SHORT: Back from Slovenia

To start of this blogpost, it was a grand week spent in Slovenia with a number of friends and acquaintances (whom have now become friends). Most of my time was spent paddling on the Soča and the Koritnica, almost all sections have been paddled (except for the extremely dangerous sections and a few other stretches of the river). I'd like to give you that this is a very short summary of the whole trip, working on some larger posts that give a bit more detail.

Personally I had one rest day where I had planned to go paddling, so hiked up a mountain with two others ... after snow was encountered we turned back ;-).

Though to get back on the topic, Slovenia, paddling and photos...In advance I had a few goals to actually paddle some nice stretches of white water and also create a number of grand photos. Oh yeah, also to have a great time. All these three goals have been reached in this 10 day stretch of vacation.

Arrival was in the morning of April 30th, after having driven through the night in my sturdy car ... quite a long time even with four drivers taking over the wheel after some period. A large coffee did taste pretty good in a German Autohof somewhere in South Germany during this night. The rest of the day was spent chillin' on the Soča in not all too good weather, but rain doesn't hurt anyone on the water.
As this was my first time in my second-hand Wavesport Z it took a bit of time to get used to the kayak, but felt really good and way better than my previous Bliss Stick Flip-stick as river runner.


Ivette in her Pyranha Inazone 230 on the Soča

From monday on the weather turned for the better during the day, though at night still quite cold. Even discovered one early morning that the tent had actually frozen stiff, must mean that it was quite chilly. In the evenings a fire kept us going and with these low temps the distance between person and fire was not all too far.


Camp by night

The day before last I was finally able to actually work on my photography goal that I had also planned, was just too tired to actually paddle the Trnovo slalom course the correct way and get all the required eddies. So took my DSLR and ran from spot to spot along the course itself, with some of my friends as willing volunteer for photos (who wouldn't want some spectacular images of him/herself on white water :p ). In the photo below Arend-Jan is taking a nice line through a small hole in the first section of the course.


Arend-Jan on the Trnovo slalom course

More posts of this trip will be published in the next few weeks, though for so far more photos can be enjoyed on my Flickr-page.

Going kayaking in Slovenia :)

After having not been on a vacation for a number of months, its time again to go on another trip again. This time heading to Slovenia with a couple friends of the student canoe club DKV Euros for a week of white water kayaking.

Have been in the same region for a few times now, and paddled on the same rivers also. Everytime has been a blast, what is better than to have fun on and off the river with friends, and spending the whole day outside for a whole week?!

However, this time I am going to add a bit of more purpose to the trip besides learning to paddle better on white water; my goal is this time to take a number of spectacular kayaking and lifestyle photos. The underlying goal of this will be to improve my photography and photo portfolio of outdoor adventure photos.

I promise to write a bit more about this sometime later in the coming week ...

Adventurous start of a new year

In 2010 the year started with preparations for a long cycling trip through New Zealand, so this year I wanted to do something again. Sometime in December I vented the idea that it would be cool to do a short trip just after Christmas, spending new year's eve somewhere else. My sister did dig this idea as well, so things were settled.

My idea was first to head out to the snow, though it would be hard to get there, and find a place to sleep. Therefore we headed out to Belgium, more particular the coastal area west of Antwerp. The idea was to watch the fireworks on the beach somewhere ... which worked out!

Coming from the northern part of the Netherlands it was about half a days drive to reach Bruges, where we soon found a hostel (after having walked to the city square and back again, tourist information was about 100m from where we parked). It was a bit shabby, though it was pretty cheap and that's good ... we then immersed ourselves again in the city flow of being a tourist and enjoying the numerous Christmas decorations. The evening ended in an Irish pub, placed in a cellar :-).


Decorated restaurants on Bruges' square

During breakfast the next day we learned from a few other guests that the pubs and all would be closed in the evening, and they were wondering what we would do. Never had it crossed our minds that the pubs would be closed, and we hadn't thought that far ahead ... we planned to head to Oostende.

