November 30, 2005

Hello from Bali, the bike trip is finally underway and so far has gone off without a hitch. Jodi and I did a 46KM ride from Kuta to Ubud yesterday and today we are laying low in a charming guest house. Even though much of the riding was in traffic it was very easy because the drivers and scooters are very courteous. We did the trip in just over 4 hours which I thought was pretty good since I have a pretty bad cold and it was our first fully geared down.
Ubud is very nice! and isn't as busy as the southern end of the Island. Kuta felt much like little America with Pizza Huts and McD's around every corner. Here things move a little slower and the culture I suspect is a little more authentic. The people are nice and helpful; every time Jodi and I stopped to look at the map yesterday there was always someone who wanted to help.
I must be going, things to do and places to see.

November 29, 2005

Yesterday we flew from Sydney to Depensar Bali on a six hour flight on Garuda Airlines. To my surprise, mostly because of my preconceived ideas about Indonesia and its ability to run an airline, the flight was really good and the service fantastic. Our pilot sounded like Mr. Rork from the old Fantasy Island television show. Jodi and I had some pretty good laughs whenever he would use the intercom.
When we landed I told Jodi that I suspect we are going to learn many things in the next 24 hours because of the new culture and how to operate within it. My first lesson started at the baggage carousel. I had seen my bag come around as Jodi and I were picking up our bicycles, so I hurriedly approached the others side to grab my bag and in my haste I drew the attention of the Porters. I thought they were customs agents and because I was in such a hurry I had drawn their attention and I was going to spend my afternoon showing and explaining the contents of my bag. They asked if I had any more and I said “only my wife’s bag which is similar to mine but green instead of blue”. They began milling around looking for the bag but it was nowhere in site so they gave up on me for other tourists. Eventually I saw a sign indicating the rates for porters and noticed that all the guys I thought were customs were in fact porters so I let out a big sigh of relief. I then grabbed my bag and brought it to Jodi to include with our other things.
Outside the airport we were introduced instantly to the bartering culture of Indonesia. Everyone who saw us would approach and say “I have mini van let me take you to a hotel” and they would just follow us trying to get us in their vehicles. In Sydney, Michael told us this would happen and how to deal with it but once there it all seemed so difficult. Eventually Jodi and I found a guy to take us to Kuta where we would look for accommodations. His first price was $20USD and Jodi said “No Way! How about $5USD.” He then came back with $15USD and she said “$8USD”, we finally settled on $10USD that we later learned was a rip off since Kuta was only 3km from the airport. Once in Kuta we found a nice place for $20USD per night and the manager said he would store our bicycle boxes until we come back in 21 days. It seemed like a pretty good deal; hopefully our boxes are still there when we return.
Today I awoke from a horrible nights sleep because of a cold. Realizing that neither of us cared for Kuta and if we stayed there much longer we might get stuck because of my cold and the potential of both of us being down from sickness, we decided to ride from Kuta to Ubud so we could get out of Bali’s Little America and onto more peaceful surroundings. Unlike our ride in New Zealand things went really well. We were a little lost at times but we eventually found our way to Ubud in about 4 hours. We found a really nice accommodation for $25 USD per night that included a king size bed, air conditioning and a room large enough for us to store our bikes. Once inside I took a nap until evening and then we both had a dinner of vegetable curry over rice. Jodi burned her arms pretty badly so we agreed to spend several days here so she could keep them out of the sun and heal a bit before we ride more.

