The first real day.

So today I left Auckland and got down to the business of bicycle touring. I went out for my last breakfast for a while as a dude who doesn't cook for himself (I got french toast, and they layered the bananas and bacon in the stack with the toast. Fine work, Auckland!) and then packed up my personal effects and hopped the commuter train down to Papakura so as to not have to deal with the city traffic on a fully-loaded bike. (All told, my rig weighs somewhere in the 70-80 pound range. I haven't weighed it; I'm not sure I want to.) After a quick stop at a supermarket for some food, I clipped into my pedals and went.

I biked from Papakura up to Clevedon, and then around the coast down to Miranda Hot Springs, all told a distance of 73 km according to Google. I had planned to push on to Thames, but my backside and the option of a place to stay that included hot springs access made me reconsider. If I did things right, you should be able to see the route here.

The ride was along what's called the seabird coast, and for good reason. The first third to half was through rolling country that looked like they had crossbred the Finger Lakes Region and Colorado, say, but with plant life from Hawaii. (This is a terribly flawed analogy, but we're limited to my frame of reference, I'm afraid.) After a hard climb, I descended to the coast, which gave me a view accross the bay to the Coromandel peninsula, where I'm headed next. There were indeed a lot of seabirds, and the ride was terribly beautiful the whole way. It didn't hurt that it was a lovely day today, some clouds but mostly sunny. I did learn, however, that hard climbs on a fully-loaded bike are not my idea of fun.

I'd love to go on more, but I'm afraid my time on this machine is about to run out, so I'll go soak my bones in the hot pool instead. Until next time.