Helo there, everyone!
So, I've done a bit since I last updated. I last left you as I was at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Havelock North. I read several books, including a cycling travelogue, an ancient sci-fi novel from like the 50's (that was interesting), and Catch 22. They were all at least fairly good, but with Catch 22 being the one I most liked. I've seen the movie and heard other people talking about it, but haven't read it until now. I am really glad that I have gotten a chance to actually just read for pleasure, and not for a class. It makes it much more enjoyable. Maybe I'll go back and *ahem* re-read some of those english books...
SO, I set off from Havelock North to Napier, a city just about 25kms away. Napier is full of all of these "Art-Deco" style buildings, which were build after the 1930's earthquake. I didn't spend very long there in the city looking around, but it was a pleasant place. I ended up staying in a backpackers called something like "Stable Lodge," which had rather odd decor, with magazine pictures of unicorns and horses pasted onto the walls. But it was nice and cozy, and DRY, so I didn't mind. I went out to "The Warehouse" (a big, Target-esque store here in New Zealand) and bought myself a small AM/FM radio so that I have something to listen to when I want to. It was only about NZ$10, but does the job just fine, so I don't mind. Made some couscous for dinner, and went to bed--only after watching "Minority Report", "Independence Day", and "Men in Black II" with several German backpackers. I wonder, what would a foreigner think about those movies if they could't understand the language? Espcially Minority Report.
Then next day, sorted out some bank account stuff, and headed off for Lake Tutira. It took me almost all day to get there, even though it was only about 45km to there from Napier. There was one big hill, which was something like 15km of climbing! That sucked. The descet was nice, although marred slightly by rain whipping into my face as I tear (carefully) down the other side. At the bottom is a place called "Devil's Elbow", which is just a hairpin turn. Would've taken a picture, but it was wet. Eventually made it to Lake Tutira, and set up my tent in the rain. I was wet and cold, and made some more couscous as quickly as I could. Then, I got into my sleeping bag, and read my new book: "The LOng, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul", by Douglas Adams. Very funny book--you should read it. Next morning, woke up a little later than planned, and finally packed all of my gear up, only to notice at the end that I had a flat rear tire! OF course my spare tubes etc. were at the bottom of ONE of my paniers, and I didn't know which one exactly, so I spent another night there. Next morning, I got up a little earlier, an headed out (oh, and Dad just so you know, I fixed the puncture on my first go, and it's lasted 78kms so far!). Oh, I have 2 minutes left. I'll finish this later.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
September16th, 2007
Hello there folks! Sorry about that long absence. You should come to expect those, though. If you're LUCKY, you may get something on the order of one update a week--although most will be rather small and short, I'd imagine. So, last Saturday, I took the train up from Wellington city to Paraparaumu, or Raumati. I stayed the night there with my Auntie Anne and Uncle Paul, and Cousin Lawrie. Anyways, I have to be brief, so here we go: I cycled up from Raumati on New Zealand's West Coast up to Palmerston North, and stayed with my Aunt and Uncle, and my cousins David and Nikla and Brendon. I stayed there for a couple of days, and then moved on, by way of the Paihatua Track (road). Boy, that was a hill. After taking most of the morning to get up and over that, I made it to a town called Dannevirke, which had a rather unsettling affinity for trolls. I ended up spending the night there, in a "Holiday Park" (a camp ground as they're called here sometimes). When I went up to the office at first to get a camp site, I was rather suprised to hear that I was the first tent-camper they've had all year long (keep in mind that this is in September, 9 MONTHS into a year.). That didn't exactly inspire a great deal of confidence in me... I went to the local supermarket, and found a big loaf of cheesy, baconey bread that they had just dropped the price down to NZ$2 on. I bought it in an instant, and that was very tasty. At the "Holiday Park", they had a complete kitchen, with stove, oven, pots and pans, cutlery, knives, plates, hot and cold running water, a fridge/freezer, and a table! Quite a change. So, I made some couscous for myself (which is actually stupidly easy, and very filling), and tore off half of the loaf of Bacon-and-cheese bread to eat. I slept the night out in my tent, and I woke up a few times from the cold. I just bundled up, and it was fine, though. I found out later that it was down to about 4 Degrees Celcius, and frosted. I made it through the night, though, and packed up in the morning. I then headed off (a little later than usual, at about 10AM) on my loaded bike. Several times on my journey so far, I've been attacked by Magpies. Apparrently, it's nesting time right now, so they're extra-protective. I was just biking along, and I saw another cyclist on the other side of the road. I waved and said "Hello!", and in response, they yelled: "WATCH OUT FOR THE MAGPIE!" and pointed somewhere over my head. Looking around, I saw this scoundrel come swoopoing in on me, divebombing my and only missing by a matter of inches. That happened several times. They're evil birds, and have been known to knock cyclists off their bikes. I've decided that the best defence is to either sit there yelling and cursing aat them, swinging your arms around, or to sprint as fast as you can,looking straight ahead, as your helmet'll protect you. I kept on hearing a bird flap somewhere over head, and cowering in fear until I realised it was just a simple pigeon. 