My mate Paul reckons he lives in the best place in the country. It's called Pahi, and it lies on an arm of New Zealand's biggest harbour, the Kaipara. Paul lives in a two bedroom bach, with a stunning view over the water, the wharf and a rundown camping ground of the kind they don't make any more - no written rules stuck on the walls, and you get to park your tent where you want instead of inside a rectangle marked out on grass with weed killer. LIVING THE GOOD LIFE Pahi suits Paul, and Paul suits Pahi. He'd probably be among the first to admit he's not comfortable living the city life - the traffic, the trendy bars, keeping up with everyone else. He prefers to live quietly, and he spends his days working ... read more

Testing Time The time for talking was over. Time to put feet to the pedals, bum to the seat etc and go for it. The goal was straightforward - from Parakai near Helensville to Warkworth via Highway 16, then north for a few k before turning right to Mangawhai. My guidebook ("Pedallers Paradise") describes the route using phrases such as: "There starts a 2 and a half kilometre climb, undulates and rolls, occasional steeper hills, quite a steep climb". You get the idea. My tent was a soggy mess after being camped in a lake at Parakai, the bike was loaded with left over food I didn want to waste, and I had three full drink bottles on board. The Beast of Burden was bulging with equipment and I was having handling problems. The panniers ... read more

The odometer had just ticked over 7km when the first pannier fell off. There was a thump and a couple of bounces, and it was gone. I could hardly believe it - but there was suddenly a big gap on the front rack where moments ago the pannier had been attached - the one with all my clothes in it. Slammed on ther brakes, propped the bike against the wire netting that seperated the cyclepath from the motorway and walked back. I clipped the pannier back on, figuring I couldn't have fastened it properly to begin with. A couple of hundred metres later, the one on the front left fell off - this time the one with my sleeping bag in it. And so it continued, until I tied them on. Just the front ones, not ... read more