This was only a short drive and soon saw a couple signs designating free parking and a bus taking you to the center of town. The parking area was found with ease, however we could not find a bus or signs telling us where the bus would be. After having walked about 5-10 minutes we found out that we were actually very near the center of Oostende, only on one of the walks back later that day we found the bus stop.

Having found the tourist information we booked into the youth hostel "De Ploate", where they still had some room for us. The guy behind the reception thought it was adventurous of us not having booked a room on new year's eve. The rest of the afternoon was spent walking though Oostende and having a cup of coffee somewhere.


Oostende pier

Later that evening we found out that the German guests of the hostel in Bruges had been right, almost everything was closed. Almost the only restaurant that was still open, and not fully booked, was the Pizza Hut. It was a bit strange though, having the idea that this was a fast food restaurant, we had to wait to be seated and were asked whether we had booked. Of course we hadn't booked a spot, this whole trip was based on the idea of roaming around without planning anything. Fortunately they still had a table left and the pizzas were soon gone.
Now what to do the rest of the evening? During our walk through town that afternoon we had discovered a cinema, and they were still open until half past ten. We chose "The tourist" as the last movie we would see in 2010, which was pretty good fun.

Not long after eleven we ventured out again, to the promenade near the casino to view the fireworks. This was pretty spectacular ... 


Fireworks at Oostende

... more photos of our trip can be found here.

Have a very happy new year, to pursue your goals with success and vigour!

Times lost in France

It seems like this is a returning note from me about my blogs, but I was intending to keep this blog updated once every while ... shame on me for not keeping my own promises :-(.

A lot has happened in the past few months that might be worth sharing, such as the fact that I am finally moving out of my student room and going into a small apartment in Deventer (NL), and spent some fantastic times in the French Alps with a few friends.

We had decided over a small barbecue that we wanted to go paddle somewhere in France this summer, so made plans to head down to the area near Guillestre. In that region there are a few nice rivers paddleable with a certain degree of difficulty (WW 3-4). On a friday evening we set of in a van with a few kayaks strapped to a trailer and set the GPS for France... a number of hours later we were near the Alpe d'Huez and soon reached our destination.


As we had only a week we took our time for sleeping pretty late this week, and had the afternoons to paddle. Unfortunately a week is only a short time, so only after getting warmed up and used to the rivers it was also about time to go home again. All in all this was a splendid week, paddling the Durance and the Guil :).

Why go cycle touring on a recumbent?

Within New Zealand and my home country the Netherlands, I get this question from time to time. The short answer that I usually give that it is more fun to be on a recumbent (i.e., "bent" for short), than on an upright bike. As you can probably figure, that is not the whole story to it.

During my high school period I was saving up for an upright trekking bike, like the Koga-Miyata WorldTraveller, but one day came across a bentrider while I was cycling to school. It was not the speed or the relaxed cycling that caught my eye, but that it was different. I started to ask around in local bike shops where I could get one, and searched the internet, which led me to a recumbent bike shop in Leeuwarden (nowadays Liever Ligfietsen).

The owner, Perry Pruis, was enthusiastic and I felt a warm welcome in his shop with quite a collection of different bents (this was in late summer of 1999). All the low bents didn't appeal to me, I was attracted to the Challenge Distance and the Optima Condor, both 26-inch wheeled bents. But I still didn't know what it was to ride one, so picked the Optima Condor (under-seat steering (USS)) to be the one I was gonna learn to ride first.
An initial try in the shop led me to believe that I was never gonna be able to ride a bike like this, but after practicing on an empty parking lot I got it down a bit better. Then I was told to try the bike out in a 'small' round of 10-20km, which is a good way to learn to ride a bent. Immediately I liked the fact that I was steering with my hands beside me, and riding the Challenge Distance (tiller steering) felt like I was handling a boat rudder. Although it was a bit easier to get on the Distance, I found the Condor to ride better; which led me to order my first bent, a grey Optima Condor.

