Kelly McGarry is one New Zealand’s best MTB dirt jumpers. Check out this video of him killing it around New Zealand. Dude can ride… big hucks, flips… absolute nutter! New Zealand has some amazing riding spots!!! Locations include Queenstown, Winton, Christchurch, St. Bathans and Blenheim.
This video clip is from the mountain bike movie, Follow Me. They are riding Cornet’s Peak down in Queenstown and they are flying! I cant wait to get down south to ride this in late summer! Hell’s Ya!
Check out these crazy Canucks in NZ ripping down the Bombay Hills on SH (State Highway)1. I guess this group of long-boarders is on a world tour promoting long-board manufacturing company Landyachtz, based in Vancouver. These guys are nuts! One guy drafts a transport truck and trailer and then bombs past it, catching his buddy who is riding with no helmet or shoes ahah. If they were to crash, carnage would follow.
Dont worry mom, I will not be trying this. Im sticking with bikes!
The Church in the centre square in Christchurch
This road trip has been a test. This morning I was awakened by the fire alarm and a sound over the speakers saying “there is a fire, please exit the building” Yah another WTF moment ahahaha. I really wasnt too concerned – maybe I should have been but i just tossed on my jeans and sweater, grab my wallet and passport (made sure to close the coat zipper), put my toque on and slipped on my 5-10′s and I exited the building.
Once outside you could tell who was the panicked guests were – ppl were streaming out in there underwear and pj’s with a look of terror on their faces. The hotel staff were handing out towels to those with little clothing on to keep them warm. It was about +5, windy and rainy. I was fine – I was dressed and had my rain jacket. I personally thought it was hilarious. There were these asian travellers who packed all of their luggage and brought it with them. I thought myself getting dressed was good enough, but these travellers were struggling down stairs with there suit cases, clothes hanging out of them, their hair dryers in hand. ahaha Idiots! I only really cared that I had some clothing on, my wallet and passport. In the end someone just burnt there hair blow drying it and it set off the alarm ahaha Hilarious!
Since I was up and grabbed a coffee and by the time I got back to the hotel everyone was back in the building. This work road trip is awesome! ahahah I wonder what will happen in Queenstown?
It was another busy day today. Had the career fair at Canterbury University and there was a fair bit of foot traffic. Probably the best fair yet, but honestly they all kind of blending together now. I could probably repeat the spiel in my sleep!
After the fair I had to drop Amy off at the airport as she was heading back to Auckland. I have the day off tomorrow to check out Christchurch and Ive found a place to rent a good bike. Not a piece of shit like I got from Cycle Surgery.
I got a number for a local mountain biker from Mark (the mtb’r from Dunedin), so Ill give him a ring and see if he wants to go for a ride. If not the shop I am renting from can point be in the right direction to trails and I will explore on my own.
Tonight Ill probably pick up a six pack of Monteiths, grab a burger to eat and chill out. Ive been on the road for 2 weeks and it has been a whirlwind! It has been great to get out of Auckland and see some of New Zealand, but I am looking forward to getting home soon. If I had a little more time to explore in each place that would be nice, but when work is picking up the bill you have a schedule to stick too. Im hoping the weather stays nice so I can ride tomorrow.
Last night I went to an industry party. Stray Travel had their brochure release party at the Dakota bar in Auckland. Nothing beats and open bar and the gathering of the travel industry peeps! I had to work until 8:30pm yesterday as I was doing an info session for IEP. I wasn’t even aware of the party until I got a text from my boss telling us to come down and have a drink. I guess the theme was the 80′s ski scene – it def took me back to my childhood. There were a couple of skin tight ski suits, their was a dude in a bunny costume aka the ski bunny, some legendary 80′s fluro all in one ski suit, lots of toques or as kiwi’s say beanies, headbands and big hair, goggles and mirrored sunnies. It was great! Everyone was really into it and it made the party that much better. Unfortunately I didn’t have camera on me or I would have documented some of the awesomeness that went down. Today was a long day at work, but definitely worth it!
Next week I will be off on my work road trip for three weeks. Im pretty stoked for it. Ill finally be getting some travelling in and seeing a little bit more of the country. The best part is that work will be forking the bill! Sweet as! I will visit Palmerston North, Wellington, Dunedin, Christchurch and Hamilton. I have a weekend to myself in Dunedin, of course Im hoping to rent a mountain bike and check out their local trails. From what I have researched they have a pretty good scene that should be accessible for myself. I also have a day in Christchurch and have found a place to rent a bike and hopefully get a guide or at least directions to some trails. Time is flying by and Im sure the next three weeks will go bye even faster since I will be on the road. Life is good!
Hiking Rangitoto
This weekend Michelle and I decided we would take the ferry over to Rangitoto Island. If you catch the 7:30 am ferry it cost $15/person, but after 7:30 am the ferry ride will run you $25. We caught the early ferry to save some coin and beat the crowds. There are no shops on the island, so make sure you take plenty of water and food, wear a good set of hiking boots-shoes and take a torch as well – ill get to that later. Our ride over was pretty quick, only about 20 mins and there were only 15 ppl on the ferry. Once we docked most people took the most direct trail to the summit, but we decided to take the long way around.
