Wanganui to New Plymouth

I arrived in Wanganui, and made my way to the house of someone I had never met before: Pam and John. I was introduced to Pam via e-mail. She is another supporter of the MEND Trust, and I wanted to meet her and brainstorm about how we could help MEND. The first evening I was with them, a call came in from a friend - the evening was perfect for Pam's first flight on an ultralight aircraft - so we all headed out to the Wanganui airport to watch. Much to my surprise and delight, the pilot Brian also asked if I would like to go up after he had taken Pam for a flight. Of course I accepted! Since I face death every day on my bike, and have experienced skydiving and bungy jumping, I was as calm as could be. And I felt very safe with Brian, because of the time he had taken to make sure I was comfortable and knew what to expect. The only time I felt the slightest bit of apprehension was when we took off, and the wind began to rush past me, as there are no walls, windows, or doors. And there are no bars to hold onto. Also, during takeoff and landing, it intereferes with Brian's steering if I have my feet on the footposts. There is nothing keeping you in except your seat belt. So all you can do is relax and trust that all will be well. Once we were up, that moment of apprehension passed, and I knew what it must be like for a bird to fly. We flew south along the coast as the sun was setting, enjoying the beautiful surf and the birds, waving to the people fishing or walking on the beach down below. We sometimes flew at 500 feet, sometimes at 100 feet above the beach. It was quite dark by the time we returned. It was a beautiful gift and a delightful experience. When we were putting the plane back in the hangar, Brian told us that it was a first for him as well - the first time he was allowed to bring passengers with him as he flew. I never would have guessed it.



This photo is of Pam and me.

And this is of Pam's husband John and his friend Bruce. Bruce lives in a small house at the airport. He owns 3 ultralights, all the older models that are like lawnmowers with wings held together with wire and duct tape. He has crashed 3 times. Understandably, he walks with a bit of a limp. Quite a character! Yes, I would have gone up with him as well, if offered.


Pam and John blessed me greatly during my visit with them. I was able to spend lots of time on their computer, burning DVDs of my Emotional Freedom Technique training videos http://www.emofree.com/ to give away to people as I travel. I am allowed to make 100 copies of these DVDs as long as I give them away to others. Perfect for me! I also made many copies of the MEND Trust http://www.mend.org.nz/ informational DVD, for Pam to give away to people in Wanganui. She is collecting used hearing aids for MEND to send on to its clinics and partners around the world. So we had some great discussions on how best to help MEND, with limited time and financial resources. Here are some photos of my visit.







Lucky Dips are when a retailer makes up bags of miscellaneous products, to get rid of extra inventory. I have never seen the term printed anywhere, though. This was at the Wanganui Saturday market, one of the best I have been to in New Zealand.








The tree with the red flowers is a flowering gum tree. I haven't seen them very often in New Zealand, but they are common in Wanganui. Beautiful.

One of the ideas Pam had to get the word out about MEND was to call the local newspaper to see if they would be interested in a story on me, and we could get MEND mentioned in the process. So I rang them and they came out. They published the article a few days later, which was nice of them.

It was a beautiful day for riding when I left Pam and John and Wanganui. I had unusual weather conditions; a strong wind heading north along the coast. Everyone told me that normally the wind would blow against me. I was cruising along in top gear, hardly pedaling at all, when I came across this billboard. I was going 30km per hour (nearly 18 miles per hour), and enjoyed it very much, thank you!


Shortly after the billboard, I came across the entry to a large public garden. It was out in the middle of nowhere. I was curious, so rode in, and was surprised to find a very well maintained, very large public garden. It was the Bason Botanic Garden, and has a fascinating history behind it: http://www.basonbotanicgardens.org.nz/stanley.html Here are some photos of the garden. The begonias are remarkable because they are fragrant. I have never heard of fragrant begonias. The scent was heavenly.

I have learned to give myself plenty of time to get from one place to another, so I can avoid the busier roads. Here is a typical example of what it is like on them for me. You can see there is not much room on the side for this truck to pass a bicycle riding along the white line. Sometimes the trucks have nowhere to go, and I have nowhere to go, and if I see the situation developing in time, I will pull off the road if possible. And if not, I will at least stop the bike and lean it away from the road. If I am perfectly still, it is easier for the truck to guage its distance from me, and the draft from the truck can't suck me back onto the road if I am stopped.