Years later (2007) after abusing the Condor to its maximum a whole range of new bents have been developed and I wanted to try something new, another USS 26-inch wheeled bent. My choice fell pretty quick on the Nazca Pioneer, though I wanted to make a bike that was completely mine. Therefore I ordered just the framekit, and some bikeparts separately (such as a Rohloff hub, Shimano dynohub, hydraulic Magura rimbrakes, and a couple strong Mavic rims). It was quite a project to build the bike up from scratch, including lacing the wheels, but it was also a fun project to do that was completed in january 2008. Over the two years that I own the bike it has been changed, mostly the fenders change once a while, but also the tires. The tires that I use for this bike are the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme (50-559) and the Schwalbe Marathon XR (57-559), which are both very comfortable. Wider tires means more air, which translates to a smoother ride.

But to get back on the topic of why I go cycle touring on a bent; there are quite a few benefits after a days ride: no tingling feeling in my hands because blood flow is obstructed, no sore shoulders, no back pain (depending on hardness of the seat and correct sizing), and usually a smooth ride because of suspension (almost all touring bents have rear suspension). When you ride in summer, it is like you are on a lounge chair soaking up the sun, while riding.
OK, there are disadvantages: usually somewhat heavier, not really suited for technical off road cycling, a fully loaded bent is harder to get through the usual bike sluice (bent is quite a bit longer), climbing seems to be harder (but this can also be just a feeling), and you can get a lot of attention abroad (both positive and negative sometimes). Car drivers sometimes come up to you saying that you're not very visible on a bent, but only had a couple close calls in all the time that I'm riding a bent. When you're cycle touring an upright bike you also attract attention, but don't get a bent if you don't want to attract attention in cities or campsites (in fact, don't go cycle touring at all :p). Meeting other people is for me one of the reasons of traveling, and cycle touring makes it much easier than traveling in a campervan or car. Oh yeah, carrying a fully loaded bent down a flight of stairs is more or less impossible. Make sure that when you pack your bent panniers, that the heavy things are more or less under your butt (center of the bike), don't put too much weight on the back (see my previous post).

A little something about climbing on a bent, in New Zealand I rode side by side with another cyclist and on a downhill I was down earlier, but on the uphill I got overtaken by that same cyclist. It was clear that he was in a higher gear (so less crank revelations) than me, while we both had the same Rohloff setup, although this might be the effect of 155mm cranks on my bike vs 170-175mm on his. Guess which crank length I'm gonna go for again sometime soon. Another disadvantage is that in a long climb you really can't change your position, if you would want to. On an upright bike you still have the possibility to stand on the paddles for a while.

So if I were to go cycle touring through the USA or on good roads/tracks, I would definitely take my bent, but if I would go cycling the "Long way round" through Mongolia and Russia (especially the Road of Bones in Siberia) or through Patagonia, I would maybe take an upright MTB-style bike (such as the Tout Terrain Silkroad, or Koga-Miyata Signature WorldTraveller). An upright bike is easier to push up a hill or through a field of bog. Though I might come pretty far with a signature 26-inch wheeled bent (Africa is pretty good doable on a Condor, shown by Edvard's Tour d'Afrique), and I once said that I wouldn't want to go back to an upright for cycle touring…

Memories of NZ and new adventures

Like the most of you readers of this blog already know it has been already over a month since I came back from my cycling trip through New Zealand. To get my mind of things and not falling in a deep hole of not cycling I had decided to run a half marathon in a reasonable time (planned to do it 1:45h). But in the last few weeks I find myself more and more thinking back on how simple the life on the road was, just having to figure out food for the day and soaking up the scenery (and sun). Hoping, and sometimes a bit planning, to reach a next campsite. Working life is way more complicated, I prefer the life on the road. While reading up on a couple blogs the latest blogpost by Alastair Humphreys brought a smile to my face.

