About cameras and me and cycle touring
Camera #1 I dropped in a pit toilet in Asia and yes I actually picked it up and saved all my Europe and Asia photos. Probably the most disgusting thing I have ever undertaken in my life, my hand still shudders at the really horrific memory!
Camera #2 was destroyed by the Gobi desert and later repaired in China. The repair didn’t hold and the camera never recovered from being gobied!
Camera #3 I got drunk and lost it, New Zealand wine is damn good!
Camera #4 my present camera is a bit temperamental but holding strong for a cheapy!
Enjoy the photos taken by a friend prior to getting my temperamental camera working again…I am grateful to have some…..
Here I sit at the Auckland airport reflecting upon cycling to bottom of the south island then back up the west coast. My visit time has expired and I have run out of time to enjoy the beautiful people of New Zealand. And I am saddened to have missed a visit with a fellow cyclist I met on the south island. I have no clue as to the distance I cycled but I do remember several rainy days where the relentless cold rain kept me laughing and pleasantly distracted from peddling. The cycling ended on the Queen Charlotte Track. A beautiful 3 day (71km) dirt track intended for mountain biking. Pandemic the magic bicycle stood strong for the challenge and appreciated taking the second day off from the trail and we took the beautiful tar sealed road instead. My gear took a boat to the next port so Pandemic and I enjoyed a light and super fast 20 km in the rain. The track emerges into the community of where a boat transported us across the sound into Picton where I took another ferry and then a train back to Auckland.
I haven’t cycled in about a week now and I do believe this cycle touring business has become a bit of an addiction. My spirits are low and I believe I may be suffering from endorphin withdrawal. When I finally do hang up the bicycle I am not sure how long this cycler’s sadness will last. As I sorted out visas this week, this endorphin low persisted with a mighty lonesome vengeance. I am hoping it isn’t anything a couple 100 kms of cycling won’t cure.
I am headed for Darwin, Australia in a few hours to explore the Northern Territory. I had never intended on visiting Australia or undertaking cycling across such a huge spendy country but in order to board the plane for New Zealand I was forced to buy a onward ticket to somewhere. The cheapest option was Australia. As most of you know a year and a half ago my travels plans involved learning to sail and buying a sailboat. I don’t exactly know how to sail so I am hoping to find a gig as crew on a boat headed from Australia to Indonesia or back to New Zealand to pick up some skills. Cycling a crossed Indonesia is one part of the world line I have left to cycle and I have been told I may be able to find a yacht to bring me to the starting line.
2 comments:
New adventures will be found in Australia. Look forward to your posts!
Hello Hello Love good to hear from you, Life is going good. A big garden this year, indoor and out, we had peppers before they had even seen natural light. Of course some bad news, a dog got into the chicken coop and killed 15 birds, I am facing 15 years, my little red Toyota truck burnt the engine up on her, 3 weeks ago,ya but life is good.
We got a car for Linda,or maybe she got it for us. She wanted to learn to drive, and gave us some money to put on a car. It'll suit her perfectly -- a '71 Checker Marathon (the civilian, not taxi, version) with a new engine. Needs some body work, etc, and doesn't get very good mileage, but it runs well, is built like a tank, is simple, and has beau coup power! She'll be in town in a couple weeks.
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