Stay Left....., Stay Left (Not a Political Endorsement)

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9.3.06 Stay Left….., Stay Left (Not a Political Endorsement)

“Stay left young man, stay left……” Those were words of advice uttered to me by a caring old gentleman. Was this a political statement? No, it was the admonition given to me by a friendly (but humorless (PS: Mark M. thanks for your advice I took it!) gentleman at a bike shop on Waiheke Island. Why was I on the island?

For weeks I’ve wanted to get out to this rumored Garden of Eden. The weather had never cooperated with my plans and I was loosing hope that I would ever see the island. I’d intended to head out there yesterday (Saturday) but as you may have read in my last blog the weather was dreadfully cold and gray.

I woke up this morning and to my pleasant surprise found the weather looking to be one of the best days yet in my stay. Alison and I had a prearrange agreement that if either of us was to choose to go via ferry to Waiheke Island we would invite the other. I text messaged Alison and found that she was all in for a day on the island. We met at Starbucks at 9:30 and boarded the ferry to Waiheke Island by 9:50 for a 10am departure. On our way to the island we passed Devonport and Rangitoto Island.

Upon arrival at the Waiheke Island ferry terminal we disembarked and went to find bicycles for rent. In the parking lot we found a small shed with a humorless gentleman renting bikes. Nearly his first words uttered were those above, “stay left” while biking on a public road (with traffic). He got all tongue tied when he asked Alison if she wanted to ride a men’s or woman’s bike, he said something along the lines of “since your not wearing a skirt today you don’t necessarily need to ride this bike (ladies).” Then he gave us our helmets, Alison’s was larger than mine so we swapped. I made a joking comment to Alison about how disappointed I was that my new helmet didn’t have a visor, the gentleman heard this and responded in a serious tone that the visors were cheap pieces of plastic that “fall off regularly” and that “I shouldn’t feel bad” but that if I did really want a visor he could get it one for me. To carry on the conversation I mentioned to the man that it was good that I was getting this ride of the left hand side advice before I rented a car. With this comment I think that he grew worried that I would forget his advice and reiterated that after we have lunch we may forget to ride on the left, so he said look at the sticker on the handle bar. What a caring person, like so many NZ’s I’ve met!

Biked uphill from the parking lot to the small village one street village Oneroa (very similar in size, makeup and feeling found in small towns on the Oregon coast). We then coasted downhill to Blackpool beach on the south side of the island. Blackpool was a muddy grimy beach, most definitely not a place you’d want to swim or sunbath at. We followed a road called the Esplanade, which was closely hemmed in between the edge of the high water mark and a steep hillside. Next came Surfdale beach, which was a nice sandy beach, but based on the style of homes in the area not a popular destination.

Alison had noticed earlier in the morning a street with the same spelling as her name. We went looking for a street sign to photographer her with. Finding the correct street and sign was a bit of a difficult task given that street signs are not always installed at intersections. We eventually did find the sign.

Now we were off to Onetangi Beach. On the way we passed Putiki Bay and Anzac bay, again very muddy beaches, and noticeably affected by the changing tide. This part of the island was much less populated, lots of green fields, dense woodlands, and scrublands along with vineyards, and olive groves. Lots of change in elevation, steep hills, valleys carved by streams, and the occasional flat field.

The roads that we cycled were very narrow and had lots of steep curves and bends. Often times there was a large ditch along the left side of the road and impatient NZ drivers to our right. We found many locations where the road was only wide enough for a bike and a car to pass, which made the blind corners worrisome, I was always a bit concerned that us and a car traveling in our direction would meet an oncoming car from the opposite direction at one of these sharp curves. I’m happy to report that we had no spills or accidents!

