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Published: December 28th 2007
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All we wanted for christmas was a steamroller, or failing that three mega souped up (well supported) brassieres. This last section of road we found tough; the loosely gravelled corrugations were as large as ocean swells; when you´re in one, you can only see the top of the helmet of the rider in front. joggle joggle joggle. All in all, we were reduced to 30km days, which is quite slow in cycle-touring terms, especially when we met two French chaps who are RUN-touring around South America. They were doing 40+km days!
Anyhow Santa obliged, (how he found our tents on the most remote beach in South America I will never know), providing both the aforementioned steamrollered road, AND honking tail winds. The baking 32 degree heat, dust and numerous hills certainly made our Xmas day memorable, but it was kinda nice to luxuriate at a B+B (white sheets!) for Xmas night. In fact, it was such a relief, we´re STILL camped in the long grass of their orchard two days later.
To keep our panniers light, we ate xmas feast a few days earlier. The menu consited of:
steak (4x4x10cm!) in ginger, garlic and soysauce marinade
potato salad
coleslaw
peas
pepper and oregano gravy
followed by a penny special - banoffee pie. Red wine and orange juice for those who desired. We all agreed that we have never experienced such gastronomically great food when camping under the stars.
Carrying this Xmas dinner was enough to split the longsuffering panniers at the seams! Following a consequent gear rationalisation, we have posted home 12kgs of unnecessary stuff - thats the equivalent of carrying around an extra bicycle!! Big thumbs up for the worldwide postal service.
At the speed of travel by bicycle, landscape slowly unfolds and changes around you - although still formed by glaciation, we´re now in a much warmer climate similar to central Otago which has resulted in more populated valley systems. The swim times in beautiful clear turquoise blue lakes and glacial cyan rivers, which streak the lake´s blue waters, are an ongoing joy and necessity to keep body temperatures and humour reasonable.
Kate has trialled her newly learnt South American fly fishing technique, but so far has only caught her elbow and a few rocks (at least it wasnt my ear, Dad!). The search for swim spots lead us to a North American owned
fishing lodge (its not just the best bits of New Zealand they´re buying up). With our usual ability to create a social situation, we soon found ourselves sipping pisco sours and Penny baking apple pie with the lady of the house, as she waited for her family to arrive home for Christmas eve (the most celebrated time of Christmas for the Chileans). After the dust and grime of road travel, it was difficult to feel clean in such a scrupulously polished house, despite three swims that day.
And this blog entry would not be complete without the mention of kates birthday!
To which Kate would like to write (Text is usually written by Penny and Aroha - you should be able to tell due to the lack of spelling mistakes)
Having one´s Birthday on Boxing day is an interesting experience, as you can imagine it often gets a little entangled with Christmas and one is usually well satisfied with the festivities of Christmas without the need to add another day of Birthday celebrations. However this was not the case with Aroha and Penny. Despite my best efforts to play down the situation I was well spoilt for
the entire day and wish to share the special day that was created by them.
Shouting ourselves to clean sheets and a bed Christmas night meant that I got to wake up in clean sheets and a bed on my birthday morning, very economical and a supreme treat. Little did I realise this was to be a small luxury in the thoughtful and generous day that was to come.
I was not allowed out of bed until all generous and thoughtful presents had been opened; some of which had been carefully carried by Aroha and Penny the entire trip since leaving Christchurch. Thanks Polly and Sarah, I now own the cleanest and trendiest underwear of the entire group :-) and thanks to many friends for kind words in Birthday card - it was only with staunch self control that I cried only a little bit.
Aroha and Penny had between themselves spent their remaining life savings on a fabulously outragous Argentinian ring that they had seen myself and the Queen of England admire a month ago - a truely generous and touching gift. I have to apologise in advance to friends in New Zealaned if I find
myself slightly overdressed on social occasions as I attempt to find suitable situations to wear this piece of art. Thanks is far too small a word for this situation.
B&B means not just a great bed, but breakfast on the house. Which meant we had bread and jam, and tea and milk for birthday breakfast. Delicious after a month of porridge and milk powder, and tea with sand and fatalistic insects. A leisurely breakfast rapidly led to a leisurely lunch of fresh avocado and bread by a lake on a stunning summers day. With limited funds at our hands (the cash machines and bank in the town we are presently in do not accept our money cards) I was allowed to treat myself to chocolate milk of which I shared a wee bit, and some email time to which I recieved many hugs and best wishes from friends and family back home.
To everyone´s amusement and horror I unknowingly burnt the secret Birthday cake as I loitered around the kitchen a little too long making polite conversation, while everyone else did the dishes. But the forever resourceful Penny and Aroha saved the cake with extra icing, far too
many candles and powdered whipped cream. They even rounded up the local family to sing me a Spanish Happy Birthday - again staunch self control was called upon to cry only a little bit.
A quiet afternoon was had as we enjoyed our campsite and rested our legs from biking. Followed by fresh food summer dinner created and crafted by the talented Penny, Bubbly generously gifted by a local family who had heard there was birthday celebrations going on, canned strawberries carried in my bike pannier for the last 5 days in case we did not make it the next town for my birthday, and in Aroha´s artistic way to make beautiful things more beautiful: balloons and streamers sprinkled amongst the trees.
With a humbled, well loved and slightly lost for words manner, I happily crawled into my tent.
xxx
Kate
PS: I was so horrified at the thought of turning 35 the moment I turned 34, that I practiced by pretending to be 35 all year. It works! Because now Im well used to being 35 and dont at all feel any older. Infact so far supremely good.
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Richard
non-member comment
snap...
i loved your closing comment on pre stressing about getting a year older, i'm sure it is going to work for me too this year...