Tag: NZ

Those who have met me in person know that I am partly deaf. I was born that way, and when you don’t know what you’re missing, you get along OK. I seemed to cope with it, getting through life more or less fine. I never really felt left out, or overly frustrated by it – although those around me probably did. Getting hearing aids at the age of 20 made a massive difference – I didn’t absolutely have to be looking at someone when they spoke to me, although it still helped.

This year I’ve done some diving – 10 dives now – and people will of course think hey diving’s perfect if you’re deaf – you can’t talk underwater anyway! There is of course some truth in that. And of course you know about issues with equalisation when descend/ascend, and clearing your ears.

But what you don’t always know about is the aftereffects of the combination of water and pressure on your ears, and consequently your hearing. That water getting forced in there doesn’t really do it any favours, and so after diving you leave your hearing aids out, to let them dry out a bit. Not having your aids in, and having water in there makes you rather deaf – lucky it was good friends on the boat with me. It’s easier with voices that you’re familiar with. It does make you wary of joining conversations though, as you’re not sure if you’re missing things, or misinterpreting them.

We did a lot of diving that weekend at the Poor Knights, and it seemed to be too much, too deep, too soon for me. My ears were sore for a couple of days, and I felt a little more deaf than usual. Ronelle put me onto Vosol – a couple of drops in each ear in the evening. That helped a bit, but it’s not a cool look sitting around with toilet paper in your ears…Things weren’t quite right by the weekend though, so rather than exacerbate the problem, my advisor said I was better to give it a rest. So I’m going to have to wait until this weekend to try again – not too deep this time though.

On a completely different note – There is No Depression in New Zealand. I went out to Sale St Bar last night to catch up with some old university friends. The place was pretty busy, for a Wednesday night. It’s a big place, so that means quite a few people there. That place must be absolutely heaving on a Friday night, all the people who want to be seen out for a good time.

My friend Ronelle is back in the country for a very limited time, in transit from South Africa to South America. She is now a qualified dive instructor, and encouraged me to complete the PADI Advanced Open Water course, on a liveaboard trip to the Poor Knights. I had completed the first Open Water course in Thailand earlier this year, but had not been out diving since. This was a good excuse to do some more diving, complete the course, see the highly rated Poor Knights, and most importantly, catch up with Ronelle and Tara.

We drove up on Friday night, slept on the boat in the marina, then headed out on Saturday morning. Hanging around being monkeys seemed to be part of the pre-dive warmup:

A busy weekend followed, with four dives on Saturday, and two more on Sunday. I was only diving in a 5mm wetsuit, and with water temperatures around 15°, I was getting pretty cold and tired, so I sat out the third and last dive on the Sunday. We had some good dives though, doing things like navigation, going deep (26m), night diving (perhaps not my cup of tea), and probably my favourite, the naturalist. Basically for that you just went and looked at the fish, plants and animals. That’s more like what diving should be. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t suitable for doing a wreck dive on the way home, and indeed the trip back was a bit more interesting, but it was still good on the sheltered side of the islands.

I didn’t get home until 11pm on Sunday night, and was pretty well stuffed at work on Monday. No worries though, it was a really good weekend. Special mention to my Dive Master Tara, for looking after me, and getting me home safely. I’m not sure that drinking with your students the night before a deep dive is recommended practice though…

I don’t know how much more diving I’ll be able to fit in, as I’ve got lots of other things to do with my weekends, and I don’t know where I’d store the gear around my apartment, but I will be going out again this weekend, a bit closer to home, at Goat Island. Hopefully get a feed of scallops too.

And finally, here’s something you don’t do every day: get your ex girlfriend to help you write an ad for an Internet dating site. Hopefully I don’t come across as many odd sorts as she did. We’ll see how it works out. With a bit of luck, I’ll at least make a few new friends.

Just look at that speedo – a picture tells a thousand words. That speedo only goes to sleep mode if it doesn’t get used for two weeks – and it’s been a long time since I’ve done any serious riding on my tourer. No riding has also meant I haven’t felt like posting anything here, stretching the patience of you, dear reader.

For much has happened, and yet it is mostly of a domestic nature, and not exactly the sort the of thing that compares with riding across continents. I now have a permanent place to live (first time in over 18 months), a job, and the beginnings of a regular life. Perhaps it’s hard to understand if you have a regular life, but I’ve been struggling a bit with doing the routine thing. I’m not saying it’s bad, and one part of me is happy about knowing where I’ll be sleeping each night, but the feet do get itchy.

Perhaps it’s that I now have to fit into a routine that works around others. On the road, your needs are simple, and you can do whatever you please. Feel tired? Stop. Hungry? Eat. Had enough? Look for a place to camp, and stop. Raining? Stay in bed. Work of course means regular hours – it’s terribly inconvenient that way. Perhaps part of it is that I have friends in many different parts of the world now, and haven’t really established social networks here yet.

