear at 15 year olds but all in all was quite pleased because the whole group of them were pretty rude, loud and generally unpleasant.

Gareth:

I know I lost it a bit, that’s not like me, and I also understand if any of you who have kids, or are intending to have kids don’t want me to be around them. The evidence for that decision is right here in black and white. Although it might mean kids don’t laugh me at again!

I know it’s illegal to punch kids, but is it illegal to swear at them?

Alice:

We set off shortly after in the rain, again!  The road was fairly flat so not too bad but the rain just kept getting heavier.  We stopped in Otorohanga for a coffee in the hope that the rain would stop but no joy 

Lunch stop in the rain just after we'd been offered a lift by someone even though we weren't broken down, that's a first!

Larking about with a model Kiwi in Otorohanga

Off we went again and arrived at Waitomo soaking wet and cold to find, to our horror, that there were two school groups staying there!  Luckily these children were much better behaved and controlled so they weren't too bad.  We dried our stuff out as best we could and settled in for dinner.  There were quite a few other people staying there who were all very nice so we had a good chat to them.

Trying to unpack in a hurry in Waitomo so everything doesn't get wet while Gareth just larks about taking pictures.  I'm surprised the anger doesn't show in the photos!

1st December

Woke up to the sound of rain pouring on the tent and trudged miserably to the kitchen to make breakfast.  One of the school groups was there and the offered us some of the food they hadn't managed to eat that morning which was a bonus.

We packed up with difficulty and were able to leave the tandem and trailer at the campsite while we trudged down the road to the glowworm caves.  They were a bit expensive but everyone had raved about how great they were so we thought we'd better have a look, and we're glad we did.

Our Maori guide walked us through the cave and told us a bit about its history, we stopped in the Cathedral part and she switched off the lights so you could see the glow worms on the ceiling and sang us a song in Maori which was beautiful and very moving. 

Gareth:

I tried to join in even though I didn’t know the words, I think I sounded a bit like a dog trying to join in when you sing at them. Alice’s nipping Cesar Milan hand soon showed me that what I was doing was wrong!

Alice:

Shortly afterwards the group behind us started singing silent night in a foreign language (I don't know which one) and that was also really beautifully sung, made me feel christmassy for the first time this year!

After that we were led to a boat that glides through the cave on the underground river beneath millions of glow worms.  It's pitch black and the ceiling looks like the night sky but it's closer to you and you can see the texture of the cave roof above.  It was a really wonderful experience.

No photography aloud inside the cave so here's us emerging in the boat

Gareth:
I wish I was a glow worm. A glow worms never glum. Its hard to be downhearted, When the sun shines out your bum!


Alice:
We got drenched as we walked back to the campsite for lunch but while we were there we met our friend Richard the Canadian that we'd initially met all the way back at Muriwai beach only 3 days into the cycle!  It was good to see him again especially as he was the one who'd initially told us about the caves so we had a good catch up.

Next stop were the Angora bunny's at the sheering shed just down the road.  They are very cute and the place was owned by a woman called Heather (good name 'ey mum) who turned out to be a friend of Raema's, Nan's friend who we were about to go and see.  She showed us how they sheer the rabbits for wool, spin it and make all sorts of things with it.  It was very entertaining and also pretty interesting.

The Angora bunnies all waiting for their hair cuts

Shaving the bunny

Gareth:

I tried to jump onto the shaving rack just before the bunny so I could get a free haircut, but just before the presentation someone pointed out that my big wodge of cotton wool had fallen out from my bum, and the gig was up!

Alice:

When we emerged from there the rain had stopped so we got on the bike and pedaled off to Te Kuiti in the sunshine.  Later it transpired that Gareth had been up to his old tricks again and left his favourite pen-knife behind at the camp site, sigh.

Gareth:

It looks like both kids and inanimate objects don’t like me. I’d lose my trousers if I didn’t have a belt fasten… oh hang on! That might be why those kids were laughing at me. ALLLICEEE!

Alice:

We found Raema's place easily and she was very welcoming and gave us tea and biscuits, let us pile all our stuff in her washing machine, gave us sausages and mash for dinner followed by ice cream and we slept in a lovely comfy bed for the first time in one and a half months!  We also got to speak to Nan on the phone, which was great. 