November 27, 2005

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! To my parents who I was not able to call on the special day I am sorry that we were not able to talk.
Jodi and I have been very busy the last couple of days. We finally “got off the beach” and traveled to the Katoomba to visit the Blue Mountains National Park and World Heritage Site. We traveled by bike, ferry and train and used the travels as a test of our equipment and systems we plan to use in South East Asia. Unlike our previous “test” this one was not a disaster and went without a hitch. The panniers worked well, the biking went well and the transitions to ferry and train were seamless. I was very pleased to be leaving Australia with a success and momentum.
Katoomba was very rainy and the hiking tracks were covered in mud but we managed to get in a tramp and the clouds lifted long enough for us to see the “Three Sisters” and the “Grand Canyon”. The smells were outstanding, I am not sure if it was the eucalyptus trees or the wet ground but the fragrance there was the best and most refreshing I have experienced to date. The trees have a blue tint such that the valley and the surrounding mountains appear bluish green and the ground was covered with a very thick layer of leaves and mulch. There were many birds about and they had some very unique calls. I was good to get out of the city and into the wilderness and experience something other than surfing and beaches.
Katoomba is a pretty nice town that reminded me of Ashville North Carolina but with more backpackers and internet cafés. Jodi and I had thanksgiving dinner at a little café, she had a hot pumpkin chicken salad and I had a pasta thing with spinach and feta cheese. We stayed at a hostil called the “Central Backpackers” and it appeared at first to be of good quality. The host gave us an extra room for our bicycles, making us very happy knowing they were safe and sound. The hostil hadn’t been open for very long, everything appeared new and shiny so we thought we were onto a good thing. Then came night. The host had invited some of his “buddies” to stay and they managed to take over the common room while getting drunk and playing the music much to loud. I can handle most things but at 2:00 am drunks talking in the halls awakened us which was followed by a couple arguing. It sucked laying in bed and listening to the girl crying and frat house commotion. We decided to cut our stay short.
The next morning it was raining again so we decided to leave town and head to Penrith for a paddle. Our friend Stu met us at the train station but he did not have room in his care for our bikes and us so Jodi and I rode to the white water park. Stu and I rented boats and played every wave and hole for the next four hours. I had a great time! At about 7:00 pm we boarded the train for Sydney and arrived at Manly Beach at about 10:00 pm where we grabbed some Thai food and went to bed. This morning it is raining again, something the weather has been doing since we arrived and something that hasn’t been happening very much in Australia for 4 years. I am glad they are getting the drought relief but I wish it could have occurred during a different 10 days.Tomorrow we fly to Bali and we are both looking forward to traveling the Island by bicycle. Our friend Chris recently wrote us from there saying, “he was having an incredible time” and with many tips on where to stay and what to do. We are both looking forward to moving onto a place we have never been.

November 27, 2005

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! To my parents who I was not able to call on the special day I am sorry that we were not able to talk.
Jodi and I have been very busy the last couple of days. We finally “got off the beach” and traveled to the Katoomba to visit the Blue Mountains National Park and World Heritage Site. We traveled by bike, ferry and train and used the travels as a test of our equipment and systems we plan to use in South East Asia. Unlike our previous “test” this one was not a disaster and went without a hitch. The panniers worked well, the biking went well and the transitions to ferry and train were seamless. I was very pleased to be leaving Australia with a success and momentum.
Katoomba was very rainy and the hiking tracks were covered in mud but we managed to get in a tramp and the clouds lifted long enough for us to see the “Three Sisters” and the “Grand Canyon”. The smells were outstanding, I am not sure if it was the eucalyptus trees or the wet ground but the fragrance there was the best and most refreshing I have experienced to date. The trees have a blue tint such that the valley and the surrounding mountains appear bluish green and the ground was covered with a very thick layer of leaves and mulch. There were many birds about and they had some very unique calls. I was good to get out of the city and into the wilderness and experience something other than surfing and beaches.
Katoomba is a pretty nice town that reminded me of Ashville North Carolina but with more backpackers and internet cafés. Jodi and I had thanksgiving dinner at a little café, she had a hot pumpkin chicken salad and I had a pasta thing with spinach and feta cheese. We stayed at a hostil called the “Central Backpackers” and it appeared at first to be of good quality. The host gave us an extra room for our bicycles, making us very happy knowing they were safe and sound. The hostil hadn’t been open for very long, everything appeared new and shiny so we thought we were onto a good thing. Then came night. The host had invited some of his “buddies” to stay and they managed to take over the common room while getting drunk and playing the music much to loud. I can handle most things but at 2:00 am drunks talking in the halls awakened us which was followed by a couple arguing. It sucked laying in bed and listening to the girl crying and frat house commotion. We decided to cut our stay short.
The next morning it was raining again so we decided to leave town and head to Penrith for a paddle. Our friend Stu met us at the train station but he did not have room in his care for our bikes and us so Jodi and I rode to the white water park. Stu and I rented boats and played every wave and hole for the next four hours. I had a great time! At about 7:00 pm we boarded the train for Sydney and arrived at Manly Beach at about 10:00 pm where we grabbed some Thai food and went to bed. This morning it is raining again, something the weather has been doing since we arrived and something that hasn’t been happening very much in Australia for 4 years. I am glad they are getting the drought relief but I wish it could have occurred during a different 10 days.Tomorrow we fly to Bali and we are both looking forward to traveling the Island by bicycle. Our friend Chris recently wrote us from there saying, “he was having an incredible time” and with many tips on where to stay and what to do. We are both looking forward to moving onto a place we have never been.