So, last weekend it was actually time to run that 21,1 km in the region of Hengelo (Overijssel, NL), only a few kilometers from home. I didn't have that much confidence in myself starting, seeing all those people that look really fit and with shirts of other full marathons and all. Though the first 10km were fairly easy, leaving some of those marathon runners behind me. I didn't think I was actually going very fast, and tried to pace myself to keep it easy, as running for over 20km is kinda new. Reaching the 10km point, I was in a group of runners that were all in the same pace and decided to stick with these guys for the other half. Unfortunately, my legs were running on vapors after about 13km, so couldn't keep up with these experienced guys. Maybe I should have trained (better/more) for such a long run, and taken some food with me .. where are the petrol stations with Cookie Munchers and a bottle of cola when you need them? Ah well, I did make it in the end, after (a not so satisfying time of) 2 hours, 6 minutes, and 29 seconds. It did feel good crossing the finish, so I'll probably do this again somewhere this year, just to beat this time :-).

And then yesterday I got reminded by a couple friends that I had promised to give a presentation about my travels through New Zealand. Right then and there we decided to do that in two weeks, allowing myself to prepare that a bit with a couple sweet photos and a nice story. Anybody here that has suggestions to things they want to know about my travels through NZ?? Replies are welcome via the comments below this blogpost, via twitter, or other ways you have to reach me :p.

Selection of photos published

Today, a little less than a week since I have returned back home, a set of some (in my opinion) sweet images have been published online. The images can be found on the link below. Enjoy!

Photos.

Back home again

It has been now a couple days since I am back on Dutch ground again,
but still my NZ experience can't find a close in my mind. Although I
am back at work again, and sleeping in my own bed again, it feels
strange to be here. Ah well, that will pass probably.

My trip back home didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, as the staff
of Malaysian Air at first didn't recognize my bike as being some
sporting equipment, and almost had to pay quite a fee for at least
25kg excess bagage. But after some arguing and phoning, and mentioning
that I wouldn't pay for that other than the fee I also paid at
Schiphol (€80) the staff admitted. Apparently KLM has better
regulations and offers for bikes than MH, but I did book my flight at
KLM so they should honour my arrangements.

Once my luggage was checked in it was time for customs, and of course
I got picked out for an extra check with a hand scanner.

The flight to Kuala Lumpur was fairly smooth, but once in KL the
trouble began. As I had about three hours of transfer time I decided
to get a cup of decent coffee first at Starbucks. Once I left their
comfortable chairs I had a look at the monitors, and it read that my
next flight was delayed up to 3 am (should have left 11:40pm). So
headed to O'Brians for some food ;). They do serve good sandwhiches.
As time went on and the airport nearly closed, and I had seen almost
every bit of the transfer area I headed to the gate.
After a few hours we learned from someone in charge that a bird had
entered the engine at take-off in Jakarta, and the mechanics were
checking it for damage. Though this took a few hours longer than the
guy told us, and food and drinks were not allowed past the security
check. After some questioning from several passengers drinks and
muffins were arranged from the airplane, but only after a long time.
In the end we left KL a out 5:30am for Schiphol, where we landed
around 11:20am.

Won't be flying for a while, had my fair share of flying for now. Next
holiday will be somewhat closer to home ;-).

A next project to keep me occupied will be running a half marathon in
Hengelo in about a month. Should be fun!

Kia ora! And goodbye! Keep watching my other blog, I'll be changing
it... Cya!

My last days in NZ

With this glimpse of the big city Auckland I will make this the last
blogpost from New Zealand, next one will be from Dutch soil.

Yesterday flew in from Christchurch to Auckland, and arranged a place
to sleep at a hostel. The best option was a hostel in the center of
town, according to the people at the airport tourist info. Had already
arranged storage for my bike at the airport, Seal-n-Secure do a good
service! But I will have to tend to the bikebox on sunday, as it was a
little damaged. Nothing two rolls of ducttape can't fix ;).

I have spent a good time in Christchurch, and also day in Akaroa. That
day to Akaroa is one that I will not forget, spending time out in the
harbour on a sailing boat, watching dolphins, and spending the day
with another solo traveller. The other days were spent walking around
Chch, and visiting the Art Gallery. On day of departure the campsite
host brought me, and a couple others, to the airport with the bikebox
just fitting inside the van. What a service from the North & South
campsite!