So traveling north from Wanganui, I took a smaller road, that led me to Kai Iwi beach. It was unsealed in places, and I found some interesting photos to share with you. Here is Kai Iwi beach. And the view looking north from Kai Iwi beach.

A distinctive old pine tree at the top of the gravel road:

Another interesting tree with a bit of corn in the foreground. You can see how very dry it is in this part of the country.

There were several small lakes along this road. None of them had public access to them, however, except one I discovered late in the day. Lake Herengawe.

I found a lovely place to camp along this lake on the gravel road: it is called Kiwi Park, and was set up by the Waverly Lions Club. I camped right down by the water to be as invisible from the road as possible. When I climbed into my sleeping bag it sounded like I was sleeping on a boat, with the waves so close.

After a good and safe night's sleep, I said goodbye to the quiet back road, and rejoined Highway 3. Shortly after I was back on the main road, I was flagged down by a police car. I didn't know why I was being stopped. I was wearing my helmet, and I knew I wasn't speeding!!! But the officer was only interested in my safety. I was told there was a toxic alert in Patea, the next town, and half the town's residents had been evacuated. The officer didn't want me riding through the town without a protective mask, and asked me to wait at the top of the hill until she got a mask for me. Wow, how exciting!!

So I cycled on, and came to a roadblock, where all the cars were stopped and told to keep their windows rolled up. Some of them were also issued face masks. One of the traffic safety guys had a mask for me, and I asked him to take a photo of me in it for my blog.

I continued cycling in my mask, and reached the top of the hill the officer had mentioned, with Patea below. Now I could smell smoke. The officer was waiting for me at the top of the hill. I think she was concerned that I would be able to breathe OK in the mask while cycling. It was no problem. I asked to take her photo, as well. She agreed. She gave me her card - Hine Sullivan, Senior Constable, out of Hawera. She even offered me a place to stay the next time I came through that way!!! I don't think this would happen in very many countries in the world!

Because I couldn't stop in town for water, she gave me a bottle of hers, since I was running low. So I continued on into Patea with my mask on, and snapped this photo of the town and the fire that was causing the toxic alert problem:

I did disobey orders briefly, however, to mail a postcard. When I was getting back on my bike, a car pulled over and two guys inside the car, wearing masks like me, gestured at my water bottle. I didn't know what was going on, and they kept their windows rolled up, as they were required to do, and eventually I figured out that they wanted a photo of me with the water bottle. So I obliged, and they went on their way. Later I realized that this was part of the promotion for the water company - Snapped for Cash. and the specially marked water bottle they wanted a photo of was the one Hine had just given me a few minutes before! I could win up to $10,000. Hine gets it, if I do. http://www.snappedforcash.co.nz/

All this excitement, and the day had just begun!!

I grabbed a photo of the roadblock on the other side of Patea, as I headed out. It was safe to take the mask off by then.

The very next place I could stop for a cup of coffee was a bar in Kakaramea. I got to tell them all the details about the fire in Patea, and they told me that it was toxic because it was all the asbestos in the old freezing works (animal processing plant) that was causing the problem.

The bar had some interesting signs on the wall. Here is one:

Later that day I made it to Hawera. Unusual for a town, the backpackers accommodation was out of town, and the campground was in town. So I got to camp cheaply right in town, next to the King Edward Gardens. Here are some photos of the gardens next to the campground:

There was a very interesting statue in the gardens: there was no title on it, but I later learned it was "Wendy" from Peter Pan, and the artist was F. Blunderstone. It has some interesting details:

I was in Hawera to meet with another MEND trust supporter, Clive Margetts. Clive is the Solid Waste Supervisor for the South Taranaki District Council, and is going to raise funds for the MEND trust and encourage children to bring aluminum cans to school for recycling at the same time. I had a brief but productive meeting with Clive, and continued on my way north. People are coming with very creative ways to assist!! As I run across stories of children that the MEND Trust has helped, I will share them with Clive for the shoolchildren.

I was now in New Plymouth, and could see Mt.Taranaki continuously as I rode. I won't share my photos with you, because they are blurred by the smoke from the Patea fire, but here is a link to Mt. Taranaki in all its magnificence: http://www.davidwallphoto.com/searchresults.asp?tx=mt+taranaki+%2F+egmont&ts=&c=&Lids=&Gids=&p=1&n=4653&phrase=

I once again got off the main road as quickly as I could, but there were still lots of big trucks on the road - mostly cattle trucks and Fonterra milk trucks, since this was big dairying country.