November 23, 2005

Yesterday was warm and beautiful so we took a ferry over to the city. Sydney has a very convenient transport system as the train platform is just next to the ferry harbor. We thought since we were there, it would be a good idea to check out the train system so we could make sure we know how to get to the airport on Monday. Then we walked around and found ourselves in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art. We decided to go in and ended up spending a couple of hours there. After that we walked around near the Opera House and eventually wandered into the Botanical Gardens (both are free in lovely Sydney!). Walking around we realized that we were both kind of tired so we decided to go catch the ferry back to Manly Beach for our own version of happy hour. We picked up some sushi to go and went back to the apartment overlooking the ocean to eat our snack while enjoying a beer on the balcony. Later in the evening our hosts came home from work and cooked us a gourmet meal, which was absolutely delicious! They served us broiled perch served on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes and roasted pumpkin followed by a waldorf salad then some assorted fancy French cheeses with bread. For dessert we had fresh strawberries to dip in fondue chocolate. To top it off we ate in candlelight on the balcony enjoying the sounds of the surf and the lightening show in the sky. It was truly an amazing meal ambiance and all that made us feel very spoiled! Kirk was right in saying this IS the best restaurant in town.

Today was overcast and rainy here at Manly Beach so Kirk and I had a hard time figuring out what to do. We thought maybe we would spend some time making plans for the weekend. We started to look into places to stay in the Blue Mountains since they are supposed to be beautiful with hiking, mountain biking and kangaroo watching. Unfortunately we checked the weather forecast for that area and it’s supposed to be rainy all weekend. Darn the bad luck! We’re thinking of just going anyway though and hoping for the best. We are debating about bringing our bicycles because of the forecast, we’ll see. Part of our weekend will also be spent visiting the Penrith Whitewater Park, which is near the Blue Mountains. We like to call it McKayaking since it’s a manmade circular whitewater park that has a conveyor belt at the bottom so you never have to get out of your boat. It was constructed for the Olympics that took place here a couple of years ago. Kirk has been looking forward to going back there since he did it last year when we were here.

Lately, Kirk has been having some muscle pains in his neck. He also has mentioned a lack of motivation and a desire to just exist. It’s funny because I felt exactly the same way except it hit me right after getting off the ice and it seems as if just now it’s hitting Kirk. Traveling takes energy and so far neither of us quite feel up to speed. As far as my current condition, I notice that I’m having a hard time making decisions because there are so many choices in a day that it’s a bit overwhelming. I’ve been looking forward to having all of these lovely choices again ever since we returned to Pole for a second year last February, but being amidst it now I find it a little more difficult than I expected. I also am quite content to do nothing and just exist. That makes it tough because I feel like I should be “doing” something. Another issue that occurred to me is that both Kirk and I made the assumption that we would get off the ice and be the same people we were 2 years ago when this all started. We could just pick up where we left off and enjoy the fruits of our labor. In hindsight that seems like a stupid assumption, as life is never that easy, so of course we’re just now figuring out that that is not the case. We have changed a lot and in some ways are institutionalized and finding it hard to be in the main stream of life again. Kirk said he looked in the mirror today and felt like a victim of a concentration camp was looking back at him. We both think we’ve physically deteriorated somewhat. We finally have some color in our skin (even though we’re quite pasty compared to most in this beachy town) and overall we want to believe that we feel pretty good, however the images that we expect to see of ourselves definitely do not match up to reality. We still see the dark circles under our eyes and are constantly aware of the age that the Pole put on us in the 21 months we spent there.

Looking back it is as though the past 2-1/2 years have been both the shortest and the longest of my life. It’s like I took a deep breath before diving into the next period of my life and I’ve been straining to hold it in through the stress of planning our wedding, selling my house, moving in with Kirk, getting married, both of us starting new jobs with the big R, then packing up our lives into a storage unit, getting a renter for our house, and relocating to the South Pole for a year. Then there was adjusting to our new marriage at the Pole and all the changes that encumbered, making it through a year there before leaving for a 6 week whirlwind vacation, then going home for Christmas, trying to catch up with everyone and do as much as possible in that short span of another 6 weeks before we were back to Pole again for 9 months. I spent that whole time holding in that breath and waiting to exhale. I feel like I am finally starting to let it all out but it’s not all at once as I expected. It’s coming out slowly. It’s almost like I’m not quite sure that I remember how to breathe properly in the first place. It leads me to wonder if the sacrifice we made was really worth the cost. Some days I feel it is and some days I feel that it’s not. I guess there is no point in regrets though. I think we’re just not far enough away from the experience to let it go completely. We still talk about Pole and still talk about the issues and conflicts we faced there. I hope that is a healthy part of processing it all so eventually we can leave it behind and move on to other adventures. Every day puts a little more space between us and the Pole, which is a good thing. Thankfully we finally have other things to talk about now that we’re back in the real world instead of constantly rehashing the stupidity and craziness that goes on in that place. That’s a relief!

