Camp in Tirohanga on Thursday morning, nearing afternoon.  

Since my time in the schools had not started yet, I needed to find something to do with my time. So, Wednesday I took off on a bike journey along highway 35 from Whakatane to Te Kaha. It was an exciting four days that went along these lines.

Wed: Stopped into Whakatane intermediate to meet the faculty and staff, and most importantly my associate teacher Rebecca. It seems like a great staff and I am excited to get to work but I was all packed and ready to hit the road on my new bike, so I rushed off to enjoy the few free week days I had left. I finally got out of Whakatane at about 10:30, immediately I had to climb the second toughest hill of the whole trip, not too bad but I still had about 45 kilometers left that day. I took those pretty slowly, stopping at a roadside oyster shack, a couple of country stores and a cafe in Opotiki. I got to the campground I planned on staying at in Tirohanga at about 5 only to find out that it was closed. I asked the gas station attendant next door about it and he said it would be fine if I just set up my tent and checked in later, so I pitched my tent and began to cook dinner. A local teenager approached me and started asking questions. I wasn't sure what to think of him but it turned out that he wasn't sure what to think of me and just wanted to know who the crazy lone cyclist was. That night I had a crude reminder that it is only early spring still here even though it doesn’t feel like it in the day sometimes.

Thurs: I hadn't slept much because I froze all night so when the sun hit my tent I welcomed it by sleeping till 10:45. It felt great except that I planned on making it about 60Km that day. When I finally pulled out at about 11:40, my nether regions doubted that I could make it that far, but that soon subsided and I began to make pretty good time. That is until the unexpected 200meter 3 kilometer long climb that I encountered. I was quite proud of myself when I made it to the top and stopped for some water but I forgot to take a picture. The ride down the other side was quite thrilling except for that little guy in the back of my head saying "You know you have to come back up this on your way back through right?" After that the rest of the day was a breeze and I arrived at the Te Kaha Homestead Backpackers around 4:30PM. They were a friendly bunch there that night and they fed me well (roast chicken and sweet potatoes) so I decided to spend Friday there as well.

Fri: Slept in, again, and sat around most of the day. The winds blew onshore all day so a swell came up pretty good by the evening. Even though it was pretty choppy, a couple German guys and I decided to try our hand at surf kayaking. There were only 2 wetsuits so they went first. I had fun watching as one was relatively successful and the other just got rocked by the waves. After about 20 min. the one who had caught a few waves obliged and gave up his wetsuit so that I could have a go. I managed to catch a few waves and stay on my boat. On the last wave though I got turned sideways and well the video below speaks better than I can describe. That night I watched a rugby game with the owner Paul and hit the  sack to be rested for the ride back to Opotiki.

My Fail Video
Sat.: I woke up Saturday morning, tuned my bike up, and got off to an early start (for me) at around 9:15AM. By noon I was 25Km down the road and to the top of the monster hill from Wednesday. I had a quick drink and this time I did remember to take pictures. After a quick photo shoot I whizzed down the other side again. It is amazing how much faster a hill goes by on your way down. I kept on pedaling wend about a kilometer and to my surprise, who was to drive past, but Blue. He was bored on his weekend and came out to see if I wanted a ride. I thought about saying no thanks but he had come a ways and I didn’t really want to freeze another night in the tent so I hopped in and the scenery jetted by and we were in Whakatane before I knew it. Kind of a disappointment to not finish the ride on my own but I had already done it once and the hardest part twice.

Great Success