It was very dry still, and I found animals tethered next to the road eating the grass there - like this bull.

It was on this road, Manaia Road, that I spotted something sparkly by the side of the road and decided I could use it for visibility. It was part of a Christmas antler headpiece, with one antler missing. But added to the top of my helmet, it looked like one of Mercury's wings, and gave me a little more visibility, and perhaps a chuckle or two from the motorists.

The landscape, other than Mt. Taranaki, wasn't awe-inspiring, but I did get some wonderful photos of animals on this road: I did nothing to make these horses run, by the way. They wanted to get to their buddy on the other side of the paddock, and away from this strange woman on the bicycle.

I had stopped to drink some water and get a bite to eat to keep going, and looked up and saw I was being watched by this beautiful horse.

My next destination was the home of Graeme and Barbara, MEND supporters who saw the TV NZ programme and wanted to help. They live on a 1500 acre dairy and sheep farm, and run it themselves, milking over 100 cows twice a day. I stayed with them for a couple of days, and helped out around the farm where I could. Here is a photo of Graeme and Barbara, with one of the 5 farm dogs and an orphaned lamb Barbara is raising named Lizzie.

I helped milk the cows the first evening I was there, and both times the next day. It was my first experience milking cows and cleaning up the milking parlor afterward. Barbara was a patient and kind teacher, and pointed out the gentlest cows for me to work with. She has named them all, and calls them by name and gives them a pat when they leave the milking shed.

If there is a dog around at milking time, it gets a treat of fresh milk.

The next morning I helped bring in the cows from a pasture on the back side of the farm.

Barbara and Graeme had gotten word that some sheep had escaped on the back side of the farm, so they took me out there on the 4 wheel bike to see if there was an open gate or fence needing fixing. Their 'back 40' is extremely rugged country. I couldn't help comparing it to the flat farms of Iowa. A breed of sheep called Peridale has been bred in New Zealand to handle these conditions. Hardy, fit, and can run like deer, which is why fast running dogs are so necessary to herd them. Graeme occassionally opens the farm to motorbike trials. He had offered to give all the proceeds of the next trial to the MEND Trust. Yet another creative way to help MEND.

The second day on the farm Barbara and I went out and pulled 150 feet of irrigation pipe out of the stream by hand, and brought it back to the farm with the 4 wheel bike. Barbara is 65, and does this kind of work regularly. Now I know the definition of "hardy stock".

Later that day we had a few bales of hay to get in. I got the easy job - driving the truck!! Which is why am so happy in the photo. I helped stack them in the hay barn, though.

I got to know Lizzie a little bit while with Graeme and Barbara. She is a most well-behaved lamb! She sometimes gets house provileges, and rarely abuses them. Barbara says she hasn't been a problem around the garden, either, just nibbling on a few plants.

I left Graeme and Barbara with a promise to send a postcard once I reached Hamilton. They do not have a computer, so my blog is useless for them.

It was a rainy day when I left their farm, heading for Inglewood. There was almost no shelter along the way from trees or buildings. So I got really soaked, because wearing my Goretex jacket would have been too steamy. I pulled over onto someone's driveway to get a drink and a quick bite to eat, and the owner of the house walked down the driveway to talk to me. He turned out to be one of the most amazing people I have met so far. He had spotted my trailer, and wanted to see it more closely. Get this. Of all the places along the road I could have stopped for a break, I chose the house of a person who has also given up cars and only travels by bicycle, by choice. Synchonicity strikes again! His name was Nick. He had been a potter for 20 years at that house, which was given to him. He has chosen to live as frugally as possible, and shared with me that he can now live on $1000 a year!!! Not a month, a year!. He was an excellent potter, but gave it up because of the environmental damage it causes. His work area is full of pots waiting to be fired, and they will wait there maybe forever. He explained how the 3 chambered kiln works, that he built himself from donated bricks in the 70's. He raises goats, which the neighboring farmers don't mind because they eat the weeds in the pastures. Nick kills wild goats for meat for himself and his cats, and milks the tame ones. He also kills and eats possums. Nick told me that yes, you guessed it, they taste like chicken. He cooks them in a stew, and when he serves it to people unaware of the meat they are eating, they declare it delicious. He sometimes chooses not to tell them they are eating possum. Nick's family lives in the area, and he sees them regularly. I was fortunate to meet him, and was inspired by his ability to live frugally from choice, and how he benefits New Zealand's environment. His pottery work was superb. Most of his clients were wealthy people in Auckland. But he has chosen freedom and environmental responsibility instead. One in a million, I'd say.