When we were at the Museum of Contemporary Art yesterday, we watched a documentary that focused on the music that inspires the American soldiers in Iraq. Kirk and I were fascinated and watched the whole thing. I can’t say that I know what those women and men are facing every day over there, but oddly enough I could relate to them in some small way from my experience at Pole. I could see the trauma in their faces and their body language without them speaking about it. What struck a chord with me was their isolation from their “normal” life without their daily comforts or their loved ones and their sheer determination to just make it through their time there in order to have that life back again on the other side. I never feared for my life at Pole as they do in Iraq, but I can just imagine what that does to a person emotionally, physically and mentally, combined with some of the feelings I am dealing with now. If I feel this detached and out of sorts, how do they feel when they return to their lives and try to pick up where they left off, especially when they don’t feel like the same person they were when they left and everyone else has gone on like nothing has changed. That is tough!
Kirk and I talked about that a lot today and just realized that we need to give ourselves time to heal. It didn’t happen the day we left the ice, but it happens a little more day by day. I hope by the end of our journey that we find peace in our choices and strength in our character and that we were not disillusioned by our dreams. Only time will tell.

November 20, 2005

Kirk and I had a lovely day today. We stayed at Stu’s apartment in the city last night and this morning he drove us out to Manly Beach where we will be staying with another friend of ours for the majority of our time here. We feel overwhelmingly lucky to be here. The Manly Beach apartment where we are staying overlooks the ocean from every room. I’m sitting here typing this blog and listening to the surf crash below while taking in the vast view of the water. It’s a lovely place to be! After dropping our bags and bikes, we were standing outside getting ready to head to the beach when I heard some birds in the bush next to us. I took a closer look and they looked like small parrots with mostly green feathers on their body, but red, blue and yellow on their breast and face. I was so excited to see exotic looking birds just hanging out in a bush here. Silly I know, but the little things in life tend to get me all excited since I’ve been off the ice. J

After a few unpredicted incidents (a truck blocked the road out by car, then after a long wait Stu’s car wouldn’t start again so we finally decided the gods were telling us to just walk.) We finally made our way down to the beach. Stu works as a lifeguard here at Manly Beach once a month and so he is able to use their equipment for free. So he offered to take us out on surfskis for a paddle in the ocean. Surfskis are popular both here and in NZ and they are basically a single seat sit on top kayak that is long and skinny with a rudder that is controlled by your feet. We launched off the beach into crashing waves and I immediately felt uncomfortable and scared. The surfski was so tippy that I felt like I had no control and I was doing everything possible to stay on top while trying to minimalize my panic. Both Kirk and I are whitewater kayakers so we both expected to feel somewhat comfortable on these surfskis….well we were wrong! We’ve only sea kayaked a couple of times, once on our honeymoon in proper sea kayaks and once in Mexico on a tandem sit on top. I think I was a lot more comfortable in those situations than I was today. It felt almost like walking a tightrope trying to balance while the waves were pushing me around. Yikes! Than add in the fact that the ocean intimidates the crap out of me. For some reason lakes and rivers feel safe, but the ocean…all I feel is fear as I take in how big and powerful it is in comparison. We made our way over to another beach around the bend and a reasonable distance away. I was white knuckled the whole time, but I managed to stay on my surfski somehow. I felt as I was the only one struggling because Kirk and Stu both looked pretty comfortable to me. The plan was to head from this beach way out to this point and back which would take about 30-45 minutes. There were some sizable rollers that we conquered on our way to this beach and there was no way I was ready to face that again except for longer. I told the guys to go without me and I’d wait on the beach. It sure didn’t seem like they were gone very long. Before I knew it, they made it back. Kirk told me he was a little nervous out there so I’m really glad I didn’t do it. If he’s nervous than I know I would’ve been a wreck!

At this point, I was having some anxiety over the paddle back to the main beach. The whole time Stu and Kirk were gone I was trying to talk myself into the fact that I could do it. I paddled out so I surely could paddle back in. The problem was the beach we were paddling back to has these decent size crashing waves that form a good distance from the beach. I was worried that I’d fall off and have to swim the whole way in since the surfski would most likely get carried ahead of me with the waves if I wasn’t on it. Kirk and Stu gave me a little pep talk and off we went. Fortunately I managed to keep the surfski straight all the way in to the shore through crashing waves and all! I’m glad I did it as I had a successful run and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Whew!

