zealand

the route from the christchurch was slowly going up and it went through canterbury flats as i’ve been informed from my guide. there was an artuhr’s pass somewhere further but i took a road going to hororata. after a some kms there was a beautiful views of the mountains behind. there was just one danger. i don’t know if it is usual there to keep spreading the kettle dump onto the grass of huge paddocks but i can tell you that the smell almost smashed me off the bike. i couldn’t get rid of it. i wanted to be like auntie selma from simpsons who can’t smell anything. it was just so painful to get over it. you can’t prevent smelling it anyhow. it was like you’re riding your bike in a dump. awful. i’ve had enough and happily had a rest afte several kilometers when i could smell my sweaty clothes. took few pictures at the charing cross junction where 8 streets are crossing!

it was just a step to get to hororata. i was naughty and bought a big pizza like pie which stuffed me as a goose whom are produced for foie gras. truly it was hard to move. i tried cycling further on but gave up after another 5 kms with forehead covered with cold sweat. i pitched the tent next to the sheep paddock and immediatelly jumped inside…where i’ve fallen asleep too early.

for the rest of the night i was just trying to figure out what to do. i looked fresh probably like a fish on the asian fish market. nothing to do with colour so i decided to stay another night reading my new kinsgley’s amis book called ‘take a girl like you’. the next day i was ready to go. my next destination could have possibly been mt. somers. i cycled until beautiful rakaia gorge valley appeared. i took three pictures and they are so beautiful i haven’t decided which one to place on the web so there are all of them now after climbing the hill beyond the bridge i had my normal appearance of sweaty and nasty looking cyclist! the route went up quite a bit but you could feel it in your legs. i was really about to give up when i saw some small settlement with cafe opened. i’ve refilled my water tank with energy drink with disturbing name ‘mother’ and it gave me ubelievable energy. i had 18 kms to mt. somers and approx 25 minutes before it got dark as in the ass. as i said energy drink was squeezing out every bits and pieces of my human side and i made it in a time which would put lance armstrong ashamed. there was shop still opened so i bought some food and to the advice of a shopkeeper went to the war memorial camp. there was a nice kitchen there with comfortable couch and nobody in there so i decided to sleep inside without bothering with pitching the tent. i made a food an when the rugby team switched on the lights of the stadium or field or what was it i practised my juggling skills once again. it was an epic win that idea of sleeping inside as it was raining heavily during the night.

i started cycling to geraldine next morning. i had a lovely weather with sun and all that shit. there wasn’t anything nice on the way there except big amry cars collumn. i could see some of the soldiers waving me and taking pictures of me on their cameras. i was probably real exot to them. the country was something like a flat piece of land unexpectedly divided into paddocks with lots of lambs and cows. a picture of new zealand i won’t ever forget in my life. of course i can mention some of i think more funny and typical pictures of new zealand’s copyrights….like picture of possum pancakes everywhere on the road or more romantic one…like a quad bike with a farmer in the gumboots and raincoat and back of the bike loaded with border collies i think it could be put as a real nz symbol instead of almost extincted kiwi bird or that ‘all blacks’ fern branch. nevermind it’s just a joke. i hope i won’t be killed for this

i rewarded myself with icecream scoop and bag of tobbacco in geraldine and continued to the ‘heart’ of that town. information centre lady was very cheerful and helpful. we chatted a bit and after a while i was at the camp office just behind the corner. lady behind the desk was very talkative as well. i don’t know how you kiwis do that. to be that nice and warm ppl. in my country i would be probably insulted very soon for being so chatty.

anyway she called to the backpackers where they wanted 30 dollars for dormitory room. it made me laugh loud and after hanging the phone i told the lady that this is a price for 4 bed room in wellington yha hostel. she charged me 15 dollars for my tent and i made myself comfortable. soon after some food i managed to go for some internet stealing. internet was very expensive comodity in this town… i had a luck to found some unsecured hotspot just nearby a police station. yeeaha. i wasn’t arrested and did everything to put up my posts on my blog.