Cycling NZ26 - Day20 - Big Fish!

And that is it. Another chapter is now closed. North Island. All 550 miles and 27 thousand feet of ascent. 

All I can say right now is BOGIES!  I need fingernails like excavator buckets to do a proper job of clearing away my nostril concretions. At the moment it’s a bit like picking those stuck on bits of cheese from a rather large pizza plate. It’s fair to say that the cough has reduced a bit more and I slept last night sweat free perhaps for the first time in well over a week.  Good!

Still though have some looseness on my chest and nasal cavities are still full of glue. However, if I find God willing that my legs have come back to me tomorrow then it’d be fair to say that I am through it. 

I said goodbye to the hotel in Wellington this morning by leaving a small pile of what some might think are mouse droppings at the side of the bed. Their taste will tell you for sure that they are not!  

Now whilst the city centre is not nice the waterfront is a refreshing change. I like the seafront. The seafront I like!  Much more cosmopolitan and relaxed than the sickly centre. Loaded with nice cafes and places to visit all on a communal biking and walking strip of well laid concrete. It’s what Scarborough should have been if the town planners could have been arsed to get it right in the first place. 

Wandering the streets last night trying to find some food that I might like well I ended up in a curry house that played Cuban music (the Buena Vista Social Club - I like them so that got my approval) but like the lack of folk in this restaurant and all others in the city the menu here was stark too. Options. Well there was the butter chicken and the biryani. And. That. Was. It.  But I just could not be arse moving on. Too tired. I was served the butter chicken and rice which came already dished up on a plate plus a bottle of beer over which he feigned to blow the froth. For all I know it came out of a tap into a spare bottle and brought to my table. 

This morning though - all of a sudden there were cafes everywhere. I had time to do more laundry whilst having some brekkie in the small place next door and then an easy day patrolling the sea front until ferry time. 

It’s here I met a group of Aussie lads. All retirees who were just at the start of their sounds to sound journey. Ie. The length of South Island. Henryk, Rod and Pieter. I really thought that they should be doing the rainbow road with names like that. Smashing group of guys. 

Then David from Bolton. A man made redundant from a building company in about 2008 cos of the financial crash. A man who found new work difficult to come by in the north west who then made the big leap to New Zealand cos they were desperate for folk with his skills post the 2010 earthquake. A place where he met and married his wife Barbara and a man so happy with his decision to come here. 

He describes his home village as a perfect place where people wander around barefoot. That comment projected this scene into the empty space between my lugholes.  

Yes New Zealand is this place. Heavenly.  People do live in perfect houses with white picket fences and wander around barefoot. 

If you’ve not seen then do watch the film Big Fish.  It might just break your heart. It did mine. It’s the story of a man. A big storyteller. But a good man.  Edward Bloom. And yes. Like him I am here early too.  My only regret is that unlike him I do not have a wife. 

But this is a good segway here. The North Island of New Zealand is often described in Māori legend as being a giant fish caught by the demigod Māui, known as "Te Ika a Māui." This story symbolizes the island's shape and reflects the rich cultural heritage of the Māori people.  So says AI. 

Notwithstanding all of the issues that have befallen me throughout my travels on North Island the one thing that stands out head and shoulders above everything else is the kindness and generosity of the people.  I am truly blown away. 

But now South Island is laid out before me. Based on how I feel I have already made several bookings on the lower road route which follows the east coast. The Aussies are scheduled to do the Molesworth as part of their sounds to sounds route. 

I’m sorry but I showed them the weather forecast. It’s not good with forecast wintry rain / snow up on the Molesworth in the second photo. Like this. 

One tends to forget this is now the equivalent of September back home. beautiful sunny days here on the coast but when the weather comes off the Southern Ocean it can now be quite brutal at altitude. 

To compare

The Molesworth is a remote unpopulated are in the north of South Island.  It is about 125 miles between the only 2 towns in the area. There is 12000 ft of ascent. At its highest you are in high valleys over 3000ft above sea level.  And the forecast is wintry rain / perhaps snow when I would be there ..

Looking at the Cairngorms in Scotland. From Newtonmore to Aberdeen is 97 miles between towns. 3500ft of ascent. Peaking at 1700 ft above sea level. 

You can see the big difference. 

The only way I would challenge the Molesworth would be in the dry when still mild and with good legs. I only have summer camping gear with me and to be stuck out on the Molesworth in wintry weather with dead legs would be a really really really bad idea, Wayne. 

My next destination - Blenheim - is only a short hop away. But another fork in my life is opening in front of me. This country is teaching me many things. 

One of which is - I am too early. 

It is not yet my time…

Ciao for now