Later that day, I pulled into the driveway of Graeme's mother and stepfather, Jean and Bob. They live in Inglewood, and Graeme had asked them if I could stay the night. We had a wonderful evening together. I asked Bob to tell me about his 40 years of volunteering with the Lions Club and the Masons. When we were both reminiscing about Ireland, he broke into song, and serenaded us with a couple of tunes. One was The Road to Mandalay. What a hoot!

The next day I headed for New Plymouth. Along the way I spotted a fence full of bikes, and learned it was part of the Missing Leg Backpackers. I so wanted to meet the owners, and have a chat to them about MEND, because of the prosthetic leg connection, but they weren't around. Maybe next time. I learned that the bikes are left, and borrowed, as needed, Not many are rideable, but some are. Especially the children's bikes.

Masterton to Wanganui

After leaving Featherston, it didn't take long to get to Masterton, where I stayed one night with Gayle and several nights with her parents Lawrence and Hilary. Lawrence has been working on a replica of a covered wagon, and several family and friends have contributed to the project over the years. It is finished now, and Lawrence is interested in selling it, because it is a bit too large for their home. Here are some photos of it:

My contribution to the project were the pioneer family and the rocking chair. Hilary made the clothes for the family.

The details on the project are great!

It was good to visit the family again. Hilary and Lawrence have a fox terrier named Min. Min would come with me in my trailer if I encouraged him, at least around the block!

I left Masterton and headed for Palmerston North, and climbed a few more hills to get there. I took the Pahiatua Track, to avoid traffic, but there were plenty of big trucks and cars on the road. Here are some photos. The photo of the bird is a warning sign that kiwi birds are in the area, and to please don't run over them. They are nocturnal, so they are in no danger of me!

I found the concrete snowman very interesting. It is not supposed to be a snowman. It is part of the an entry to a new housing development, and the three balls are part of its logo. I so wanted to finish him off with eyes and stick arms and a scarf! I am sure someone will before long!


The beautiful church is in Rangotea. It is Anglican.

I stopped at Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre for a break. As I was getting ready to leave, a lady and her two children were looking at my bike and gear, and the lady asked me where I was cycling to. I told her Auckland, and she told her two young children "This lady is push biking all the way to Auckland!". They went to their car, and just before I pushed off, she came back with a piece of paper for me. It had her name on it and her phone number, and she said "If you get to Hawke's Bay, please stay with us." That never would have happened if I had been driving a car!

In Palmerston North I stayed with Craig (last visited a week or so earlier in Wellington). I was riding to his house late in the day, and took a photo of myself while riding, since there were no cars on this quiet road, and the light was just right.

I only stayed one night in Palmerston North, and then headed north. I rode through Bulls, where I stopped at the library to use the Internet. The librarian helped me find a place to stay for the night - a campground on Duddings Lake, an hour ride north of Bulls. It was beautiful, and I had the place to myself almost. I went swimming in the lake, and enjoyed it immensely. The next morning, before leaving, I ended up talking for an hour to a Maori guy named Robert about caring for AIDS patients and volunteer work. He does great work and had some very interesting stories.

Here are some photos of the ride to Wanganui from the campground.

I stopped at one point to take some photos of cows on a rise. When I finished, and cycled off, I looked back for traffic and saw that the cattle were running along their side of the fence (across the road) to keep up with me. I hadn't seen cattle so curious since I visited Erewhon Station! I stopped, and they stopped. I rode, and they ran. It was hilarious! Eventually I waved goodbye and didn't look back.

Wellington to Featherston, Rimutaka Incline

I departed Wellington on a Sunday morning, as early as I could get going, which was about 7:45 am. I wanted to travel as much as possible when there would be little traffic on the roads. I was intending to cycle from Wellington to Featherston on Highway 2 over the Rimutaka Hills, or if the wind kicked up, to stick out my thumb at the base of the hills and hitchhike, bike and all, up what I already knew was a very steep, curvy, dangerous road with little room for bikes.