100 Kilometres later and nearing dusk, I had finally made it to Havelock North, a smaller, slightly expensive town, in some ways akin to Highland Village. My Aunt and Uncle live here, and I had arranged to spend a little bit with them. Their house is amazingly full of plants--more than most conservatories or greenhouses, I'd think! The only thing that there may be more of than plants in this house is books. There's an entire room covered, floor to ceiling with all sorts of books, all the way around. And that's just a quarter of them. In every room, there's at least one bookshelf stretching up to to sky, chock full of books--covering every subject from cooking and baking to plants and their care. Quite amazing. They run a lab where they cultivate plants and trees by cuttingt hem up and then sticking them in dishes with some sort of rooting hormone in it, and then repeating the process once again, with the newly grown plant--quite interesting. The first day here, I started a book called: "Yackety Yak: Bombay to Beijing by Bicycle". I also finished it. It was entertaining, but at the same time, not exactly what you might call "quality literature". It followed a pretty typical Australian bloke on his adventures in India and China and Pakistan, and had some funny bits in it. Mostly it was just nice to relax for a day, and sit on something that WASN'T a bike seat. The Rugby World Cup is in full swing over in France, and the All Blacks (New Zealand's national rugby team) are the favourites to win it. Yesterday they demolished Portugal 108 to 13 or something. Which was actually a far lower score than most people thought the All Blacks would score (Portugal is ranked as the worst team in the tournament). That was fun to watch--although because of the time difference, it didn't start until 11:00pm here, so I was up late watching it for fun. By the way, the National New Zealand Basketball team is called the "Tall Blacks"! I laughed out loud when I heard that. If people hadn't heard of the All blacks, they'd probably think it was the most racist and stereotyped name possible for a basketball team. Okay, time for some lunch. That was enough of a rambling entry as I can currently sustain.Hope you're doing well, whoever it is that's reading this.-Ben
Hello there folks! Sorry about that long absence. You should come to expect those, though. If you're LUCKY, you may get something on the order of one update a week--although most will be rather small and short, I'd imagine. So, last Saturday, I took the train up from Wellington city to Paraparaumu, or Raumati. I stayed the night there with my Auntie Anne and Uncle Paul, and Cousin Lawrie. Anyways, I have to be brief, so here we go: I cycled up from Raumati on New Zealand's West Coast up to Palmerston North, and stayed with my Aunt and Uncle, and my cousins David and Nikla and Brendon. I stayed there for a couple of days, and then moved on, by way of the Paihatua Track (road). Boy, that was a hill. After taking most of the morning to get up and over that, I made it to a town called Dannevirke, which had a rather unsettling affinity for trolls. I ended up spending the night there, in a "Holiday Park" (a camp ground as they're called here sometimes). When I went up to the office at first to get a camp site, I was rather suprised to hear that I was the first tent-camper they've had all year long (keep in mind that this is in September, 9 MONTHS into a year.). That didn't exactly inspire a great deal of confidence in me... I went to the local supermarket, and found a big loaf of cheesy, baconey bread that they had just dropped the price down to NZ$2 on. I bought it in an instant, and that was very tasty. At the "Holiday Park", they had a complete kitchen, with stove, oven, pots and pans, cutlery, knives, plates, hot and cold running water, a fridge/freezer, and a table! Quite a change. So, I made some couscous for myself (which is actually stupidly easy, and very filling), and tore off half of the loaf of Bacon-and-cheese bread to eat. I slept the night out in my tent, and I woke up a few times from the cold. I just bundled up, and it was fine, though. I found out later that it was down to about 4 Degrees Celcius, and frosted. I made it through the night, though, and packed up in the morning. I then headed off (a little later than usual, at about 10AM) on my loaded bike. Several times on my journey so far, I've been attacked by Magpies. Apparrently, it's nesting time right now, so they're extra-protective. I was just biking along, and I saw another cyclist on the other side of the road. I waved and said "Hello!", and in response, they yelled: "WATCH OUT FOR THE MAGPIE!" and pointed somewhere over my head. Looking around, I saw this scoundrel come swoopoing in on me, divebombing my and only missing by a matter of inches. That happened several times. They're evil birds, and have been known to knock cyclists off their bikes. I've decided that the best defence is to either sit there yelling and cursing aat them, swinging your arms around, or to sprint as fast as you can,looking straight ahead, as your helmet'll protect you. I kept on hearing a bird flap somewhere over head, and cowering in fear until I realised it was just a simple pigeon. 