Taking a breather on the beach at Rangitoto Island
The first part of the hike was pretty easy, gravel/lava rock roads and it was fairly flat. I did wonder how they cleared the road – all the lava rock everywhere – hell of a job! We checked out some beaches a long the way and had a snack at one of them. After about an hour and a half of easy walking the trails started to get a little steeper and the grind had begun. It took us about 2.5 hours to get the summit and we only ran into one other set of hikers, which was great! Made us feel like we had the island to our selves. Once we got to the top of there were loads of other tourists who had taken the ride up and skipped the hike – lazy bastards! They have a tour you can purchase where they will drive you to the summit trail, which most people opted for.
The Lava fields of Rangitoto Island
We took in the view at the Summit Lookout, checked out the crater, walked the crater rim track, snapped a few pics and decided it was time to check out the lava caves. (This is why I recommend taking a torch ie flashlight.) We pulled out our torch and jumped into the lava caves. Some of them got tighter as we progressed deeper and deeper until we reached a point where you could go no further. The lava rocks are very sharp and you really must watch where you are stepping – if you are claustrophobic I wouldn’t recommend doing this part. It would be easy to twist your ankle or loose your balance and take a nasty spill! Some caves you could walk through like a tunnel. There was some vegetation growing through the lava rock – crazy! It was pretty amazing and its something ive never seen before. Definitely recommend checking it out.
Inside the Lava Caves
After exploring for a while, it was time for a good feed. We sat down and started munching on our lunches and then we noticed the time. The ferry returns every 2 hours and we decided that we wanted to catch the next one home – which left in about 45 mins. We were about a 45 min hike to the wharf, so we had to move. We only ate half our lunch, chugged some V and then started to book it. By this point we had been hiking about 3.5 hours and we were starting to get tired. You really had to watch where you were stepping, so rushing is not a good idea. We managed to get to the wharf in time to catch the ferry back. I’m glad we did, as the weather, which was about +20 and sunny up to that point started to change. The winds picked up and the temperature dropped – typical Auckland weather. I really didn’t want to have to wait another 2 hours for a ride back to Auckland.
Once we got back to Auckland we felt we deserved some beer, so we picked up a case and chilled for the afternoon at home. It was a great day trip and I would totally recommend it.
There is a second island you can check out – Motutapu Island. They have a bridge you can take across. originally we wanted to hit both islands but after hiking for 4 hours – that was enough. We will hopefully go back to check it out another day.
Ranitoto Island Info:
Rangitoto is just off of the Auckland coast and is a unique volcanic island that has a very unusual landscape of rugged lava crops, lush green bush and sandy beach coves. About 600 years ago the island erupted form the seas in a series of explosions. Rangitoto is home to NZ largest Pohutukawa forest – there are over 200 species of native plans including 40 species of ferns. Today there is no permanent population on the island. In the early 20th century there was a small community living in holiday houses – ie cottages scattered along the shoreline. In 1937 they prohibited any more building and it now considered a public reserve.
Rangitoto litteraly means “bloody sky” in Maori and is derived from the “phrase te rangi I totongia a tamatekapua” – “the day the blood of tamatekapua was shed”, a reference to an injury to a chief during a battle fought on the island.
Size 260 metres high and 5.5 km wide
Age: Formed 600 yrs ago (ca 1400 ad)
Volume Lava : about 2,300 million cubic metres
Motutapu Island Info
This island dates back to the Jurassic period and is one of the oldest islands in the Hauraki Gulf. The island is home to farmland, walking tracks, WWII gun emplacements and amazing views. It is currently undergoing a 50 yr conservation project. Unlike Rangitoto you can camp on this island – you just have to book ahead. This island mainly consists of farm lands and of course has a variety of plant species.
Motutapu was home to the Maori for many generations, until the eruption of Rangitoto.I look foward to checking this island out.
So this weekend I was hanging out with my brother and his girlfriend and we were talking about my trip and me being away for a year. Now I know a year seems like a long time, but really it’s not. My brother listened to this radio program where an older guy was talking about how time seems to go by faster as you grow older. (I totally agree with this statement – remember when you were a kid and summers would last forever. Now it seems the summers fly by in the blink of an eye! ) This older guy then used an example of how fast time does fly and challenged others to do it. There are 52 weekends in a year. Take 52 marbles and place them in a jar and as every weekend passes take a marble out of the 52 marble jar and put it in another. This will allow you too see how fast time passes and give you an idea of how much time you have left in that year.
My take on this is that I will try and collect something each week, so that at the end of my trip I will have 52 mementos that should represent every weekend I had in New Zealand. At the end of my trip I should be able to line up my 52 momentos and break down my year abroad.
What do you think of this idea? Do you feel like time goes faster as you grow older?
I can’t believe how fast time is flying! I have 23 days until departure – crazy. This past week I’ve been trying to organize all my last minute visits with friends and family. It’s funny because you think you have all the time in the world when you look at a calendar – 3 three weeks. Unfortunately, when you work full time that’s only 3 weekends to see people. Dammmnn where’s the time going!
I’m working this weekend to make some extra cash for the trip, the more $$ the better. I’ve been thinking about how weird it will be to not to have a job and a steady pay cheque. Hopefully I will find work quickly! I think I best get to work on my resume next week, try and get a jump on it before I get to Auckland.
I purchased my travel insurance at Travel CUTS this week, cheaper than I thought it was going to be. My folks are willing to put my bike under their home insurance, as travel insurance will not cover the cost of a bike. I was kinda shitting myself, as I couldn’t find any insurance companies to insure sporting equipment. I didn’t even think that would be an issue, but my folks came to the rescue. Thanks mom and dad!
Next issue: I Need to get a camera. Does anyone have any suggestions on a nice camera for travelling?
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