Our Bike Trip Begins...

We are now four days into our bike trip around New Zealand, and we've already experienced too many amazing things to recount them all. However, a few highlights stick out.

Our trip started from Auckland. We took the train to its southernmost stop in Papakura. We arrived in the afternoon and rode until dark. Our first town (after a grueling 10k with our ponderous load) was Hunua, where we met a family with three young and very entertaining boys at the local dairy. The youngest was eager to fetch our attention, climbing all over and under us while we ate our oranges. Our day ended in the middle of nowhere, in a National Forest, which we came to out of desperation for a campsite. No showers at our improvised campsite, but the privacy made up for it.

The next day we rode out of Maramarua, riding through Ngatea before stopping at Paeroa, birthplace of the world famous NZ beverage, L&P (Lemon & Paeroa). After ingesting two of these refreshing soft drinks and speaking with some local cyclists, we continued on. The next leg of our journey took us to a gorgeous gorge, complete with waterfalls and framed by wildflowers. We did nearly have one mishap, when Torrey almost fell asleep while cycling. We attribute this to caffeine withdrawal. Fortunately she made it through the day, fueled by raisins and Luc's encouragement (which was in turn fueled by worry). Our day ended fortuitously in Katikati. While at a grocery store, a farmer approached Torrey and offered to let us set up camp on his land. We learned he is a WWOOF host, and if the others are as nice as him we're in for a treat. We slept surrounded by ripening kiwifruit and avocados. This was our longest day yet at 90 km.

The next day was a short 39 km ride to Tauranga. We stopped for a picnic on the Strand in the town center, while racing motorboats roared in the background. After eating our roast beef and hummus sandwiches we were approached by an inquisitive trio of young girls. Their names were Morgan, Anita, and Payton (ages 9, 6, and 7, respectively, as they were so eager to inform us). After our picnic we traveled across a very windy bridge to Mt. Maunganui. We camped at the bottom, sharing a spot with a nice German couple who offered us a pass to the hot springs nearby. So relaxing. But first we had to earn it.

We climbed to the top of the mountain and enjoyed a spectacular view of the Pacific ocean. At the top we ate Hokey Pokey candy and dried kiwifruit. Mmm. We could see several tropical islands and felt like we were in a dream. It was worth the steep hike up.

The next day (today) we headed towards Rotorua, our present location. The woman at the front desk of the campgrounds in Mt. Maunganui advised us on a route, telling us it was "flat and easy." Uh, yeah right. The majority of the day was marked by slow climbs followed by steep climbs, followed by more slow climbs. There was very little downhill, and it was hot. During lunch on the side of the road we had our first encounter with sandflies, and we already hate them. We're also slightly sick of our staple food, muesli. We hope to get a campstove soon.

Rotorua is easy on the eyes, but hard on the nose. The whole city smells like rotten eggs. We're already used to it though. For dinner we had a hamburger and a veggie burger, with chips and of course, L&P. Luc had been craving meat all day. But that's only the beginning of the rewards. Tomorrow is our day off, promising adventure and the ability to sleep in as late as we want. Will we explore the Maori village? Will we hike to the famed mud pools and geysers? Stay tuned for the next episode of Luc and Torrey's Adventure.