Smart Kalapoi Fleet Lined Up Until The New Year.

The Canterbury Plains.

____ Out of the Waipara Valley and onto the Canterbury Plain; a flat road all the way to Christchurch. A big town, well laid out, with Cathedral Square in the centre; being set up for New Years celebrations. A powerful earthquake hit the area on Boxing day but I cannot see any signs of damage; although the cathedral tower is fenced off. Maybe to protect revellers from falling masonry or maybe to protect the cathedral from falling revellers. I spend an afternoon looking around town then ride out to a campsite on the south side. Camped next to an apricot tree with a pub next door.


____ From Christchurch across the plain to Ashburton on a fine sunny day with just a slight headwind. Across the longest bridge in New Zealand at Rakaia; over a mile long and a narrow two-lane. A lot of NZ bridges are narrow with no provision for cyclists; this calls for special tactics to avoid getting squeezed into the wall. I drive in the middle of my lane; anything wanting to come past must wait for a gap in oncoming traffic and use the other lane. I’m sure it annoys some people but as most of the time I ride on the hard shoulder they have little reason to complain.

____ People are always very friendly; always with a lot of questions. Apart from “Where to?”- “How far?”- “Where from?”; a common question is “ Why New Zealand?” to which I have found the best answer is: “Because I hate Australians.” This is not true but always goes down well. The other popular question is: “How’s your bum?” to which I casually answer, ”Ok.” In fact I know exactly how my bum is; thanks to a digital camera with flash and a laptop on to which I can download and enlarge daily images; I have a good database of how my bum is standing up to the rigours of cycle-touring down-under. If there is any demand from the medical profession reading this; I can easily post pictures for your perusal.

Te Papa - National Museum Of New Zealand.



A Winner At Daytona



My Kind Of Beach

Carlsberg Don't Do Sleepercabs............

South Island--Days 1-2-3

____Away from Picton ,bright and early, south to Blenheim and it’s vineyards for breakfast. Then some hard climbs and the Dashwood Pass before reaching the Pacific Coast at Wharanui. With a north wind behind me, I make good headway; stopping at the Store, Kekerengu, for tea. It’s late when I reach Kaikoura, a popular whale-watching town that is bursting to seams. I get squeezed into a corner with my little tent after my first day of more than 100 kms cycling.


____ Gale force winds rip through the campsite during the night; as I am thankful for my sheltered corner. Several tents are torn to shreds by the north-westerly. More coastline riding around Goose Bay, where plenty of seals mess about in the kelp or lounge about on the rocks only yards from the busy road. After the road turns inland there are some serious long climbs, but when the road flattens; the wind changes to a gale from the south making riding nearly impossible. I put into the Staging Post campsite at Hawkswood after less than 50 kms for the day. As storm clouds are looming, the offer of a rustic cabin seems a good idea. I get my money’s worth by lighting the wood burning stove and burning all the logs, all night, in an effort to dry some laundry.

____ Dawn breaks to a cloudless, windless sky; what a difference a day makes. The terrain is not flat but much less demanding. After stops for tea at Cheviot and Greta Valley, it’s a satisfying days ride down to Waipara and the Waipara Sleepers campsite, a railway themed set-up. Sleepers of the large wooden railroad tie sort of thing. Coffee houses seem to be very much in vogue here in NZ; but a pot of tea suits me and is good value with a jug of hot water arriving with the pot and the milk. There’s something you don’t see to often these days any where else.

Christmas in Wellington, New Zealand.



 ____ Christmas Eve, a day at Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand. Down by the waterfront, a short walk from the hotel, so the bike has a rest day. Very interesting displays on the Natural History of the country before Europeans arrived. Also a lot of stuff on Maori culture, with impressive ocean-going canoes up to 70 foot long. In the evening I rendezvous with my cousin Paul; who I had met in England during his big European tour with his wife Judith. That was in 1988. My Uncle Len too is there, he left England when I was 4, I cannot remember him but we had a good long chat about the old country. We went to the same school and although he left 20 years before I started; we had the same history teacher, Mr. Stanley Kaye, amazing.


