The last bit to Rotorua was decently flat, although the wind (as always) was blowing in the wrong direction. We rode by the airport where the skydiving was. We both wanted to go, if only it didn't cost $400 a jump. In town we spent some time gathering info at the I-site and then another bit of time in a cafe before finally heading down to our couchsurf at Deborah's.

Deborah has a nice little House to herself and her cats up in the hills on the south side of town. After spending some time meting her and her two cats, she took us in to the grocery store to get some food for dinner. Shad and I put together a delicious Chicken parmesan and made chocolate chip cookies and ice cream sandwiches for dessert. The cookies didn't come out quite right, but they were edible enough and tasted loads better with ice cream or dipped in milk.

written by  aeonhunterinnz on January 2, 2010 from Rotorua, New Zealand
from the travel blog: AeonHunter in New Zealand
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Sleeping Off New Year's

On the beach I used my hammock to construct a nice sunshade and took a nice long nap underneath it. I woke up later and went off to check out Papamoa's nearby shops and get some lunch at Turkish to Go, one of my favorite restaurants so far this trip. They have huge kebabs for not too much money. Then it was back to the beach where I got some reading done and scored a wicked sunburn on my left side. We finally hit the road about 5pm. We weren't looking to go very far, just cut down on some of the distance to Rotorua and stealth camp on the side of the road.

A little ways outside of Paengaroa we found a great spot.

Turkish to Go

Going Down Mauao

Looking out from Mauao

We walked back into the festival area then, where they had the roads completely blocked off along the beach, people everywhere, carnival stalls and rides, and two music stages. It sounds great, and it was fairly good. The only problem was that there was no alcohol allowed on the premises except for two cafe/bars down on the far end, where a glass of wine was $10 and a single corona was $9. I sat down and watched the bands on the stage for as long as I could. The cover band was okay... but then they brought out this "musical theater" group (read: paid karaoke singers) who were fairly horrible. AFter listening to them I would have paid anything for a drink, so $9 beers we went.

We met a young group of Kiwis at the cafe who insisted that we bring in the new year with them. But at only 17 & 18 years old, I was keen to find a way to lose them in the crowd. That's exactly what I did with about 10 minutes to go. Shad and I were in the middle of the huge crowd in front of the stage with the countdown as the first seconds of 2010 on Earth ticked away. There were fireworks going out over the water and people everywhere. It was sort of a weird new year's. Good... but also odd.

New Year's 00:00

We spent a long time in Whakatane this morning.

Statue of a Girl

There was beautiful weather today and the road was flat. Of course, since the road was flat there was an ungodly amount of wind which, of course, was blowing right in our faces the entire time. It made for very slow and very annoying riding. Just when I would get up a little speed and start feeling good about myself, a fist of wind would hit me and my bike would stop dead in its tracks.

Rainy Day

Shad always eats muffins.

Shad and I wandered around town for a bit and met an American widower who has come to New Zealand to start a new life. We had a nice chat with him and then went to see Sherlock Holmes at the cinema. I wouldn't recommend wasting your money on it. Now I'm back in the room we've got at the Whakatane Hotel. It's hot and humid here, too hot to sleep well even with the window open. Shad's out at the bars searching for the meaning of love and marriage. Tomorrow we'll hopefully be sleeping on the beach somewhere between here and Mt. Maunganui. At least that will be a little bit cooler. It's so hot!

That being said, today was an easier day. We started off with another swim before hitting the road.

Swimming Hole

The trip from here on out should be easy going - I'm glad.

written by  aeonhunterinnz on December 28, 2009 from Opotiki, New Zealand
from the travel blog: AeonHunter in New Zealand
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Biking today was extremely hot. We decided to forgo the East Coast for the shorter route through the gorge. It pains me a little, since the East Coast is supposed to be THE most beautiful place to bike in all of New Zealand. Alas, next time. Lunch was two huge sandwiches on homemade honey bread: one with ham, half one with homemade salami, half one with avocado and salmon. We also had fresh oranges, fruitcake, and shortbread.