But shortly after I left the downtown area, another cyclist advised me to take a different route. He told me about a great bicycle path along the Hutt River, parallel to where I was riding. That sounded good to me. I wondered why the bicycle shops in Wellington never mentioned it to me. The cyclist also advised me to ride over the Rimutakas on the Rimutaka Incline, rather than state Highyway 2. The Rimutaka Incline is a converted railway line, with tunnels. Since it was a rail line, the grade is relatively gentle. That sounded good to me too! So I went for both his suggestions, even though the map I had didn't list either. I knew I could find my way by asking enough people along the way. The path along the Hutt River was delightful for many kilometers, until the gates started appearing. The first two other cyclists helped me lift everything over. After that, I had to take everything apart myself and lift things over. I did that a couple of times and went back to the road.

I found the sign in the Upper Hutt park to be quite amusing. I am surprised they can get away with this! I haven't seen anything like this in the US - at least not yet.

It was not easy locating the Rimutaka Incline. I started my search at what was called Maymorn station, because that is where I thought the Incline began, and I found that many people knew where Maymorn was located. Once at Maymorn, it slowly dawned on me that this was not the Rimutaka incline, even though it had a tunnel I went through. So I kept asking people, and sometimes got conflicting directions, but eventually, around 5pm, after wandering around the hills, but not really going backward, I located the Rimutaka Incline track http://www.fellmuseum.org.nz/history.htm
I resolved to camp at the first place I could, because I knew I was not yet at the summit, and the summit could be very windy - too windy to sleep well. Here is where I camped for the night.

The next morning I started the track, and it was great. Gentle incline, as promised, smooth dirt path, and well done informational posts along the way.

The only problem was that I had no water left, and no where to get any. So, for the first time in my life, I filled my water bottle from a stream and hoped for the best. Girardia is common in New Zealand streams. I remembered all I could about an article I read once written by someone who commonly drank from streams as he camped. Let's see: check that there are no people living or camping above the stream. Check. Take water from the fastest moving part of the stream. Check. And I recall I would be safest if there had not been rain for a while. Check again. So I took a chance, and I am happy to report I did not get ill. Here is a photo of the stream.

As I cycled through man-made mini-valleys through hills, I thanked the people who made my trip so gentle and easy.

The tunnels were interesting, too. One was nearly a km long. I got through them with the aid of my tiny solar powered flashlight, which I had attached to the top of my helmet. It worked well enough, and was very useful when I stopped in the middle of the tunnel to get out my camera and take a photo. The photo isn't great, but you get the idea of what it was like in the middle of the long tunnel. It is not for the claustrophobic. No one else was in any of the tunnels when I went through early in the morning.

In an hour or so I had reached the summit: 1141 feet above sea level (Wellington). It was beautiful calm weather when I was up there. The very next day the winds up there were clocked at 124 km per hour (73 miles per hour). I'm not sure if its good karma, angels, your prayers, but I know I am being very carefully watched over and kept safe.
Things went downhill in more ways than one after leaving the summit. The track immediately became rocky and rough, and the Featherston side of the summit was much steeper than the Wellington side. I decided to walk for part of the way, simply because I was concerned about getting a flat tire riding downhill on the sharp rocks, and occasional spike from the old railway bed.

And then I came to the Siberia Pass - so named because the winds here were fiercest of all, and once blew a train right off the track in this spot - all the cars except for the remarkable Fells Engine, which held on because of a third rail it used to double its pulling capacity up these hills. The bridge across the gully has long since been blown/washed away, making it a challenging crossing for me.

In the photo with the bike, if you look just to the right of the bike seat, you will see that the track disappears into nothingness. That's how steep it was. I didn't dare bring the bike down with all the gear on it, so I took off the pannier bags and set them off to the side of the trail, and went down with the trailer and big bag. I slid slowly down, and it was going well, until I decided to stop and see if the trailer was following directly behind the bike or off to one side. Big mistake. I lost control of the bike and trailer, an they tipped over on their sides. I held on so we all didn't go sliding down the hill. The big bag had rolled out of the trailer and almost over the edge into the gully. I managed to get the bag back in the trailer and all of us upright again before continuing the slow controlled slide down to the bottom of the gully. It took 3 trips to get everything up the other side. Had it been muddy at all, I doubt whether I could have done it.

