GregBish
Greg Bishop Joined: August 22nd 2009
Logged in: September 21st 2009
Logged in: September 21st 2009
Travel Blog Posts
Day 9 complete
Day 9 - Kaikoura to Cheviot 75km We were out early again and the weather was terrible. The first 20km was along the coast before we cut inland, and it took us around an hour and half to complete the 20km due to the wind and rain coming in off the sea, it really wasnt very good fun. Once we cut inland toward Cheviot we were provided with a little shelter from the elements, but were instead faced with a series of tough climbs, four of around 200m. It was certainly one of the toughest sections we had cycled in the past 9 days, but we managed to dig in and get to Cheviot not long after lunch time. Day 9 was tough, but we only had one day left until Christchurch and were exhausted ... read more
North Island - Done!
Day 7 - Paremata to Welligton 25km, Ferry from Wellington to Picton, Picton to Blenheim 30km On day 7 we were to catch the Ferry from Wellington to the South Island at 1pm, and so treated ourselves to a well deserved sleep in! And fortunately Annie treated us to a cooked breakfast before we left for Wellington. The ferry ride across provided some spectacular scenery. Thankfully Mark was able to get some decent photos, as i slept for the entire 3 hour journey! I guess the kilometres are finally starting to catch up with us! As we left the small port of Picton we spotted our first road sign with Christchurch on it, a major milestone as far as we were both concerned. Only 338km to go! Another short peddle and we were at our ... read more
Seaside!
Day 5 - Patea to Palmerston North 140km Despite being a relatively straight forward cycle, quite flat and a decent length, it proved to be one of the most challenging days so far. It seemed to take forever, with the route very uninteresting. The previous day we had had the backdrop of the spectacular Mount Egmont whereas day fives route consisted mostly of driving past farm after farm. As the day went on we seemed to be edging towards our destination very slowly, and the final hours approach to Palmerston was not helped by the wind and rain! We arrived at around 6pm, it had been a long day. We spent the night with Lesley and Ian, wonderful hosts. A special mention must be made for Lesleys apple crumble - amazing! Again it was nice ... read more
Puncture number 1!
Day 3 - Otorohanga to Urenui 160km After 2 relatively easy days to start the cycle, day 3 would prove to be a lot different. We were to cycle just over 160km, including 3 steady climbs to over 200m with many smaller hills in between. To sum it up, it was an absolute killer on the legs, and by this time our bums had also started to get a little tender. We left Otorohanga at half 7 in the morning, and whilst we were lucky enough that there was still little wind it rained for the first few hours. Following a short stop for breakfast number 2, our bike repair skills were called into action for the first time when my back tyre suffered a puncture. This put us behind schedule by about half an ... read more
Day 2 - Done!
Day 1 Neither of us could quite believe that Day 1 of the cycle was finally upon us. We were both a little apprehensive of the 100km+ that we had to cycle that day as it was much more than either of us had cycled in one day in the past. Thankfully, the further away from Auckland we got the quieter the roads were, and the conditions were near perfect for cycling - dry with very little wind. The first day adrenaline must have been high as we made it to Hamilton in around 5 and a half hours, much faster than we had aimed for. We spent the night with Roger, an old friend of Mark's family. As well with putting up with us for the night he treated us to fish and chips ... read more
On yer bikes!!!
Final Countdown!!! We arrived in Auckland safely on Sunday morning after a 14 hour flight very tired and jetlagged! Following a days rest we began our preperations for the cycle on Monday when we visited Adventure Cycles to pick up all our equipment. A big thankyou must got to all the guys at the shop who worked for about 4 hours to make sure that our bikes were sorted and that we had everything we needed to complete the challenge. On Tuesday and Wednesday we went cycling in and around Auckland to start preparing the legs for the next few weeks and to try and get our bums used to the bikes, as well as the task of practicing puncture repairs (hopefully we wont have too many!). The photo shows us outside our hostel, returning ... read more
Training
South America As we knew before we set ourselves the challenge of the bike ride, 8 weeks in South America was never going to be ideal training for the 1200km cycle! And right enough, we have struggled to get any significant training under our belts, with only the odd 20km on rented mountain bikes here and there. However on the plus side, we have managed to have a fantastic start to our trip and both leave South America in one piece! We arrive in Auckland, New Zealand on the morning of Sunday 6th September and following 3 or 4 days of training and getting used to the bikes, we hope to commence the cycle on Thursday 10th September. Thanks to everybody who has donated so far to help us reach our target of two thousand pounds. ... read more
