The time is nearly upon us to say goodbye...

Really? I get to look forward to this?

The time is nearly upon us to say goodbye New Zealand.  It is hard to believe that we have been living in, depressingly rainy at the moment, Tauranga since April and that our return flight is less than a month away.  Say what?  But, I thought you got a sweet 6 month contract as a data analyst.  Um, shut your sassy mouth.  I'm telling a story here.  Beth is returning as planned early next month and I have yet to change my return flight.  It is on my list of things to do in the next couple days. I did try to get Vayama to exchange my ticket to be used for the gnarly 2013 titanium butt-a-thon.  However, they gave me the line that you have to use the same airlines as your departing flight.  So jet setting around to various countries isn't going to work.  I'll have to buy another ticket for what I already laid out as my itinerary.  You ready for it?  In order not to waste a half a ticket, I'll be coming back to MN, for a brief period (see the very scientific term '*smack* nom nom *groan*': the time it takes me to eat ribs), before coming back down to Kiwi-land to start my journey back to MN. 

 

Come on New Zealand, make these!

So what is new?  We are moving out of our flash digs here next week.  I'm moving in with 3 strangers, well they are not complete strangers any more as I have met them.  This place is 2 blocks from where we are now and its super flash.  It is right on Pilot Bay, so I'll be able to take the SUP out with ease and still run around/up the Mount.  I may even get to go sailing again if my time frees up.  My rent is considerably cheaper than before and we have a grill.  So maybe I can find a place that sells ribs here and I can smoke my own.  Robert, send me some recipes for some dry rubs.  I'll be moving in to the place this weekend as next week will be very frantic.  Maybe I should smoke an entire lamb.  I think I know where are few are.

Get the grill ready and look out for the cops.

Besides officially moving out of the Atlas next week, its also my birthday.  Turning 33.  For those that want to get me something.  I have a list of things I could use on the 2013 bike adventure.  Leave a comment and I'll let you know what I could use.  Back to the topic at hand, we are also heading up to Auckland where I will see Beth off.  She isn't departing permanently, but she is going across the ditch to visit Australia.  I'll be doing something up in this area for a couple days as I wait for Skog to arrive.  I'm thinking of doing some freedom camping, aka tossing my bivy sack and sleeping bag on the ground some place off the road and seeing how I fare at being alone in the middle of nowhere.  Having never solo camped, I better know how it feels if I'm going to do it for 6 months.  Skog gets in early Friday morning and I'll be picking him up.  Not only is he our first friend to visit, he gets to experience my first time driving in a foreign country and on the wrong side of the car and road.  Lucky him.  We will head back to Tauranga to drop some a couple things I had him bring from the States at the new digs.  I have a feeling I'll be the best flatmate for those 3 weeks as I wont be there, but still paying for the room.  Then we will most likely head towards Taupo, Rotorua, and a couple other places before getting back to Auckland on Monday Night for our 1 week stint in Australia.  With Tongariro acting like a kid off his Ritalin, we may not get to do the 42nd Traverse, but we'll find some other place to explore by mountain bike. 

Hey Bri, if you are reading this: please contact your biker friends in Sydney to see if they have some bikes to loan out and if they can have a couple guys (us) crash with them.  Nah, I'm only serious about the bike part as I have no problem with hostels, unless the guy is sick and has the bottom-less bag of chips.  Ugh memories of my first couple nights in Japan last year.  Skog is already looking up places to eat in Australia that include some pretty awesome looking butchers and buffets.  Beth is likely to meet up with us here in Sydney before we all go to Queenstown.  She has a whirlwind 2 weeks planned with either scuba diving or snorkeling up in the Great Barrier Reef and planes, trains, and walking as her means of transportation. 

Will he be as excited?

In Queenstown, we'll be meeting up with my friend Michelle (former macpac cohort and biking partner) for some snowboarding and extreme (got to say it like the guys from Harold and Kumar) action.  We'll be on the S. Island for the remainder of their time in NZ not counting the departure window.  Doing what?  I can't really say, but meat will be eaten and bones may be broken.  As long as its not me that ends up like Gabe.  (Gabe is one of our tenants back home last recently destroyed his wrist.  I would have said break, but that would is not descriptive enough).  Then its the 3 days of airport action: Beth departs on the 9th, my cousin Mekayla arrives on the 10th, and then Skog leaves on the 11th.  I was supposed to return on the 12th, but I think I'm going to miss my flight for some reason.  I don't know about the international terminal, but the domestic has some pretty tasty tonkotsu ramen.  It will be weird to say goodbye and live here by myself, but I got to make and save some money so I can afford to do a short bike jaunt back to the house I left back in April.

Planning the next year: A Rough Estimate

Unique thoughts happen when riding

So Beth is leaving in about a month, well we are going over to Australia and the South Island for the last bit.  Originally the plan was for Skog to visit from the August 25th till Sept 11th and for Beth to return on the 9th and me to return on the 12th.  Those plans have now blown up.  Beth is still going home on time and so is Skog, but we'll be jumping around like Mexican Jumping Beans up until that time.  Beth is going over to Australia for a couple of weeks and will be departing before Skog gets here.  I'll be heading up North of Auckland for a couple days for some adventure.  Once Skog gets here, we'll be looking to play on mountain bikes in Rotorua and summit either Mt Taranaki or Mt Ruapehu.  Depending on the time, we might try to fit something else in before heading over to Australia ourselves.  We'll have about a week over there before we head down to Queenstown.  We'll be trying to hook up with my friend Michelle for some snowboarding even though she has been working 12 hour days, 6-6.  From there we have no set plans.  We may get to several other spots, but we'll let our plans be flexible.  I wont be returning home for some time as I have gotten a contract until January.

The kicker is I really want to bike back.  I understand that to most people this concept is either beyond them or they think I'm a nutter.  Yes, this is a long and some what crazy sounding task.  It will test my resolve and may hurt the bank, but I've been tossing some quick figures together and well here they are.  I have not estimated what it would cost other than when I looked at a plane ticket for multiple locations it would be under $3000, which didn't include my existing flight that needs to be changed.

New Zealand: Tauranga to Invercargill to see New Zealand at a slower pace: approximately 2400 km.
Australia: Sydney to Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef and eat a roo: approximately 2800 km.
Japan: Nagasaki to Aomori to sample as many different varieties of ramen as I can: approximately 1800 km.
US: San Francisco to Minneapolis to get back home: approximately  2000 miles.

So Grand Total:  ~10,000km at first glance at Google Maps

I figure about a month or just over for each leg other than the domestic one where it will take as long as it needs to take.  I wouldn't be getting back until it was Summer time in the US.  I know that it would be a long time away from Beth.  About 10 months, but I'm sure we can handle it.  I just hope my bike and bum can handle the daily riding as I have never done anything like this before.  Sure, I have done a few multi-day trips back home, but never sustained riding.  The plan would be to do 100+ km a day with a rest day here and there.  On riding days I would bike about an hour then get off the bike for 5-10 minutes of stretching before resuming.  Then breaking at mid-day for some off the bike fun.  The days would be longer as it would be summer in the Southern Hemisphere, I could bike for a longer time in the sun and not do any night riding.  I would also try to camp as much as possible to keep the trip as cost effective as possible and allowing my budget to go to my already bottomless pit of a stomach.  I'm busy typing up a list of gear and planning what I think I would need.  I've already talked to Gabe, our friend/bike mechanic/beer brewer/tenant/dessert eater, about getting my Surly Cross Check up to the task.  Its time to make a decision as my ticket already needs to be changed ASAP.