_____On Christmas Day I am invited to eat at Esther and Scott’s, a cousin I had never met and her husband. Also James, another cousin and his family are there. An excellent Christmas dinner on a hot sunny day with plenty of cold beer in a hilly suburb of Wellington.

_____ Up early on Boxing Day, down to the quay and on board the Interislander ferry to the South Island. A three and a half hour crossing of 90 kilometres; a long haul out of Wellington harbour, a long stretch in the Tory Channel leading into Picton harbour. Only just over an hour on the open sea; crossing the Cook Strait, nice; my kind of ferry crossing. Picton is sunny, breezy and a South Pacific Island band is playing in the park. I decide to camp in Picton and start the journey south tomorrow.




Days 8-9-10-11

____Two more days of overcast weather; the rain holding off until the late afternoon. Sending me to the nearest campsite for a cabin. Three long climbs on the first day; finishing with Vinegar Hill and the first puncture of the trip at Hunterville. The second day; from Marton, through Bulls, Foxton and on to Waitarere. Now on the west coast plain and the winds sweeping in from the Tasman Sea.


____It has been one long battle to get fit; as I approach this part of the tour as I approach love-making. Ride for as long, as hard and as fast as possible; then collapse into a deep sleep. Wake up and start riding again. The only difference being: I don’t have to justify my performance to the bike.

____Day Ten is the first day for over a week without rain and I’m back under canvas again at Paekakarike after following the Kapiti Coast Cycle Trail; named after the island which shelters the beaches from Waikanae to Whareroa.

____Then 50 kilometres to Wellington, not the easiest of cities to enter by bike. Restricted roads and hilly terrain; but another dry day if a bit breezy. A hotel for the night and a walk round the city centre; busy with Christmas shoppers on the day before Christmas Eve.

Days 4-5-6-7 in the Rain.

____I’d be a liar if I said the last four days had been enjoyable. It’s been rain, rain and more rain. The tent has stayed packed away and I’ve taken to renting cabins; little huts with just a bed, table and chairs. These have varied in price and standard but are situated on most campsites, motor camps and trailer parks. A lot of places have “residents”; people who live all year in their caravan. These have been an endless source of advice and laughs. At Okere Falls; three guys, on the insistence of a lady, were demolishing a two foot diameter tree stump with a cordless electric drill with a one inch bit. My hut was next door and during conversation whilst the battery was recharging; we all agreed that cycling the length of New Zealand was very similar to what they were attempting.


____Day Four started at Papamoa Beach and soon I was in Te Puke [Tay-Pew-Kay], the Kiwi Fruit Capital of the World. Everything is Kiwi Fruit. Around April there is plenty of casual work picking the little furry buggers; also pruning at other times. Google: Seeka Kiwi Fruit if you want to give it a try.

____Day Five had me back in the volcanic area of Rotorua and down to Taupo on Highway 5. The side road through Reporoa was a pleasant level ride and I found that most service stations sell hot pies and drinks. A pot of tea and a hot sausage roll goes down a treat on a wet and windy day. The thermal baths at the campsites are another good thing; a soak in the volcanic heated water of 34 degrees C helps my body recover at the end of the day.

____Day Six and my regular breakfast is now at McDonalds; of which New Zealand has plenty. But they are split into the normal McD and McCafe; an arty pastry and cappuccino section. What’s all that about? A bit like going to a whorehouse and the Madam saying that they also have books. I go there for sausage ‘n’ egg muffin, greasy hash brown and normal coffee; same as everybody else. An easier day than the last few; just down the east side of Lake Taupo to Turangi. Any further would have left me short on places to stay. But I did have the good fortune to be in the Hungry Trout Café, eating one of their excellent sausage rolls, when a violent thunderstorm passed over head.

____Day Seven, the hardest day so far. 56 kilometres without a town or village, non-stop rain and all on the busy Highway 1. The Desert Road; but more like moor land than arid desert, climbing to 1074 metres beside the mist shrouded active volcano called Mount Ruapehu. A flat plateau area that leads through the army training area of Waiouro, then back into the ups and downs of sheep pastures. Ending the day at Taihape, which rhymes with Die Happy.

New Zealand Trucks.

I know those tarps on the back of that trailer

Old Kenworth Logger in Tauranga



Foden Milk Tanker.



4 axle fridge.