2nd December

After a lovely long sleep we joined Raema for breakfast then set off back up the road to Otorohanga where we visited the Kiwi house.  We saw Spotted and Northern Brown Kiwi's shuffling around which was very exciting, they also had Tuatara, King fishers and funny birds called Pukeko's that we'd been seeing everywhere on our travels.  We arrived at the Kea cage just in time to feed them walnuts, which was really fun.

Gareth: Kiwi aha aha hu huh. Yes Kiwi!

We did see live one's too but weren't allowed to take pictures

Gareth feeding a Kea

Alice:

Went back via the supermarket to buy supplies and returned to the house for lunch.  Raema popped out to a meeting before coming back to take us on a trip round Te Kuiti, we saw some beautiful views over the town.  Later on that evening we visited Raema's daughter Janice, her husband Ross and daughter Sophie who were all lovely, we had a beautiful roast dinner and a good chat.

All in all we felt thoroughly refreshed, dried out, cleaned and well fed and ready (ish) for more cycling in the rain then next day!

Raema and me comparing shopping

Te Kuiti

3rd December

Alice:

Set off in good spirits as the weather was actually not bad and tackled the large hill that led out of Te Kuiti, we reached our top speed so far of 70km/h coming down the other side which was enough to get us most of the way up the next hill!  Had a brief stop in Piopio for a drink and snack before getting back on the road. 

Gareth having a little rest on the way out of Te Kuiti

There felt like a lot of gradual downhill from Piopio which made us a bit nervous because Piopio was at 150m and we knew that we'd have to go back up that high before coming down through Awakino gorge so we didn't want to descend too much.  There was one more steep hill which we had to get off and push for but generally the road wasn't too bad and we stopped at Mahoenui for lunch just in time to avoid a huge heavy downpour.

Lunch in Mahoenui, Craig's jam!

The ride from Mahoenui to Awakino was a bit odd, the gorge was very impressive but its steep sides were deceptive and when your brain told you the road was flat or downhill your legs told you the opposite and vice versa! So it was hard work mentally but not actually that physically challenging.  Also the rain had started again which made us a bit miserable.  We eventually arrived at Mokau tired and wet to find that the campsite was so wet we couldn't pitch anywhere!  The people who ran it were very nice though and gave us 10% off a cabin.  Luckily the campsite was pretty cheap and the cabins only cost $50 as opposed to the usual $80/$90.  We even had a little heater in there to dry our shoes out with so it wasn't too bad in the end.

Our little cabin at Mokau

Mokau

4th December

Thought the worst this morning when we woke up to more rain but at least we could pack up in a dry cabin and the tent was dry.  The rain cleared up though and the rest of the ride was actually quite pleasant.  We tackled the infamous Mt Messenger with ease and the rest of the ride was fairly flat but unfortunately just at the bottom of the hill up into Urenui our front pedals broke and we didn't have a screwdriver to fix them.

Gareth: This is where the multi tooled pen knfe would have come in handy that I lost a few days ago. Sometimes, I despair.

Little rest stop at Ahititi

Tackling Mt Messenger and the tunnel

 Alice:

Luckily there was a garage just at the top of the hill where we borrowed a screwdriver then went off for lunch.  About 6km down the road the pedals broke again and we had to tighten them with bits and boobs from the bag!  Luckily they held then until we arrived in New Plymouth.

Gareth: Alice doesn’t realise that I just changed bobs to boobs in her last sentence aha aha hu huh. Yes Boobs!

Having lunch in Urenui in a light drizzle, luckily it didn't turn into proper rain.

Alice:

Literally as we arrived in the campsite the heavens opened and it didn't stop raining all evening but there was a covered BBQ area where we could leave the bike and unpack and make dashes to the tent.  I was a bit worried that the tent was going to flood but Gareth assured me it wouldn't and he was right!


Gareth:
I think that's a good way to end the blog.  I was right!

The result of me setting up in the rain while Gareth went off to have a shower.

Blog off.  Still not quite up to date but we're getting there!


xx