The beach here is great. The sand is soft and the ocean waves are full of surfers and swimmers. The “people watching” is highly entertaining as well. We goofed around in the water and soaked up some sun before heading off to meet our newest host, Mike, and his girlfriend for brunch. Then we leisurely walked through the street market and eventually back down the beach towards Mike’s place on the hill.

I’ve been commenting all day on how much warmer it is here. I just love it! I walked around all day in shorts, sandals, and a tank top and didn’t have a chill at all which was a nice change from NZ. In NZ I had the daily ritual of layering all my clothes on top of each other in order to stay warm which didn’t quite cut it. (We sent all our warm clothes home since I’m quite sure we won’t be needing them in SE Asia from what I hear). In retrospect, I really wish we would have come to Sydney sooner and cut some of our time out of NZ. I think out of the 3 weeks we spent in NZ I actually had the sensation of warmth maybe 2 days at the most. The sea air there is so chilly combined with the constant wind. It just cut right through me. Everyone seems to think that Kirk and I would be immune to the cold after 2 years at the Pole, but that definitely is not the case. The Pole is very dry like our home state of Colorado and that tends to make the cold less intense. Humidity adds a different factor to the feel of the air that I am definitely NOT used to. I’m not complaining though. I’d take being cold in NZ over being at Pole that’s for sure.

November 19, 2005

Hello from OZ. Yesterday we left “N Zed” for one of my favorite countries, Australia. The departure wasn’t without its sad moments but in the end I think Jodi and I are relieved to be on our way. For us New Zealand feels like work, because we had so many chores to do and there are so many of the people we worked with over the past year running around it never really feels like we left. For instance as we were waiting for our plane to arrive yesterday we were approached by a beaker that I did not much care for who was waiting for the same flight. He seemed like he wanted to chat us up so he helped himself to the seat next to me and started briefing us on the happenings at Pole. It felt just like being at pole once more, talking about the stupid politics, dealing with people I did not like and having to be careful about what I said or did. I just want to put that damn place behind me and with the departure from NZ it is a little further back in the rear view mirror.

I learned some important travel tips yesterday. Air New Zealand only allows its customers 20 kg or 44lbs of checked baggage and 7kg or 15.4lbs of carry on. With our bikes we weighed in at 56kg for the both of us so we were supposed to pay $10 NZD for every KG over the allowable 40. Yikes! The women helping us didn’t want us to get “ganked” so she asked her boss if they could waive the fees. She said no unless we had a return ticket to the USA. Our itinerary said we were dead ending in Singapore so they were forced to collect unless we could show a return path. Once we showed them our travel itinerary from Bangkok to the USA they waived the fees. I still don’t know why this makes a difference but I suspect it has something to do with the negotiated agreements between US airlines and Air New Zealand. Another thing I learned was to place my carryon luggage in a locker before check in so it doesn’t get weighed.

In OZ we were met by our friend Stu who was gracious enough to pick us up at the airport and take our oversized luggage to his house where we would meet up with our friend Michael and then onto Manly Beach. While waiting we went for a dip in the pool, which felt oh so very nice. We drank some Heinekens and by the time Michael arrived we were all hungry so the four of us went for some Thai. Stu bought a bottle of wine that he and Jodi shared while Michael and I talked about kite surfing. The food was very good and the company even better. It was really nice to be around people who had nothing to do with pole. Michael had to leave early to meet his girl friend so instead of going to Manly we stayed the first night with Stu.
One thing I hadn’t really noticed before was how much everyone is in a hurry. First Steve in NZ who was packing every daylight hour as full as he could get it and then Michael and Stu who had so many commitments all the time with their cell phones ringing with both voice and text that they could seldom sit and have a dinner without interruption. It is just amazing how busy everyone is and how they just run and run.

Here is a kite manufactured in NZ. I really liked this one because it is pretty simple to deploy.  

Here I am flying a kite with inflatable spars. I did not like this one much since it takes two people to deploy. 

I took some kite surfing lessons this past week. The first lesson I learned how to fly the kite and handle it in the wind. It is really amazing how much it pulls on the lines when I put the kite in a high angle of attack. Today I take my second lesson where I will do some body pulling through the estuary. 