100 Kilometres later and nearing dusk, I had finally made it to Havelock North, a smaller, slightly expensive town, in some ways akin to Highland Village. My Aunt and Uncle live here, and I had arranged to spend a little bit with them. Their house is amazingly full of plants--more than most conservatories or greenhouses, I'd think! The only thing that there may be more of than plants in this house is books. There's an entire room covered, floor to ceiling with all sorts of books, all the way around. And that's just a quarter of them. In every room, there's at least one bookshelf stretching up to to sky, chock full of books--covering every subject from cooking and baking to plants and their care. Quite amazing. They run a lab where they cultivate plants and trees by cuttingt hem up and then sticking them in dishes with some sort of rooting hormone in it, and then repeating the process once again, with the newly grown plant--quite interesting. The first day here, I started a book called: "Yackety Yak: Bombay to Beijing by Bicycle". I also finished it. It was entertaining, but at the same time, not exactly what you might call "quality literature". It followed a pretty typical Australian bloke on his adventures in India and China and Pakistan, and had some funny bits in it. Mostly it was just nice to relax for a day, and sit on something that WASN'T a bike seat. The Rugby World Cup is in full swing over in France, and the All Blacks (New Zealand's national rugby team) are the favourites to win it. Yesterday they demolished Portugal 108 to 13 or something. Which was actually a far lower score than most people thought the All Blacks would score (Portugal is ranked as the worst team in the tournament). That was fun to watch--although because of the time difference, it didn't start until 11:00pm here, so I was up late watching it for fun. By the way, the National New Zealand Basketball team is called the "Tall Blacks"! I laughed out loud when I heard that. If people hadn't heard of the All blacks, they'd probably think it was the most racist and stereotyped name possible for a basketball team. Okay, time for some lunch. That was enough of a rambling entry as I can currently sustain.Hope you're doing well, whoever it is that's reading this.-Ben
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Hello Again!
So, sorry about that rather long delay of updates! Firstly, I added some pictures to the bottom of my blog, which you can click on to advance through. They are currently in reverse chronological order (a.k.a. most recent first), and only a few of them have been uploaded as of yet. I have been staying with my Aunt who lives in Wellington, in the suburb of Khandallah, atop an absolutely MONSTROUS hill (take a look at the pictures, and you'll see what I mean)--but there's a very nice view of Wellington Harbour (there's another name for it, but I forget what it is right now). I did a lot of roaming around the city, getting to know the kind of people and places I can expect in the future--as well as looking at NZ bank accounts, and getting my equivalent of a Social Security Number. I also went up to the top of Mt. Kaukau, near Wellington on the 27th.
I greatly enjoyed going to the Botanic Gardens, and poking around all of the different plants and trees--I especially liked those big, tall Nikau palms they had there, as well as their assortment of ferns. They had a very nice little greenhouse called the Begonia House, and there was a cafe within--but unfortunately the cafe didn't open until several days after (under construction). I walked back up a nice path through the woods, and took the cable car back down into central Wellington City.
I also took a foray into the National museum, Te Papa. It was very similar to the Science Museum of Minnesota in that there are lots of interactive, fun, and colourful exhibits to look at and experiment with--they even have an earthquake demo center, where you can go and stand in a little house and feel what a minor earthquake feels like!!
The people have been nice, but different. The other day I was walking around in a little store when a couple of construction workers came in to get something. One of the was wearing a Minnesota Twins cap! I did a double take, and then said something similar to: "Unghh??! A TWINS cap?!" and proceeded to stare blankly at his forehead with my jaw dropped. He was rather confused at first, and had no idea what I was talking about. I explained that he was wearing a baseball hat from back home in Minnesota, and that the team was called the "Twins", and the TC logo stood for "Twin Cities". He was joking around and said that he thought it stood for "Totally Cool". So, that was a little odd.
I pieced my bike together the first day I got there, but neglected to take it out for a ride until about 4 days into my stay at my Aunt's house. Wellington is NOT cyclist friendly. The hills are terrible (again, look at the pictures), the roads steep and narrow- as well as windy and curving (this is in the suburbs of Wellington, mind you--the city itself is quite flat). The drivers are impatient and unused to dealing with cyclists, and the wind...the wind can practically blow you uphill backwards with both brakes on! So, after spending half an hour getting down from where I am living. I promptly turned around and trudged my way back up. Another thing that has suprised me: it seems that every single bicycle I see out being ridden is a brand new, Carbon-fiber, $3,000 bike. I don't think I've seen a proper used bike my whole time here so far! That whole subset of culture is completely missing.
The sausage rolls here have been very good. The first two that I had were NZ$2.80 each, with 30 cents for one ketchup container. At the moment I thought they were a really god deal. They were a very tasty meal, and for a little more than NZ$6, not too expensive. However, the other day I was around the odd end of Wellington (Cuba Street, for those who know/care), when I found a very nice bakery. I think it was called "Elite Bakery," or something odd like that. I went in, and to my delight, sausage rolls there only cost $1.40 each! Half as much money!! Or, the way I looked at: Twice as much Sausage rolls!