In the evening after arriving in Auckland, it was time for a meal, and
something to do. Ended up catching an early movie, "Shutter Island",
at the Skycity Metro Cinemas. That is one wicked movie!

Today spent time in Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World, hanging around
Mission Bay, and a view from the Sky Tower at 220 metres of the city
and it's surroundings. What a view! Have also tomorrow to explore the
city; probably will visit the museum & do other things.

On sunday the 7th I'm flying west, heading back home. I actually can't
wait to see family & friends again, but I would also love to spend
another few months here or in another part of the world. I think that
another adventure, maybe closer to home, won't be that far off. This
trip, and the people I have met, have given me quite some inspiration
for something new.
See ya!

End of a mind-blowing cycling trip

With reaching Christchurch by bike it ia more or less the end of my
journey through New Zealand. Of course I am not flying home directly,
so still have a couple of days to explore more of the area around
Christchurch, and later on Auckland. However, no more cycling days
with a load of luggage.
It has been a grand journey, both in size - exploring the country by
bicycle - as well as in mind - actually doing something that has been
a dream for so long. Ah well, the dream of cycling around the North
Sea still exists ;-). But nevertheless, it has been exhilirating,
epic, heavy, stunning, and quite a few other superlatives that I can't
think of right now. Oh yeah, gorgeous and beautiful!
Right now I'm waiting for my dinner at the Bailies Irish bar &
restaurant at Cathedral Square in Christchurch, to celebrate the end
of this trip. By the time I have posted this on my blog the dinner and
a few pints of Guinness will be a sweet memory.
For the following days I planned some touristy things, such as a
scenic bus tour to Akaroa (monday) and spending a day in Christchurch
(sunday). Aside of that I will still have to figure out a way of
getting a box for my bike and prepare everything for flying to
Auckland, and a few days later home. That is something that I will be
working out in the following days. Now I'm both glad and relieved that
I made it, but also a bit sad to end it all. Let's see if Guinness can
fix that ;-) [no, I'm not becoming an alcoholic].
See you all sometime in the next month, when I get home again to
family & friends.
Cheers, Eddo

The last leg

With my travel from Dunedin to Omarama the last leg of my cycling
adventure will start after a good night's sleep. This trip has taken
me thru almost the entire length of New Zealand, with the exception of
Fiordland, the Catlins and Invercargill.
This last part will take me from Omarama to Lake Pukaki and Lake
Tekapo, two large lakes that provide quite a portion of the country's
electricity through hydropower stations. From there I'll ride to
Fairlie, Geraldine, where I will pick up the Inland Scenic Route 72
through Methven and Oxford to Christchurch.

I have planned to stay a few days in Christchurch, or even cycle to
Akaroa on Banks Peninsula. From almost every cyclist I met the tip was
given to ride to Akaroa, it will be a heavy ride but with spectacular
views as reward!
On March 4th my plane leaves Christchurch, to take me back to
Auckland, the city from where I started two months ago.

I have mixed feelings about travelling home again, I would love to see
both family & friends again, but there is still so much to do and see
in New Zealand that I wish I had more time. For now I don't want to
think about it too much and experience and enjoy my travelling as much
as possible through this wonderful country, even with its notorious
headwinds ;-). Some of the very scenic and touristy things are still
to come for me, the views of Mt. Cook from Lake Pukaki and the Church
of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo. Hope these are not as busy with
tourists as the Moeraki Boulders (most likely they will be).

"I took the road less travelled, now where the hell am I?!" (Quote
from a Wicked Campervan)

PS. Didn't get lost up until now, though roadsignage could be improved
in NZ ;-).

Update from along the Otago Central Rail Trail

Since my last update on this blog I have travelled almost to the other
side of the South Island, from west to east.
As you could have followed on Twitter the Haast Pass was pretty
spectacular and heavy, but the actual steep part wasn't that long,
only about 2km.
The scenery does change once you cross the pass into Otago, as I felt
that the air was dryer and you ride on more flat bits.