Another Artsy Fartsy shot 

An artsy fartsy shot of our room 

View of our room 

View from our room in Akaroa 

Crossing Lytelton Harbor 

Messing with front panniers again 

November 11, 2005

Too heavy!!! That is how I would explain our first test ride in New Zealand. Our plan was to ride from Sumner to Akaroa, a ride of about 38 miles of undulating hills on the banks peninsula outside Christchurch. We arose at 7:00am packed our bikes and left Steve’s house about 9:00. We made it as far as the end of the driveway before we hit our first snag. My front panniers began rubbing on my front tire a problem that would affect my ride the remainder of the day. I corrected it by repositioning the pannier on the front brace but I could not find a way to keep it in a stable position for the more than 15 minutes at a time.
Leaving the driveway we started our first climb of the day, a moderate hill between Sumner and Lytleton Harbor. We both immediately noticed the additional weight on our bikes and how it was diminishing our climbing power. We should have turned around and dropped some gear but in our persistence we continued up the hill and down the other side to catch the ferry across Lytleton to Diamond Harbor. We picked up the track on the other side and climbed a 2km hill and descended into Purau. After the small village the road began picking up grade for the next 7km. Most hills have short sections where the road becomes flat or changes grade direction such that riders can get a rest. The terrain variations allow a bicycler to break a climb into discrete climbs with short rests in between. NOT THIS HILL! In fact it just became steeper the higher we climbed, Jodi was off her bike after about 3km so I walked with her from then on. We climbed and climbed and climbed, pushing our ridiculously heavy bikes up the hill thinking “the top must be around the next bend” but with each successive blind curve came the revelation that there was more climbing to be done at an even steeper grade. After looking at the watch and hearing cursing and swearing from behind it was becoming very clear to me that we were not going to make Akoroa on bicycle. After some discussion we decided to turn around and ride to Christchurch, rent a car and drive to the hostile we were supposed to stay. I was really surprised on the ride down how much of the hill we had climbed, how steep it was and how unstable my bicycle felt. I had the feeling my rear wheel wanted to fall to my right and the front wanted to fall to the left making it really hard to keep the bike straight and making the ride feel very “flexy”.
We planned to return via the course we had taken with the exception of returning to Christchurch instead of Sumner. I remembered Steve saying that one of his friends lived in Diamond Harbor, where she had to commute to work via a ferry to Lytelton and a bicycle ride through the tunnel on the highway, so I thought, instead of riding another set of hills, we ought to do the same. I have run class V rapids, driven cars too fast on icy roads and jumped cliffs on my skis but none of those experiences come close to the feeling of terror that I felt riding through that tunnel. Approaching I noticed a wide walkway on the left going in the tunnel leading me to believe the ride through was going to be a synch but a 100 meters in, the walkway all but disappeared leaving no buffer between the tunnel walls and the adjacent lane with vehicles rushing from behind. Then with every redneck blowing his horn to hear how it sounds caused our nerves to become frayed very quickly. All I could do was put my head down and pedal through as fast as I could, which could never be fast enough. I suspect this will go down as one of the dumbest and scariest things I will do in my lifetime. On the other side I collected what was left of Jodi and we promptly exited the road to a less busy one and continued riding (after a pretty good tongue lashing ) to a car rental agency.
We thought we would try the agency that gave us the best price last year and they came through with a $25NZD rate. We tossed our bikes in the car along with all our gear and drove to Akaroa. On the way we stopped for some beer and groceries, some tortellini and sausage for dinner. In about an hour we arrived at the farm hostile and were very surprised with our room and its unbelievable view. I drank a few beers, took a shower and cooked some dinner. I hope tomorrow we make better decisions!!!