Now, I'm up with my other Aunt, Uncle, and cousin, in Raumati, near Paraparaumu, and it is VERY nice up here. They are literally a stone's throw away from the beach and sea, just behind another house on top of a dune. The feed me very well up here, and I'm just up for the weekend at the moment. Yesterday I went for a longer ride on my bike, going about 60 kilometers--including a gigantic hill which was probably about half to one third of the distance!!! Not quite like back home. That was really nice, and I felt just about fine afterwards--the only thing being that I may have gently pulled something in my right shoulder. But doesn't hurt too bad, as I went our for a shorter (15k) mountain bike ride this morning by the sea (I borrowed my cousin's full-suspension mountain bike), which was extremely nice. After that, we went and poked around on the beach for a couple of hours, and looked at shells and other odd things which had washed up on the sand. I found some bamboo, and spent most of the time trying to make various implements out of it, including (but not limited to) bow and arrow, spitball gun, and flute (more or less in that order). Right now it's time for dinner, so I better go! (Pork roast, which I'm sure will be fantastic!)
Hope you're all having a good time, wherever you are!
-Ben
I greatly enjoyed going to the Botanic Gardens, and poking around all of the different plants and trees--I especially liked those big, tall Nikau palms they had there, as well as their assortment of ferns. They had a very nice little greenhouse called the Begonia House, and there was a cafe within--but unfortunately the cafe didn't open until several days after (under construction). I walked back up a nice path through the woods, and took the cable car back down into central Wellington City.
I also took a foray into the National museum, Te Papa. It was very similar to the Science Museum of Minnesota in that there are lots of interactive, fun, and colourful exhibits to look at and experiment with--they even have an earthquake demo center, where you can go and stand in a little house and feel what a minor earthquake feels like!!
The people have been nice, but different. The other day I was walking around in a little store when a couple of construction workers came in to get something. One of the was wearing a Minnesota Twins cap! I did a double take, and then said something similar to: "Unghh??! A TWINS cap?!" and proceeded to stare blankly at his forehead with my jaw dropped. He was rather confused at first, and had no idea what I was talking about. I explained that he was wearing a baseball hat from back home in Minnesota, and that the team was called the "Twins", and the TC logo stood for "Twin Cities". He was joking around and said that he thought it stood for "Totally Cool". So, that was a little odd.
I pieced my bike together the first day I got there, but neglected to take it out for a ride until about 4 days into my stay at my Aunt's house. Wellington is NOT cyclist friendly. The hills are terrible (again, look at the pictures), the roads steep and narrow- as well as windy and curving (this is in the suburbs of Wellington, mind you--the city itself is quite flat). The drivers are impatient and unused to dealing with cyclists, and the wind...the wind can practically blow you uphill backwards with both brakes on! So, after spending half an hour getting down from where I am living. I promptly turned around and trudged my way back up. Another thing that has suprised me: it seems that every single bicycle I see out being ridden is a brand new, Carbon-fiber, $3,000 bike. I don't think I've seen a proper used bike my whole time here so far! That whole subset of culture is completely missing.
The sausage rolls here have been very good. The first two that I had were NZ$2.80 each, with 30 cents for one ketchup container. At the moment I thought they were a really god deal. They were a very tasty meal, and for a little more than NZ$6, not too expensive. However, the other day I was around the odd end of Wellington (Cuba Street, for those who know/care), when I found a very nice bakery. I think it was called "Elite Bakery," or something odd like that. I went in, and to my delight, sausage rolls there only cost $1.40 each! Half as much money!! Or, the way I looked at: Twice as much Sausage rolls!
Now, I'm up with my other Aunt, Uncle, and cousin, in Raumati, near Paraparaumu, and it is VERY nice up here. They are literally a stone's throw away from the beach and sea, just behind another house on top of a dune. The feed me very well up here, and I'm just up for the weekend at the moment. Yesterday I went for a longer ride on my bike, going about 60 kilometers--including a gigantic hill which was probably about half to one third of the distance!!! Not quite like back home. That was really nice, and I felt just about fine afterwards--the only thing being that I may have gently pulled something in my right shoulder. But doesn't hurt too bad, as I went our for a shorter (15k) mountain bike ride this morning by the sea (I borrowed my cousin's full-suspension mountain bike), which was extremely nice. After that, we went and poked around on the beach for a couple of hours, and looked at shells and other odd things which had washed up on the sand. I found some bamboo, and spent most of the time trying to make various implements out of it, including (but not limited to) bow and arrow, spitball gun, and flute (more or less in that order). Right now it's time for dinner, so I better go! (Pork roast, which I'm sure will be fantastic!)
Hope you're all having a good time, wherever you are!
-Ben
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