Onetangi Beach was a breathtaking sweep of white sand approximately a mile long. While the stretch of beach was devoid of sunbathers, I know during the summer months the beach must be packed. The beach was ringed with a necklace of small shells. No garbage, glass, or driftwood was to be found on the beach. We waded into the water which is just too cold to really consider swimming in yet. Met three kiwis who were tossing a rugby ball around. We asked if we could join in and were graciously invited to play. Then a couple of German girls that had been sunbathing asked if they could play as well. One of the Kiwi’s suggested that we could play touch rugby on the beach, which was great fun, but exhausting to play on the warm loose sand. I’m still finding sand in my cloths and hair from the rugby game.

Grabbed lunch at a beach side café and then headed back by way of a different route (which turned out to be very steep). This part of the ride we did about 2/3 biking and 1/3 pushing. The extra effort was rewarded with vistas of the country and beaches that were unseen from the easier route. Next stop was Palm Beach where we had ice cream bars. I was very envious of the local reclining on the sand reading his paper. What a life! I think this was about the time when I said that I wouldn’t mind a 30 minute ferry ride to work when compared to other rush hour commutes. As we were mounting our bikes a black storm cloud could be seen to the south and we still had another hour bike ride to go, very ominous, I was beginning to wish that I had brought my rain coat along. Fortunately the cloud moved away to the east and missed the island.

This part of the trip took us through densely forested areas of the island with the canopy coming right up to the edge of the road. Homes became more frequent and their appraised value must have grown astronomically. On the way back to the ferry terminal (Matiatia Wharf) we pushed our bikes through town. Most shops were closed (Sunday late afternoon) but we did find a produce shop that was selling bags of organic fruits and vegetables, three bags for $5, a real steal! I bought two bags of tangerines and one kiwi fruit. Alison bough potatoes (seemed very excited about the potatoes, finally can have a potato prepared in some fashion other than fries) and tangerines.

It was now ten minutes to five and the next ferry was not for another hour. We biked out to a viewpoint but on the way got distracted by the demanding moos of young calves at feeding time. As we had biked up the hill we could hear the calves making a whole lot noise. We arrived just in time to see the farmer on a small ATV lead the calves in a single file line up a green slope to the feeding trough. There must have been a hundred of these little guys circling around the food trying to nose their way in. I remember feeding time on Little Grandpa’s farm (sheep, cows, chickens, etc…) but this was something new for Alison (from Detroit, I guess the Detroit school system does have a small farm that gives city kids a chance to see if they “like animals”).

Olfactory observations: Early in the day there were no observations to be made. At Onetangi Beach the waves were breaking on the beach and there was a fine clean salt smell. Between 2pm and 4pm the fragrances of spring pollen was strong in the air. While the aroma is very new to me I could smell things similar to honeysuckle, roses, and freesia. By 5pm the air was cool and damp smelling, we were in shade and a breeze was blowing in from the water.

Caught the 6pm ferry and enjoyed a colorful sunset. In all we had biked close to 30 kilometers.

When I got back home I had to show my roommates some of the photos on the computer. We eventually got to Grandpa and Grandma’s 59th Wedding Anniversary Photos, which were of great interest here. Stephanie thought that Grandma and Grandpa are a lovely looking, charactered, and hardworking couple (something we’ve known for years), was very envious of Teresia’s garden, and thought mom is “quite pretty”.

Go in and sign papers tomorrow.

Cheers

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Photos

Terminal #2
Terminal design contest was won by local architecture students.

Princess Wharf
Cruise ships debark here.

Lucky shot (Red)
I don't know if this was planned or just coincidence.

Junk Boat
I guess even in paradise there's always some garbage to be found.

Keep Left
I’m sure the motorist’s hand gestures would be more than enough to tell you that your on the wrong side of the road.

Comments

[Teresia]

What a fun day!
Donavin, you did so much in this day! What beautiful land. I will send garden update tomorrow. Much love, Aunt Teresia

[BLien]

Great to hear from you!
Just got back from trip to St. Louis and Chicago and then a weeks vacation, so just caught up with your exploits. Glad you're not wandering the streets aimlessly (I was worried you'ld become a bum...HaHa). The place looks wonderful with so much to see and do, not to mention what sounds like very interesting employment. Wish you all the luck in the world! I'm more than a little envious! Brad