November 8, 2005

Things are looking up. We finally picked up my bike on Saturday, which was quite a disastrous event. Kirk and I had decided to take the bus over to the people’s house that were holding the bike for me. Steve, our host in Sumner, had offered to take us to pick up the bike on Saturday afternoon, but had mentioned to Kirk that he was very busy and wasn’t sure when he could fit it in. He had left early in the a.m. before we were awake and we hadn’t coordinated anything. Kirk and I have been feeling like we’ve been a little bit of a burden to Steve so we decided to just pick up the bike on our own. The bus system here is pretty easy to use and you can take a bus to whatever part of the city that you need to go. So we hopped a bus from Sumner to the main bus exchange in the town center and then caught another bus to Beckenham where the bike was. We had no problems getting to the people’s house and the woman who lived there was very friendly. I bought the bike through one of our Kiwi friends at the Pole who used to work for Backroads here in NZ as a bike tour guide for many years. The guy who owns the company gets a new fleet of bikes in every year and sells off the old ones for cheap. I bought a Candondale touring bike for $450 NZD which equates to about $320 USD. Not a bad buy considering it has a shock for the seat and the handlebars as well as XT components. Kirk thought it was a good deal, which made me happy seeing as though I don’t know much about bikes. Kirk is the guru in that arena. Picking up the bike was relatively quick and easy so we managed to make good time to the next bus stop and tried to board the bus. We figured they would allow bikes on the bus since that’s not a problem in Denver and we’ve seen hooks on the front of some buses here that we assumed were for bikes. Well, the bus driver said they won’t allow bikes on the bus and turned us away. We had to plan our next move since the bike didn’t come with pedals or I just would have ridden it back to Sumner. Kirk had dropped off his front tire at a bike shop on Friday and wanted to try and pick it up before they closed at 2pm. We knew it was getting close to that time, so I told him to hop the next bus to go pick up his tire and I would walk to find a payphone to call Steve and if he wasn’t home I’d call a cab. Unfortunately I was in a residential area and there were no pay phones to be found. So I decided just to head towards Sumner and surely as I walked along the route I’d find a payphone. I walked and walked and walked and I was shocked that I couldn’t find a payphone anywhere when they seem to be abundant in other places around the city. After walking for a long time I suddenly realized I had taken a wrong turn and ended up in an industrial area. I got my bearings and figured out how to get back to the road I needed to be on, but I was pretty nervous because the traffic was thin and the area seemed a little shady. I started walking very fast to get out of there as fast as possible. There were still no payphones to be found. I was a little distraught about my situation as I realized I had probably walked about halfway to Sumner and might walk the entire way at the rate my luck was going. At least it was a beautiful sunny day. I comforted myself with the thought that I was enjoying the weather, I’m on vacation with nothing better to do and I was getting lots of vitamin D. I finally made it back on the road I needed to be on and slowed my pace as I felt safer. Then I came upon a horse feeding on the corner of two busy roads. He wasn’t tied up and an owner was nowhere to be seen. I suspect it was a runaway horse. I walked by Mr. Ed and just noted it as strange, but I couldn’t be bothered with it since I was focused on my destination. I made my way to the main road into Sumner and was feeling pretty exhausted at that point. I thought surly there must be a payphone coming up with a couple of strip malls on that route. No dice! I finally walked into a small boutique that was open and asked if there was a payphone in the area. The woman said there wasn’t, but I was welcome to use their phone. I think she saw how distraught I was. I told her I had been walking for almost 3 hours looking for a payphone. I called Steve’s house and Kirk answered right away. He had been home for about an hour and worried sick about me. He sent Steve to come and pick me up. I found out when I got back to Steve’s that Kirk made it to the bike shop just after they closed. He was really bummed because he was looking forward to going for a ride that night. Now he would have to wait until Monday because they were closed on Sundays. It was quite the disaster of a day for both of us. Then Steve was upset because he said that he had told us previously that the buses don’t allow bikes. Neither Kirk nor I remember that, and he explained that the hooks on the front of the buses are for prams (baby strollers) not for bikes. That seems strange to me that the buses won’t allow bikes when there are so many bikers here. Every day you see loads of people on the roads riding their bikes. Steve was also upset because he told us that he would take us to pick up the bike. It was a misunderstanding because we thought he was indicating to us that it was a huge inconvenience and we were just trying to not put him out anymore than necessary. Needless to say it was the most frustrating day we’ve had yet. But as I told Kirk, we just have to learn to roll with the punches. There are going to be days like that throughout our travels where a simple task can turn into a long and arduous day. It was a good test for us. As soon as we got the bike home Kirk put on my pedals….thankfully we had Kirk’s parents ship mine from home. He also mounted my handlebar bag and the cycle computer that we ordered. I was too exhausted to take it for a spin since my feet were throbbing from my long walk.

On Sunday we took the time to look at how my new bike shoes would work with my pedals. The cleats weren’t fitting into the spd’s, which was somewhat frustrating. Then we finally figured out that the tread on the shoes was interfering with the cleat being able to lock into the pedal. So Kirk shaved off some of the tread on my shoes and now they work fine. He also spent some time cleaning my chain and washing my bike. What a nice guy! Then we were decided to go for a spin. Just as we got down the road we had to turn around. Steve had left us with his car and his cellphone so we could pick him up in Lyttleton after his paddle with his friends. They went sea kayaking for the day. So we turned around and drove over to pick him up. After we picked him up we went for tea at his friends house. So far we’ve met a few of Steve’s friends and they are all great people. They remind us of our Boulder friends as they are all into athletics and some enjoy competing. They were great to talk to and we really enjoyed their company. We feel like we could move here and easily fit in. Sumner is a very active community with the beach right here and great mountain biking right outside the door. It’s been so nice to stay here for so many reasons.

