Author: neil

  • Orere Point, NZ to Thames, NZ

    Orere Point, NZ to Thames, NZ

    We woke to a morning more sunny and more dry than any we’ve had so far in this camping stretch. That again made packing up the tent easy, and easy also was breakfast since we had claimed a picnic table. We then faced the long non-easy climb back out from the beach, starting with a…

  • Beachlands, NZ to Orere Point, NZ

    Beachlands, NZ to Orere Point, NZ

    Yesterday we had been so stressed out by the traffic that we didn’t do any proactive grocery shopping; we only had the mental capacity to select the absolute minimum of what we needed for dinner. Plus I needed time to figure out exactly how-limited our shopping opportunities would be over the next couple days before…

  • Waiheke Island, NZ to Beachlands, NZ

    Waiheke Island, NZ to Beachlands, NZ

    We knew rain was supposed to come in the morning, but it held off long enough (as forecasted) to allow us to get the tent packed up dry (surprisingly, we didn’t even have any condensation inside after pitching on the grass in this relatively-humid climate…I hope that continues!) We had been smart enough (a rarity…

  • Waiheke Island, NZ

    Waiheke Island, NZ

    We were sad to leave our beautiful island house, but so grateful (and even slightly mystified) for the generosity and trust that our hosts extended to us. We weren’t quite ready to leave the island though, so we were going to move to a campground for our final night, which would give us an opportunity…

  • Waiheke Island, NZ

    Waiheke Island, NZ

    The day’s forecast was clear with light winds (a rarity here!), and since we didn’t need to move out of our hosts’ home until tomorrow, we took the opportunity to do an unloaded day-ride around the island. The downside was that the combination of “midweek” + “not quite yet summer” meant that the weekender-focused wineries…