Give me seven hours in the rain in a conoe with my best mates any day!

Hello readers! Sorry I have been away for so long. Life on the road is busy. Since we last spoke I have bike three more legs of my trip and taken a bus for one other. I am currently in Taupo. A beautiful lakeside town of no more than 25,000 residents, although the population almost doubles during summer holiday months due to tourist traffic.

Since my still seemingly unbelievable first day of biking I have managed to saddle up and make a total of 350 km or so bike (roughly 200 miles). The first week of my cycling travels were plagued with rain that left me stuck indoors and bored at times. I did have a few opportunities to wander around Thames but I did not wander far because my body would not allow it, I was still pretty sore from biking. The Corromandel Peninsula was gorgeous and I hope I can go back some time to do some of its great hikes and get some camping in there. The backpackers I stayed at was a small, warm, B&B style place that I would definately stay at again. I stayed three nights and rested up for my next leg of biking and saw an opportunity to get on the road without the chance of it pouring rain on me so took off. The trip through the Corromandel was quite intense for the first 15 km. A 500 meter climb was rather grueling and I found myself pushing my bike up the hills rather than peddling up them. Once at the top and the big hills behind me the going down was amazing with fast paced down slopes and scenic views and I could not resist a photo opportunity. At the 30 km mark i found myself faced with a 250 meter climb and light rain. It was a bit slow going up but I managed to make my 60 km day to Whangamata in 6 hours with only 2 hours of rain. Not so bad.

My stay in Whangamata was average. The backpackers was unexciting and could not go out due to heavy rain. I did have half a day of sun and was able go out and see the beach and watch the surf. I did happen to meet 3 Germans and a Chilean who convinced me to go out to beach at night and do some stargazing while drinking tequila. The stargazing was a good idea but the tequila, not so much. The stars were amazing and I can honestly say that I have never seen the stars sparkle the the way they did on the beach. All in all it was a decent stay but I was ready to move on.

The next leg to Mt Maunganui was a decent stretch of hill climb for the first 30 km, and then slow rolling hills for the final 60 km to make for a 90 km trip. The weather was warm and sunny but the day was long. I think it might have had something to do with all the tequila the night before. My stay in the Mount was my favorite thus far. It was a busy backpackers close to the beach in a relatively small surf town. Sadly I have yet to surf. I spent 5 nights with some amazing people and did not want to leave. That is the sad part of traveling and meeting new people every 3 or 4 days. Each place can start to take on the feeling of home and the people you meet start to feel like family, especially when you are traveling alone. But I must press on and keep to the road.

The trip to Rotorua was pretty short, being only 70 km and pretty flat for the first 2/3 of the day. It still felt like a long day of biking and I could feel fatigue setting in earlier than I had expected. The stay in Rotorua was average as well. The backpackers felt more like a motel and did not have the social feel I had come to love in Mt Maunganui. I stayed 2 nights and was on my way.

Here is the shocking part of the entry! I have given up the bike trip for now! I took a bus from Rotorua to Taupo in order to skip 80 km of heavy hills so that I could get to my destination and really enjoy myself the way I want to. The biking is far too taxing and leaves me stiff and sore. I also have three serious issues with biking here in New Zealand. 1: the roads are not very smooth so it makes for a bumpy ride that is slower and harder. 2: the hills here are so intense at times and all over the place that at times I feel I am walking my bike more than I am riding it. 3: and last but not least, besides roads that aren't smooth and hills from hell, one of a cyclist's least favorite friends is the wind, especially a wind that no matter what direction you are headed is always in your face. So I have given up the biking for a bit to save my sanity and enjoy myself more thoroughly.

I am in Taupo at the moment and the view from my backpackers is amazing. It overlooks a lake with snow capped mountains and a volcanic peak behind it. Today was the first time the clouds were not covering the summits.

All in all I am having a amazing time meeting new people and seeing some pretty magical places, but I am excited for Robert Ed to arrive for the holidays so we can tear it up in the south island.

Until Next Time
-Matthew

I Think I Might Have A Little Lance Armstrong in Me

Well, miraclously I have finished my first leg of my bike trip, Auckland to Thames. Drum roll please...the distance travelled on the first day was 122 km (70 miles or so). The terrain was primarily highway, but the first half was getting out New Zealands largest city (Auckland). That part went pretty well considering I was still fresh to traffic driving on the left side of the road and I had never biked with 35lbs of weight strapped to the back of my bike. The roads were flat and smooth for the most part so it was easy going. Once i was out of the city is when I started to see some of the ups and downs of NZ roads. Kiwis would call them bumps but coming from Minnesota where almost everything is flat, unless you get up north, they were pretty massive hills. All in all it would probably be considered one of the easier legs of the trip but I will not lie it was pure hell. It did not help that I was not as physically ready for the trip as I would have liked to have been, but hopefully after about a week I will be a bit more conditioned. Some downhill cruises were rather nerve racking while on the shoulder of a highway and cars and semis are roaring past you. I quite honestly thought I was not going to make it to my checkpoint, and I proabably would not have if were not for the last 40 km of pure flat farm country. I recieved just as many funny looks from cows and sheep as I did passing drivers. All said and done I made it, I feel pretty rugged and proud that i made it so far on my first day (122 km is one of the longer legs of the trip, less than a handful of days will be more than a 100 km). 

