Blogs from Ponsonby, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 3

Everything Including the Kitchen Sink Gentle Readers, With the ride about to resume, I have been sorting through my gear and preparing for the next leg to Taupo and Wellington. By now you will be so filled with enthusiasm for your own cycle trips that I have decided to provide you with a handy-to-use inventory. In other words, what to take. Right Front Pannier Sleeping bag and silk liner Thermarest inflatable mattress Small pillow, pillowcase, boxer shorts Weight 4 kg Left Front Pannier 1 emergency dinner - Back Country Cuisine freeze dried meal Waterproof plastic liner Clothes bag containing 2 changes underwear, spare cycling top, zip off trousers, lightweight merino long-sleeved top, lightweight long johns, I casual shirt, 1 spare pair socks. Small towel 1 pair crocs Weight 3 kg Left Rear Pannier First aid kit, ... read more

February - March 2009 Still loving it here in Auckland and I am feeling quite at home now. Most of you will know that I got a job with Hawkins Construction Ltd. From Banker to Builder! And some have now taken to calling me Bob!!! Disappointingly hard hat and yellow vest didn't come as part of the contract! Its taken me a while to get back into working life (what do you mean a 44 hour week is standard!???) BUT I have to admit I must have been missing it because I feel like life has finally become more "normal" again and now I am earning money to plan some trips to see more of this fantasic country!!! And I am seeing alot of it with work - Wellington (twice) and Hamilton in my first two ... read more

We got an early start on the day and starting packing. The hostel had kindly said that we could store our stuff until afternoon so we just need to complete the car sale, pick up the rental car, and head out of the city. About 8:45 I get a call from our German buyer, he is unable to take out enough money today and so will have to complete the sale tomorrow. This is a problem as we have now told the hostel we our leaving. After some time, we find the hostel staff and it turns out we can stay another night. This is now the second day that we have got the kids up early to pack and then found out that we are staying. I don't think they will trust me when I ... read more

We had decided that we would give the backpacker's car market another 3 day run to sell the van, so I headed down there this morning to pay for this. When I got there, they said that despite charging the van up, it had not been able to start so they were going to get someone from across the street at the garage to come and look at it. They figured it was likely just a fuse and not too major. They also told me someone was interested in buying it and had taken down our phone number. This was encouraging, but as I had not got a call I wasn't too hopeful. I left and walked back up towards the hostel, partially to check out other car repair places in case the one near the ... read more

Evy and I got up early and went down to the car market to lower our price and throw in some extras (a tent, stove, and sleeping pads) in order to get the van sold. The one offer we did have (which was way low) has now bought a van so we need to find a buyer. The doors of the van have been left open and so the battery is dead. Fortunately they have a charger handy as this happens a lot but it makes me even more concerned and stressed. After returning to the hostel we get the kids up and spend some time updating the text on our blog, which is almost a month out of date. We have been writing, just not posting, so we feed $2 coins into the INTERNET box ... read more