Swimming Hole

Waioeka Gorge Camp

The first thing I found was the plum tree. Did I mention plums are one of my favorite fruits ever? The plums on this tree are so so tasty. I ate at least 10 of them. Then I walked down to see the birds. There was a turkey, chickens, rooster, ducks, geese, and even a peacock. From there I wandered into the pig pen where the orange trees were. I asked the orange tree for an orange 3 times, shaking its branches each time. On the third attempt an orange dropped down. It was the most delicious orange I have ever eaten. I then wandered over to have a look at the pigs. The two of them were sleeping under the shade of a metal shelter. As I got closer they woke up and immediately noticed me standing there eating an orange. With grunts and squeals the two huge pigs got to their feet and charged me. It was terrifying, but I held my ground, remembering Carol telling me they were very friendly pigs. When they got to me they started nosing me, grunting. They had bristly multicolored hair and upturned snouts with mouths that were faintly human. They wouldn't settle for a couple of plums. They wanted my orange. "Orange! Orange! Orange! Orange!" I made my way past them to a nearby mandarin tree, which I shook, causing an avalanche of mandarin oranges to fall to the ground. The pigs gobbled them up as fast as they possibly could, sometimes stuffing as many as 3 in their mouth at once. I shook the tree again and made my escape.

In the afternoon Carol and Greg took us for a drive around Gisborne. We stopped at some great lookouts over the town, bay, and countryside. We even stopped at a store in town so I could buy a new front tire. We headed back tot eh house just long enough to pick up Sam and get the boat ready, then were out to the bay to catch our dinner.

Fishing was perfect.

After that we sped out past Young Nick's Head to try some bottom fishing for snapper. Nobody was catching anything though, and we couldn't figure out why. We couldn't figure it out, that is, until we saw the dolphins. While fish might not like dolphins, humans sure do.

Dolphins!

Back home Greg smoke the kahawai and we rounded out our meal with oysters, pipis (a small New Zealand shellfish), and leftovers from last night. Then after dinner Carol and Nick initiated Shad to New Zealand by teaching him the meaning of a Tim Tam Slam. (I already knew.) All five of us did them while Carol videotaped. There's a video of it out there somewhere. It's so delicious. We have to find a way to recreate this in the states. It has been such an absolutely fantastic day. Thank you Star Mart. Thank you Matt. Thanks Carol and Greg and Sam and Nick. Wonderful.

written by  aeonhunterinnz on December 26, 2009 from Gisborne, New Zealand
from the travel blog: AeonHunter in New Zealand
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The day began with my hammock collapsed and me waking up on the ground. I was ready to leave the eel beach, in spite of how beautiful it was. The first 50km were relatively easy after the mess we went through yesterday. We had to stop at a Backpacker's on the side of the road for water, which we got out of a spigot attached to a tank in the back at the seemingly empty establishment. The water came out yellow at first, but it was water, which we needed very badly. There was a hellish climb out of Wairoa, but then it was relatively flat with the only obstacle being the wind. The land was sunburnt and it was very very hot.

Just outside of Nuhaka, a bubble that had been forming in my front tire exploded, ruining not only my tube, but blowing a gash in the tire as well. I was caught unprepared with plenty of spare tubes but no spare tire. The only thing we could do was hitchhike either to Gisborne or back to Wairoa to get it fixed, probably not until tomorrow when shops opened back up. There was no traffic on the road, it being Christmas Day and the worst day ever to need to hitchhike for a new tire. Finally after about half an hour a Maori family stopped, and even though there was no room for me in their car they told us they would make some calls and find us some help. They stopped at the first house down the road, and before I knew it there were kids on bikes and two more cares full of Maori people telling us to come, that they would take care of everything.

