So, after cycling doldrums in Wellington's winter cold/drizzle/wind/inertia, the question became "what's next?" I had read about PAP online last year, and knew it was planned for this spring in Western Australia. Maile's email "Dude, are you going?" gave me a little push. Noticing at least 10 pounds of extra waistline this winter gave me another. So, I set up my trusty Surly Traveler's Check bike with the front rack/light/bag and started showing up for my Sunday club rides in this mode. Comments from riding companions ("did you bring everybody's picnic in that bag today?") were blithely ignored, and I was pleasantly surprised one day to be able to pull a cassette remover tool and extra spoke from the bag one morning and fix my wheel during a ride.
I finally pulled the trigger, and sent emails and $$ to Nick at PAP, and figured how to use some frequent flyer miles to pay for some of the trip to Perth.
Still, some reservations about the endeavor: I had not ridden more than 100K at one time since the Kiwi Brevet in Feb. No SR series, not even a 200K day. Mostly 30-40K rides twice a week, with 60-100K on Sundays. I finally decided to go forward, depending upon experience, somewhat flat route, and hope for good weather and blessings from cycling gods.
Tutukaka coast--by far the most pleasant place that I've assembled the Surly.
The girls had a 2 weeks school holiday starting Sept 24, and we headed North to Auckland Friday in the car for a week of vacation on the Tutukaka coast. This was great--fabulous views from our bach (vacation home) owned by one of Laura's colleagues here. We went snorkeling with beautiful fishes and swam with seals at Poor Knight's Island, and spent a day sailing in the Bay of Islands as well. Walks on rocky and sandy beaches too.
7 mm wetsuits, plus extra vest, hood, booties. . .cool water at Poor Knights Island
Inside the largest sea cave in the world.
Orca whale family off the Port Bow!
View from our living room.
Eleanor and Claire were both little monkeys at the adventure/ropes park.
On Sunday we went to the amusement park in Auckland, and Sunday night Laura and the girls dropped Ruthie and me off at the airport--Ruthie headed back to Wellington to continue her volunteer work with a professional theatre for tech week before opening night, and I headed toward Perth.
Overnight in Melbourne, then another 3-4 hours to Perth. 5 time zones. No, New Zealand is not part of Australia, and there is a pretty big puddle (Tasman sea) between them. Yep, Australia is a big place. Into Perth at 730am, taxi to the apartment at 830, at least 2 hours putting bike together, with several delays.
Smiling, prior to dropping headset parts over the balcony into sandy bushes below.
Shakedown ride to the sausage sizzle--oops, lets get those fingers dirty again re threading the chain Inside the little derailleur tab this time. . .
Yep, they're sizzling now.
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