Wanaka was a grand little town, it gave me a great vibe, and would
love to live their, if only for a few years. The Mt. Aspiring National
Park is only about 40-50km away, and the tow. Is just at a sweet lake
with a splendid view. Spent there a restday, walking around Puzzling
World and strolling through town. The next day it was a long climb up
to the highest public road of NZ, the pass over Crown Range, passing
the access to the Cardrona ski field. The road down was an alpine
style way down, and tested my bike quite harshly. The headset of the
frontfork had quite a bit of room, so that had to be fixed in
Queenstown. Fortunately the guys at a bikeshop lent me two spanners to
fix it myself :).

My plan of riding to Glenorchy wasn't completed, as the ride was just
to hilly and heavy, continuously going up and down. Therefore I spent
the rest of the afternoon in Queenstown, which is quite long enough to
see everything there. Even with a nice stop at a Starbucks (white
chocolate mocchachino's are superb!) and an hour in a jetboat on the
Kawarau river.

Next day cycled past quite a few vineyards and through the Kawarau
gorge to Cromwell. The next morning I met a British cyclist also
heading for the Otago Central Rail Trail (OCRT) and decided to ride it
together to Dunedin. Up until now Dominic and me have spent just about
100km together. If you're interested, his blog is http://tourofnz.wordpress.com
.

At some moments of the OCRT all we miss is some Enio Morricone music,
rolling tumbleweed, and either John Wayne or Clint Eastwood on
horseback.

It is true that the trail is never very steep, but still can be quite
an effort with a strong headwind. It appears also that the nights are
quite cold, but after noon the sun starts to burn.

This morning we, Dominic and me, got offered breakfast by Bill and
Jennifer from Ashburton. Coffee and toast. They were quite interested
in our stories so far, and were quite keen in telling theirs. Thanks
so much for that!

Tomorrow finishing the OCRT in Middlemarch, and then taking the scenic
train into Dunedin, saving us cycling into the busy traffic of
Dunedin ;). No, this doesn't feel like cheating sis!

PS. If on the OCRT, do not stop at Hayes Engineering. They charge you
for just walking around and the food and drinks are way too expensive.
Stop at the tavern in Oturehua, they're cheaper and sell a good pint
of Speights ;).

Goodbye epic Westcoast and sandflies

The glacier depicted on this photo is Fox Glacier, which I found to be
prettier and rougher than Franz Josef Glacier. Near both glaciers I
could feel the cold coming from them, which was good on a hot day ;).

Staying at Gillespies Beach was pretty sweet, but there were quite a
few sandflies around. Took the time to hike and sit on the spectacular
coast and make photos of the sunset and crashing waves. The road to,
and from, was a 16km, winding, gravel road that went up and down and
took me quite some time to cover.

Next stop, Lake Paringa, another DoC campsite. Apparently the only
source of drinking water was a small mountain stream, reminding me of
canoeing holidays in Sweden. And also here, a million sandflies!

Currently in Haast, after a 'short' ride today (50km), having to
conquer three bluffs. Tomorrow heading up Haast Pass from the
difficult side, at least that is what I got told. And then I'll stay
on the eastern side of the Southern Alps for the remainder of my
travels through New Zealand. Looking forward to the area around Wanaka
and Queenstown!

Westcoast and glacier country

Just after a month of cycling I have reached the Westcoast of the
South Island and made it all the way down to glacier country (Franz
Josef & Fox Glacier). The weather has been exceptionally warm and
sunny for the Westcoast, as it usually rains a fair bit along these
shores.

The roads from Westport to Greymouth were simply spectacular, as at
some points you cycle for a few kilometers directly besides the Tasman
Sea. At high tide, when there is a fair bit of wind, the large swells
break spectacularly on the shoreline, which is lined with rocks.
During my stay along this part of NZ the winds even kept going at
night, which made for grand sunset photos (didn't bring my tripod for
nothing ;) ). Sorry, but u won't see those photos until I get back home.

