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.
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.
posted by Kirk & Jodi Roberts at 5:11 PM
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