An hour or so later, and I was at the bottom end of the Incline, at Cross Creek Station. Now it was time to get to the car park - another 1.7 mile single track. This was the worst of all. Nothing but very sharp rocks, and a trail about 1 foot wide at most, with either barbed wire or a steep dropoff on the left, and steep hill on the right. I had to walk most of the way, and there was a steep bit that took 3 trips for me to get all my gear up it. At the very end was a gate to haul everything over. I took a rest break after that!

I was happy to get onto the quiet road leading to Featherston. My water bottle was empty again, so I stopped for water at the first house I found without a gate across the driveway. The lady who answered the door was very kind. She was originally an American, and had married Bryan, a New Zealander, and moved to Featherston 25 years ago or so. Her name was Faith. She not only filled my water bottle, she made tea and scones with whipped cream, and we had a lovely chat. I was staying in Featherston for a night or two, and Faith knew of the lady who owned the house. (Featherston is a small community). Faith invited me back for the next day, when the church ladies would be at her and Bryan's house for a get-together.

So the next day, I returned to Faith and Bryan's house, and had a wonderful time with the Ladies of Light and Love, as I call them. I needed a haircut, and asked their advice on where I could get an inexpensive haircut in town, and instead they decided to bless me buy buying a haircut for me.

Before I left Featherston I made sure to visit the Fell Museum, and learn more about these remarkable engines with the third rail I had read so much about. The museum has the only remaining Fell engine in the world.

I left Featherston having made many more friends, and with a haircut ready for summer heat.

Wellington, New Zealand

After leaving Picton, I slept most of the way on the ferry across the Cook Strait, going from the South Island of New Zealand back to the North Island. So I have no photos to share. I took advantage of one of the several staterooms that Bluebridge Ferries http://www.bluebridge.co.nz/ leaves open for passengers who wish to rest on their journey.





I was fortunate to find a backpacker in central Wellington that allowed tents. http://www.wellingtonbackpackers.co.nz/ So for only $13 a night I stayed there for a week, and researched Haiti and helped MEND and enjoyed a bit of Wellington. Wellington is famous for being a very windy city. The first time I was there in 1997, the wind was so strong that day I had to hold onto the traffic signal posts to avoid being blown into the street, while waiting for the lights to turn. I was expecting the roofs to blow off at any moment, and was so surprised to see that the locals were acting as if this was a normal occurrence! So 11 years later, when one day there was absolutely no wind, I took advantage of the beautiful day. I walked to the botanical gardens, and later along the waterfront. All of Wellington was outside that beautiful evening, and everyone was in a great mood. It was magical. Here are some of the photos from that evening.

This is a mural painted on a bridge.
As I sat and looked out over the harbour, I was rewarded with several different boats going by: a dragon boat and crew, a scull, and a kayak.









Sometimes as I travel I find unusual signs. Like Bunny Street. Now how did the city fathers of Wellington come to name a street Bunny Street? Soft, fluffy, cuddly bunny street? I asked my friend Hilary about it, and she said it was a well-known New Zealand family name. That clue allowed me to Google it successfully: The street was named after Mr. Henry Bunny, a former Provincial Secretary. I could find no information on the number of children the Bunny family had.......

Here are some photos from the Wellington Botanical Garden, and the Bolton Street Memorial Park.
This is a massive pine tree at Bolton Street Memorial Gardens - the city's cemetary which was split by the motorway, and many of the graves moved.

Here is where my tent was set up in the space set aside for them at Rowena's Lodge. The most tents I counted one night was 14 - set up cheek by jowl so you heard every little noise from your neighbours. We all tried to be as quiet as mice, and we were, for the most part. My tent is the orange one in the foreground. I was delighted to find it was quite aerodynamically designed, because the winds at times were fierce, it being Wellington after all. Not one tent stake came loose all week.

The last day in Wellington I spent with my friend Craig and later joined his fiancee Ferrida for a delightful dinner at her house above Wellington. This is a view near her house, and the kite surfers and windsurfers on the beach are from when Craig and I stopped for coffee. This photo depicts a more typical day on Wellington's beaches than my previous photos.

While I was in Wellington, I learned about Children On the Edge http://www.childrenontheedge.org.nz/ , based in Wellington and created to help Burma's forgotten children of ethnic groups. Sometimes these children are used by the Burmese military to clear the ground of land mines, so there is a great need for MEND's inexpensive prosthetic devices there. We may be able to make a connection in the future.