The blowholes and pancake rocks at Punakaike were also epic at sunset,
and it was just sweet to be standing at the bluff and see the sun
setting into the Tasman Sea. Sweet as!

The roads south of Greymouth weren't that nice, boring at sometimes,
but not everything can be exceptional. However, riding towards the
glaciers more and more crystal blue meltwater rivers turn up,
reminding me of Slovenias Soça river.

Yeah, white water paddling is possible in this area, but the size of
the kayaks I saw in Hokitika means that it is BIG water. And no,
nobody does any commercial ww kayaking in Hokitika :(.

Tomorrow I'll be heading towards Franz Josef Glacier, ah well, I'm in
the town already, but going to the glacier.
Here on the campground I also met a few other Dutch cyclists, 15 of
'm, that are on an organized following parts of my route in the other
direction. They have it easy though, as their luggage is carried for
them from campground to campground in a trailer behind a car.
About meeting people; everyday I meet other cyclists or people who
have done cycle tours. Also today, I met a Scottish couple in Whataroa
and shared a lunch together and talking about the route and Scotland.
Our conclusion at the end was that sandflies are worse than midgies.
--
This message was sent by a mobile device. Sorry for any inconsistencies.

On the beautiful South Island

It feels like a long time, but I have arrived only less then a week
ago on New Zealand's South Island.

If you followed my tweets on http://twitter.com/eddokloosterman you
would have seen that I followed the very scenic, beautiful Queen
Charlotte Drive from Picton to Havelock. It was a great road, though a
bit hilly heading from cliffs to bays & beaches continuously. From
Havelock it took me a day to get to Nelson over Rai Saddle and
Whangamoa Saddle, quite steep climbs, but the last one had a splendid
downhill!
This road is usually known, or infamous, for being used by a lot of
log trucks; as it was a sunday, I was lucky as I didn't see a single
truck :).

After Nelson I went up North to Marahau, the entrance to the Abel
Tasman National Park. Kayaking here is fairly expensive, and they
don't allow a single traveler to 'freedom kayak' on his own. So I
decided to hike a part of the Coastal track, with a water taxi
dropping me of at a beach in the morning and then walking back. It was
great fun, and the beaches are like you would expect them to be on a
tropical island, gold coloured sand and azur blue sea! Just stunning!

From now on I'll be heading west and south, following the Westcoast
of the South Island. Hope the weather will be a bit cooler, as it is
fairly warm to cycle here with 20C. I know, I shouldn't complain, it's
a lot colder back home in NL ;). But hills are pretty tough to climb
when it's hot..

@PioneerPeter: helaas nog geen Grolsch hier kunnen ontdekken in de
supermarkten, wel dat andere, bekende Nederlandse biermerk. Maar
lokale bier smaakt ook wel goed ;).
--
Mvg, Eddo

Wellington :)

And thus I have it so far down as Wellington, a beautiful city but very busy. Yesterday afternoon I spent at the Te Papa Museum, which was freely accessible :).
But some more info on how I got here... my route took me from Taupo down to National Park Village. I stayed at campsite near the crossing of SH46 & SH47, known as the Tongariro Holiday Park and from the road the Tongariro Base Camp Cafe is the thing that catches the eye. From here I took a shuttle bus to the start of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, and a day later rode on to Ohakune (previous post, which I couldn't send before time on PC was gone).

From there I took the Parapara Highway down to Wanganui, which was definitely a long cycle, but made it eventually (about a 100km). I then decided to push on to Wellington, taking me a few days to reach. The campsite near the beach in Otaki wasn't that good, as the receptionist wasn't that friendly when I turned up, and the price was pretty high (Top 10 Holiday Park are usually also pretty high priced, but def. worth it). Must be the location near the beach that drives up the price here ... but spent the late afternoon at the beach watching the sunset into the Tasman Sea. The day after picked up my stuff again and set my mind on reaching Wellington, taking the train from Paraparaumu. But the line was closed, so had to cycle another 10k along a busy highway, felt like I was cycling along the A35 from Enschede to Hengelo, with only a different scenery. Those parts of the route are not that much fun.