One thing that has been really handy is using Steve’s garage and tools to get all of our gear ready. It’s also been great to have a homebase so we could sort everything. We’re definitely quite grateful for our situation here. We’ve been trying to be good houseguests and keep Steve’s house clean and also to provide some meals for him. We’ve been enjoying the ability to cook for ourselves again. We’ve been eating a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables. I’ve even been back into eating red meat since all NZ cows are grass fed and hormone free.

Speaking of food, I love the fact that NZ food that you buy at the regular grocery store is basically whole food. When you buy something like a box of crackers they are not full of preservatives and chemicals. It’s just the basics. We pay a premium for this type of food in the States and have to go to specialty stores like Whole Foods to get the same thing. It’s really a treat. They also sell venison at the grocery store so we’ve been enjoying venison sausage and venison salami.

The other wonderful thing about NZ is the foliage. It’s spring here now and the hills are a lush green and there are hundreds of lovely flowers in bloom. The air smells sweet with their perfume. Steve has a lemon tree and an orange tree in his gardens. It’s fun to see these big fruits growing in his yard even though the trees are pretty young and small for bearing such lovely fruits.

It’s hard to believe we’ve been off the ice now for a week and a half. Time seems to pass by so quickly with a sunrise and a sunset in the same day. I have to say we don’t miss the Pole at all!! I have had some strange side effects over these last 10 days. I was really exhausted and basically slept about 10-12 hours a night for several nights. I would get these terrible headaches while walking around the city. I don’t usually get headaches and I suspect they are due to all the background noise. I’m so used to still and quiet from being at the Pole the last 2 years that my brain forgot about all that noise! Then I was having these terrible aches in my muscles like I was bruised on the inside all over my body. I could only last running around town for a couple hours before I was totally and completely pooped out. I felt like I was turning into a very old person the way I was feeling. I decided to wait it out though hoping it was all temporary. It seems to be because the last couple of days I feel much better. I still don’t have a lot of stamina, but I don’t have the aches and pains and my headaches have subsided. It was kind of scary since I was wondering if this would hinder our trip plans and what I could do. I wonder if it has anything to do with vitamin D deprivation. Who knows? All I know is that my body must have been in shock and it’s finally adapting.

Kirk and I went for an 11 mile bikeride today so I could give my bike a better test. It was a very enjoyable ride even though it was a long steep uphill for the first half. I did pretty well though and only had to stop twice to catch my breath. We had the most lovely views at the top of the hill first looking over Lyttleton in one direction and Sumner in the other. Then we rode further up the road and had views over the whole of Christchurch and we could see the top of the gondola in the distance. That was a good feeling since people pay to go up there to get the same views we enjoyed by bike. When we turned around the downhill was downright scary for me since we got going so fast. I had a nice time though and felt like that was a good start in getting ready for the big trip. We’re going to try and average about 50km a day, taking some rest days in between of course. So we were thinking our next ride will be Akaroa, which is about 50km from Sumner. We’ll load our bikes up with our panniers and see how it feels. We may take off on Saturday at the latest since we are quickly running out of time. It’s amazing how much time can be taken up with just running errands for our trip like changing money, picking up groceries, buying tools, going to bike shops, getting immunization shots, prescriptions filled, etc. I feel like we haven’t really had much time to enjoy being in NZ so far, but there are only so many hours in a day. Luckily we saw a lot on our tour of NZ last year which is why we’ve been content to just hang around Sumner. We’ll be leaving next Friday to fly to Sydney. We’re lucky enough to be staying with a friend of ours on the beach there as well. We’re really looking forward to that.

November 4, 2005

Life is good. Today we have officially been away from South Pole for one week. Somehow we have managed to stay on our meager budget which is a big accomplishment when compared with the last time. As a good friend once told me deprivation leads to binging and last time we traveled we traveled as if we were to super models in a Krispy Kreme (without the purging of course).
Our friend Steve has "jacked" us up with some fine accommodations in Sumner. The beach is a block away, a mountain bike track starts in front and the people are very friendly. I spend the days riding my bike and getting my bike ready for our long travels through Southeast Asia. We don't have much space in our panniers so I keeping pairing the pile that is going to the bare minimum. I still haven't reached the point where I have started adding things back in so I suspect I have more pairing down to do.
Another great thing I have discovered is cooking. Down the street is a market and we usually make one to two trips there to buy some fresh foods and bring them home to cook. All the foods I missed at Pole I no longer have to go without. Everyday so far I have had an avocado, fresh eggs, fresh fruit and really nice dinners. One night I made spaghetti with venison and it tasted so good and because of the difference in altitude the noodles came out perfect. It is so nice having choices again.