Here is another very interesting connection I made while in Wellington. I had been carrying around with me in my bike gear two DVDs of how Vipassana meditation has been successfully used with prisoners- one DVD was about Vipassana in Indian prisons, and the other was Vipassana in US prisons. I was doubtful that anyone I met in my travels could possibly have an interest in them, but decided to include them anyway. The day before leaving Wellington I had a longer chat with Farida, one of the workers at Rowena's Lodge. Farida, it turns out, was only working temporarily at Rowena's, to make a bit of money as she traveled New Zealand. Her real job is as a prison counselor in Normandy, France. She was very interested in learning more about how Vipassana might help the prisoners. Of course, the DVDs were meant for her. I hope she finds them helpful for the prisoners she works with. Here is a link for more information: http://www.prison.dhamma.org/

Nelson to Picton, South Island, New Zealand

It was a rainy morning on the day I left Nelson, so I waited until midday to begin my ride to Picton. There was a gentle mist most of the day, which kept me cool and refreshed while riding. There were two big hills to climb that day, but it wasn't so steep that I had to struggle, even with the huge load I was pulling and carrying (full trailer and two pannier bags). I had just passed the top of the second hill, when I saw a cyclist on the other side of the road pushing his bike up the hill. So I stopped and went over to have a chat with him. It was a 64 year old German tourist who was cycling to Golden Bay. Unfortunately, he decided to rent a bike in New Zealand instead of bringing his own, and the gears must not have been low enough for him. I told him he was almost at the top, but it didn't bode well for him to make it to Golden Bay, or even over the second big hill to Nelson, the way he was going. And, only later I remembered that he might have needed food, because I knew there was nowhere to get food between where he was and Nelson, and it was a long ride in the forest mountains. I hope he managed. His English was good, and there was plenty of traffic, so in the worst case he could have flagged down a car for help. I flagged down a car later in the day myself, when I ran out of water with no place to get more. I picked a spot where it would be easy for a car to pull over, and stood by the side of the road with my bike and trailer, wiggling my empty water bottle upside down for all to see. I felt a bit foolish, but I knew I couldn't continue long without water. It took about 3 minutes before a car pulled over and gave me water from their 2 litre bottle. They were German tourists, and I shared with them the web sites for CouchSurfing (http://www.couchsurfing.com/ ), and Servas (http://www.servas.org/ ), which they had not known about.









Here are some photos of some plants I saw when I stopped for a quick break:





I had just passed the top of the second large hill climb when I decided to stop for the night. There were plenty of places to camp up in the forest, but I wasn't sure what I would find if I descended. So I found a logging road and pushed my bike up to a spot well away from the road. My first choice for a place to pitch the tent didn't work well, because baby gorse plants easily pushed their needle sharp spines through the bottom of the tent. So I ended up camping in the middle of the logging road, and just hoped I got out of there before the workers returned in the morning. One truck had passed me as I was setting up my tent in the first spot, but I just glanced at them and continued my work. They didn't stop or say anything to me, and I decided they were not going to come back later and hassle me. And they didn't. I slept well, and the next morning it was very foggy. I tried to be as visible as possible as I descended the hill, and here are some photos from that morning.

Along the way the next morning I stopped to take a look at the Pelorus Peasants. I enjoyed their building and their philosophy.


Not long after, I crossed the Pelorus River bridge, and took note of the warning to swimmers.

Later in the day, I reached Havelock, and stopped for a food break at this lovely spot. You can see my bike and trailer in the photo. As I was passing the grocery store, I met some cyclists, and we had a chat and a photo. They were heading for the campground just next to the Pelorus Bridge. I was heading for Queen Charlotte Drive.

Here is the bike at the beginning of Queen Charlotte Drive, one of the most scenic drives in New Zealand. I was pleased they let drivers know that cyclists use this road too!

Once I reached Picton, I stayed with Larry, who I helped to get ready to move back in December, in the far north of New Zealand. Picton is a lovely place, with beautiful harbor, lots of lovely yachts and hills and water, and great cafes.

My favorite cafe was on the Echo, drydocked and turned into a cafe bar. You can have your meal below deck or on top, if the weather is fine. I chose outside. The ship and restaurant is for sale, I later learned, for $300,000 NZ. Here is the link http://www.aorata.com/10544.htm