Sorry but I don't have pictures of the bike ride so far and that is because I honestly did not have any time to spare. Every minute counted on me reaching Thames before nine at night so I could check into my backpackers (hostel). The final tidbit about the ride that I will leave my readers with is this; a trip that would have taken the leisurely driver in a car one and a half hous took me EIGHT!

Cheers

-Matthew

It's About to Get Dusty

Well, I think this is my last night in Auckland. So long as the weather is suitable in the morning I will hitting the road. My longtime friend Robert Ed will arrive in Wellington, which is on the southern tip of the north island, on the 23rd of December. So that gives me 23 days of open road and blue skies. I've mapped out the legs that i'm taking and it should be no more 11 or 12 days of biking, so I will have 10-11 days of hiking, exploring, and sunny naps in hammocks. Here are a few pictures of the bike fully packed. It is pretty heavy in the back so I might reconfigure but this is the basic set up while I will be touring. Wish me luck!

Cheers

-Matthew

Almost Time to Ride

Hello all, glad to hear people have been keeping an eye on the updates. Once I get on the road I will hopefully be doing daily or every other day updates in order to keep them short and sweet but with enough content to keep readers intrigued. I am popping in today to let people know that I have a bike and the majority of my gear. I just need to tie up a few loose ends before I hit the road. I will be making a post before I leave with pictures of myself and my chariot!

One other note, I would like to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home! It is Thursday as I write this, and Wednesday for the majority of those reading this, so thanks to everyone who helped me get out here and eat plenty of turkey for me. I'm thinking of you all!

Love

-Matthew

Some New Zealand Pics

It's A Little Cloudy, But Really Green

Hello friends and family! It has been one week since I have arrived in New Zealand and boy has it been an amazing one! Since my arrival I have been greeted with amazing hospitality from my hosts, Craig, Priscilla, and baby Hugo. This first week would not have been nearly as amazing if were not for them. They have given me my own room to stay in and I've been fed wonderful meals, leg of lamb with roasted vegetables on my first night! They have brought me all over the city of Auckland to take in some amazing sights and to search for the mighty vessel that will take me all over this beautiful country (a bicycle that is). I honestly feel like I have been visiting family since I have been here. With that being said I will tell of my ventures thus far in a cloudy and green landscape!

The first day of awaking in this new country was an early one. I would like to note, and many back home would be happy to hear this, that I have slept past 11 am once since i have been gone. Actually twice, but the second time was because I was up till 5:30 am with the last remaining members of a wedding party to watch the New Zealand All Blacks face off against England (rugby teams...they are huge out here, and I can see why). Now the pleasure of sleeping in is getting up around 9 am. Anyways, my first morning was an early rise that brought me into downtown Auckland with Craig and Priscilla on there way to work. Craig showed me a few things that would help me get around town and back home to Mt Wellington where they live, if I needed to. Once on my own I killed a little time getting breakfast and looking for a road atlas of New Zealand. Afterwards I went to buy my ticket to take a harbor cruise to take in a few Auckland sights and see the city of Auckland from a new angle. I was only able to take half the trip because it stopped at a volcanic island called Rangitoto, where we could look around for ten minutes and being rather ambitious with my ten minutes I made it too far away to get back before the ferry left. Oh well! I was stuck on a sweet volcanic island for four hours until the next ferry came to pick me up. It was for the best because the island had some great hikes including a hike to the summit that took less than an hour, but boy was it exhausting towards the end. At the top I was able to see 360 degrees of Auckland and its harbor with many islands. I had a snack and snapped some photos and then I was on my way back down. I made it back to downtown just in time to ride back with Craig and Priscilla home from work. My face got rather sun burnt even though it was cloudy most of the day and it wasn't very warm unless the sun was out. You can feel the sun instantly when it is on you. So I learned my first lesson in New Zealand sun--the sun always wins even if it is cloudy! Later that night i went out with Craig, Priscilla, and a friend of theirs for dinner and a movie.

Later that week Craig had a day off and was able to bring me all over Auckland in search of a bike that was going to get me to the tip of one island to the tip of the next. I did not buy anything but saw and talked with enough people to fully grasp what I required for such a trip.