So today I am setting out to view Wellington a bit more, besides the Te Papa museum. Have my mind set on the cable-car and maybe Mt. Victoria .. ah well, have a whole day to amuse myself.

Tomorrow morning at 10:25am I am leaving the North Island by InterIslander ferry and heading over to the South Island, where I will be staying the remainder of my trip. Everybody keeps telling me that the South Island is way more beautiful than the North. Let's find out!

Update from Ohakune

Currently staying in Ohakune, a small town just south of Mt. Ruapehu. With only a couple minutes on the clock of my Internet-access-time-quota I am trying to give you an update to how it has been so far.
First of all the weather has been fantastic, I here it has been snowing quite heavily back home, but out here the sun in baking hot. Almost too hot to cycle in, with the exception of today of course, drizzle and cloudy. Have made my way across Tongariro National Park, and did the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. This was without a doubt a great dayhike, too bad the weather up on the mountain ridges wasn't too good (misty and terrific wind), but it was quite good fun and had a blast of a day.
Unfortunately the computer here doesn't allow me to view the RAW-images I have made with my camera, so uploading a few just to let u have a small insight to what NZ looks like will have to wait.

A roadside report

After being a couple of days on the road it finally starts to settle
in that the distances I can manage in a single day riding are not that
large (approx. 75km). The roads continually go up and down, where it
sometimes climbs for a couple kilometers.
Aside of that I managed to cycle the first part of my planned route
from Auckland to Hamilton and today to Matamata. Hamilton was nice,
lots of shops and quite a few pubs & restaurants.
If u btw gonna think that when in Matamata u want to visit the
Hobbiton filmset, it's nice, but don't think its worth the dollars.
For now I'm going back to reading a book and will give u more updates
as they come ... Sweet as bro'

Travelling to the other side of the world

"Air New Zealand", by Chuck Johnson, on Flickr

Woohoo, in just a day I am flying from Schiphol (NL) to Auckland (NZ), with a transfer in Shanghai (CN). Finally my grand adventure in NZ can begin! It has taken me about a year longer to be at this point, but that's all behind me now. Through this blog I will try to post updates about my travel and what I've done/encountered/experienced/explored, possibly with some photos.

Via my Twitter (@eddokloosterman) I will post some smaller messages that are coming more frequently and more random, as I don't need to find an Internet café to post messages. And no, I am not taking my laptop with me, way to heavy, and my iPhone will have to do in the two months that I'm there.

The next time I will post something on this blog will be from Kiwi-soil. See you on the other side of the world!

My own epic adventure

With my first long travel on a bike, at least longer than 2-3 weeks, less then a month away (28 days to be exact) I thought it was time for another blog update. A few people have also asked me how I have planned my whole trip, and where I am going to stay. Short version, only have general areas that I want to visit, and what happens in between is not planned.

The long version is that I used to have a fairly detailed route planned out, which can be found in earlier posts, but that my mind is set to just see how far I can get. Of course I want to see a few specific scenic places and towns, but I honestly do not know the road conditions and the traffic. With the Cycling guide that I bought a month ago I do have some more information on this, but I really have not found time yet to examine the routes and descriptions closely. One thing that I know, is that I want to make 75km each cycle day, and that I do not want to cycle each day. The plan is to make a number of dayhikes, such as the Tongariro Crossing and a couple similar hikes. It would be also sweet to go kayaking in NZ, either white water inland or sea kayaking near the coast; one of best areas for seakayaking seems to be the Abel Tasman National park or the Sounds area just north of Picton, but NZ has a lot of other places where I can paddle.

Another place I would like to visit, is Wanaka, on the South Island. Apparently this is the outdoor sports mecca of NZ, with a few walks and tracks through the Mount Aspiring National Park. This park is situated at the southern end of the Southern Alps, and has an attraction on me for its beauty and ruggedness. Take a look at one of the latest videos of Chase Jarvis and a video from Icebreaker, all shot in/near Mt. Aspiring National Park. Hope you get the idea why I wanna go ;-).