We walked our bikes to the house and were immediately introduced to every member of the Wesch family: aunts, uncles, cousins, everybody. One of the uncles immediately set about trying to find me a replacement tire. He measured my wheel and was off. A mom or an aunt made sure we had shade, cold water, and juice to drink. Then when she found out we hadn't had a proper lunch, she spread a huge Christmas feast before us. There was a roast ham, fresh fruit, potatoes, a mix of seafood, salads, cream buns, fresh bread, and shepherd's pie. It was so so delicious. The uncle got back with a rusty old 24" tire he had found who knows where in the field across from the house. He suggested it would "be just like a hot rod". I was dubious at first, but the wheel spun and held air, so we swapped out my 26" tire for the rusty 24" one. We strapped my other tire to Shad's pack and one of the girls ofered to drive us up to the top of the next hill, Morere Hill - a 15km unfriendly climb. I hopped in front and Shad and the uncle hopped in back with the bikes and she drove us nearly 20km to a lookout point at the top of a very long and ugly looking hill. I didn't stop thanking her the entire way up. Shad, meanwhile, got a wind blitzed tour from the uncle in the back of the truck.

Beautiful People

We stopped at a hotel, the first place we could find to use a phone. We needed to get a hold of our host Carol, who had remembered to give us her phone number but not her address. The hotel was closed, but I walked around back to find a private party going on and was able to phone her. Unfortunately she didn't answer! I knew she had mentioned Bushemere Rd and Matawai Rd, but no address. We learned Bushmere Rd was close and set off, hoping to get lucky.

Finding a quick search down a very long Bushmere Rd to be dumb and fruitless, we made for a nearby gas station, Star Mart. The Maori attendant Matt took pity on us and graciously offered to let us use his phone to first send a text, then when that turned up noting, to try a phone call even though he had very very few minutes left on his phone. When we still got no answer he even offered to let us stay at his place if we couldn't find anything else.

I was very thankful, but also getting exceedingly frustrated with our situation. I encouraged Shad to try one more bikeride down the road, looking for the intersection of Bushmere and Matawi Rd. 15 minutes in, I gave up. There was nothing left to do. We rode back tot eh Star Mart, defeated. I drowned my sorrows in a meat pie and we began to look through my Lonely Planet book for a hostel or a motorcamp for the night. Then when all hope had been lost, Matt cam cheering out of the store with Carol on the line! She quickly apologized and offered to come pick us up with her trailer! God bless Matt and God bless Star Mart! Matt let me celebrate with a free coffee.

I was so happy to see Carol pull up. We got to her house, a beautiful 10 acre sprawl up the side of a hill with all sorts of animals and fruit trees. They had a BBQ going and we soon had beer, sausages, steak, squid, salads, and trifle for dessert.

Carol

The day started out well enough. It was flat from Haumoana all the way to Napier. We got the earliest start yet, leaving before 8am. In Napier we found internet, a grocery store, and breakfast. The cafe we landed at was too expensive for my blood, so I went a few doors down to a bakery and got a muffin and something called a Christmas Twist. It was completely disgusting. Covered in currants, candied pieces of unidentifiable fruit, and tons of sugar and frosting. I couldn't eat it all, and immediately regretted my decision to be cheap. Yeck!

When we left Napier the road was still good for about 20km. We stopped in at a really cool winery with a unique patio, a mix of rustic and buddism and comfort. They charged for tastings though, so we didn't stay very long. When the road started climbing into the hills, it went from friendly to very very mean. We passed through a lot of steep gorges, an endless series of ups and downs. The worst was a breakneck decline with a 180 degree turn at the bottom, followed by a super steep incline up the other side. (I would later learn this is called the "Devil's Elbow".) We passed a nice set of lakes, but then immediately got back into the hills.

When we finally did get to the downhill I let loose on the brakes and flew down as fast as I could. I was ready to be done. At the bottom I looked back for Shad, but he wasn't there. I waited and as the minutes ticked by I got more and more worried. Had he fallen again like he did coming out of Marokopa? As I waited there, cars began to stop. The first one told me my friend's tire exploded and he was on the side of the road. The second one to stop told me my friend had been hit by a car! Worried, I stashed my bike under a bush and went out to flag down the next car to come by. I was picturing Shad with a broken arm or a concussion or any number of ill fates. The first car to pass stopped immediately and offered me a ride to the top. They had been the first ones to stop and help Shad and had been sent to get me. When we got to the top Shad's bike was upside down and his hands were covered in blood. They had been the first things to hit the ground when he went down and gotten sufficiently torn up.

Shad's Hands

Christmas Lights

Our Christmas Family Photo