On Friday I road tripped it out of Auckland about two hours and I spent the weekend with Craig and his family at a beach house rental that was amazing and was privileged enough to attend a gorgeous small town, family oriented wedding. The wedding was at the bride's father's Bed and Breakfast in a small town called Te Puke (Tuh-Pookie). The B&B was a small villa on the property of a wine vineyard with horses and sheep! It was gorgeous. I turned out being the unofficial wedding photographer since I had such a fancy looking camera. It was the least I could do since they were so welcoming and the food was amazing. They roasted an entire pig on a spit! I was also lucky enough to meet so many amazing and friendly people that offered me a place to stay on my trip down the country.

This first week has been amazing and I owe it to Craig, Priscilla and their family for being so welcoming and generously hospitable!

Thanks!

-Matthew

Australia from the Lens

Finally an update huh?

Well sorry for the delay but I am finally making an interesting post about my travels! Australia was gorgeous place to visit this time of year. The sun was as hot as it gets on the best Minnesota summer day. I can't imagine how hot it gets in the middle of summer. The extent of my travel in Aussie land consisted of spending time on the beaches and when it got too hot i would go for a dip in the ocean. If i wasn't lying on the beach i was lying by the pool. I did not have much planned in the adventure department. It was just a relaxing time outside the country on some gorgeous beaches. I will go into some detail as to a few bits of fun and excitement that I have had so far. I spent about nine days in Surfers Paradise which is honestly the Miami of the Gold Coast. I was a gorgeous place to visit and the weather was perfect but it was very touristy and expensive. With that being said, it was still a worthwhile leg of my trip. I got to meet people from all over the world and had many enjoyable happy hours with them.

When i became tired of Surfers and needed a new perspective of Australia I hitched a ride, figuratively speaking that is, with a friend I made at the hostel I was staying at in Surfers and headed south to Byron Bay. Byron was a very lovely, and little hippie surfer town with a slower pace of life. It was a relaxing change. While in Byron I had my first experience with a full hostel dorm. I guess I should say that while at Surfers I had an entire four bed dorm to myself, which was nice, but it wasn't the full travel experience that I was expecting. Byron gave me the full hostel experience. I went there on my own and stayed with five complete strangers, three of which I ended up spending almost my entire time in Byron with. Byron was much more scenic than Surfers in regards to landscapes rather than shining urban high rises along the beach front. My first morning in Byron was an early one. Rise and shine, well not quite shine, but rise at five a.m. to catch a short bus ride up to a light house that is located at the most Easterly point of the Australian mainland. Whereupon, myself and my new hostel mates, some lovely ladies from Canada, awaited the rise of a new sunny day. The rest of my time was spent walking around town, hanging by the pool and chatting with my new friends about life and traveling. My last night in Byron was a quiet one. I sat on the beach and watched the sun go down, and had some very tasty fish and chips on my walk back to the hostel.

Sunday morning I had to be up early in order to catch a shuttle to the airport and fly Back down to Sydney for the day and catch my New Zealand bound flight the next day. Sydney was a gorgeous city with a beautiful harbor. My day consisted of a stroll around the botanical gardens that lined the harbor and the Sydney Opera House. My last night in Australia was spent with the four Belgium boys I was bunked with at the pub next to our hostel. They new how to drink some beer and we closed down the pub and called it a night, which was a good thing because i had to be up early again the next day to make my international flight to New Zealand. The next morning was pure hell. Lucky for me i had made it to the airport two hours early. I waited in a long line to check in and when I make it to the counter I am told i need either proof of a outbound ticket or a visa to enter the country. Lucky for me, my working holiday was recently approved and all i had to do was find a place to print out my confirmation letter, which proved troublesome in an airport was not familiar with. But I got it printed and made it to my terminal with ten minutes before take off...just kidding, an hour. It was rather nerve racking though. I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it to New Zealand that afternoon. Rest assured, when I sat down on the plane i was relieved that this was going to be last flight I take for quite some time. I was on my way to start my big adventure!

Where to Start

Well it's my first morning in surfers paradise (Wednesday Nov 4). I made it here tuesday night around 8 pm after what seemed like a never ending 48 hours of travel. In that period i was in four different airplanes and five airports. Also in that period I didnt get to sleep lying down, strictly sleep in chairs. I can't say how rewarding it felt to make it to my final Aussie destination in one straight shot of travel. I think i beat jet lag but we will see how today goes, i was up a bit late last night and up pretty early this morning but tried to keep sleeping to do some catching up. Regardless, it's pretty nice here, I've talked to more strangers in the last 48 hours than i have in the last 2 months. All is well and keep watching

Cheers
Matthew

Test Blog

Hello friends and family. The days are winding down till my time of departure. It has yet to sink in the fact that i am no longer employed and will continue to be for upwards of 4 months. I look forward to the new experiences and people i will meet along the way, and I will always keep in mind the ones i left back home.