But I have made a commitment to staying in one place for at least 12 months, and so I shall. Being on the road is a good thing, and a place I want to be, but there are other times when you’re glad to be home, and close to your family. My father has recently been unwell, and it is times like these that you feel distance. Being only two hours drive down the road is a hell of a lot easier than being in the middle of China. Of course, one of the dirty little secrets of the world of the modern traveller is that you are never really more than 48 hours away from home, but that distance can still seem a very, very long way.

Over the last few months, I’ve met many people who’ve followed my trip, or heard about it from friends, and there are many questions. Some of them come up often, and I really do need to try and put them together in a summary post – I promise I’ll get onto it by the middle of next week.

There hasn’t been much touring riding going on over the last few months – it’s been mainly mountain biking, and not enough of it. Completely different style, on a light bike, throwing the bike around tight trails, getting covered in mud. Lots of fun, especially on the huge array of trails at Woodhill. I’m going to have to arrange some touring around New Zealand though – all the European cyclists seem to think it’s amazing here. Personally I think NZ drivers are too aggressive to make it a fully enjoyable experience, but I’ll give it a go over summer – it looks like the rain has finally stopped!

So it is done. I am home. 29,511km, 471 days, 25 countries, 2 special administrative regions, twice my weight in Snickers bars, too much dodgy Russian vodka and cheap Chinese beer, and I don’t know how many punctures when running Chinese tyres. Thankfully no serious crashes along the way, so I have made it pretty much safe and sound. Of course there is a possibility that I am carrying some obscure parasite or bacteria – perhaps a trip to the Travel Doctor is required – but I am feeling remarkably well. Plenty of exercise and fresh air must do the trick.

The last leg wasn’t the easiest I’ve ever done, but it was one of the most beautiful. I was in no real hurry, and so split it up over three days. I started out with an easy leg up to Waiwera, via Auckland’s North Shore. On the ferry to Devonport, I met a couple going out for a morning ride. 30 years ago they had travelled extensively, and talked about the problems they had found when they tried to settle down in New Zealand again. I think it must have been much harder then, when fewer people travelled, and it was difficult/expensive to keep in touch with people around the world. That’s not to say that things have changed that much though – the front page of Friday’s New Zealand Herald had a large article and photo about someone being assaulted by a hedgehog. There’s something reassuring about that being seen as the biggest story of the day in New Zealand.

Traffic wasn’t too bad along the East Coast Road, at least until Silverdale. Auckland is sometimes under-rated, but it was looking rather spectacular under a cool, clear late autumn sky. You can look out across the Hauraki Gulf, while riding through some of the greenest suburbs I’ve seen for a long time. No sign of drought here. I did really feel I was back in NZ when I ate my lunch sitting under a pohutakawa tree, beside a long sandy beach. Up and over the hill to Waiwera, where I spent several hours soaking in the hot pools. I went on all the slides and tubes, but it’s just not quite so much fun when you’re by yourself. No matter though.

Being Queen’s Birthday weekend, the road was pretty busy the next day, and slow going up a few tough climbs, with narrow/non-existent shoulders and too many cars. My parents met me at Wellsford, to provide some vehicle support. Pulling in to a nice river-side picnic area, and having picnic baskets full of food presented does take away from my hard man image a bit, I must admit. It did make life pretty easy, which was good since I had two punctures, within 15 km – one in each tyre! Considering I didn’t have any external punctures in all of Australia, this was a bit odd, and annoying. South of Wellsford, I turned off towards Mangawhai, and the riding improved dramatically. This is more like it, riding through green fields, with little traffic, on good roads. Much easier going to Mangawhai Heads, my last stop. I stayed at one of the most expensive places I’ve stayed in, and ate one of the most expensive meals of the trip, but it was all worth it. It was a little bit strange to think about it being my last night on the road, last time to find a hotel, last time to unpack the bags, last time to find food and a beer, last time…but we know that’s only for a while.

I had an extended support crew for my last day. My parents met me, and so did Suzie and her sister. Suzie was there the day I left London, so she saw me both start and finish. I was taking it fairly easy, with only around 60 km to cover. Dad joined me for the last leg into town, but we weren’t able to go straight home. After starting at a major landmark, the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, I had to finish at another – the Kensington Tavern. Soon after that we were rolling up the driveway, and home, to…I’m not sure…the next stage in my life anyway.

For now it’s just a matter of trying to get myself organised, and go through what’s left of my gear, and see what I left behind here. I probably won’t even want half the stuff I left here, although it was nice to pull on a pair of denim jeans, for the first time in over a year. I’m going to have to get a job sooner or later too, although for now I’m just enjoying taking it easy, and catching up with friends and relatives. And yes, I will get my photos sorted out shortly. Working on dialup at home makes it tough though!

In some ways it’s a little difficult to describe my feelings on completing this trip. Perhaps I need to think about it a bit over the next few weeks, to gain a little perspective. I shall post more over the coming weeks, a few summary posts, that sort of thing. For now, I just want to say thanks to all those who’ve supported me in some way along the road. Those who I met, and in some way enlivened the trip, and those who’ve been in touch, read the blog, and sent messages of encouragement – it really does mean a lot to me. Thank you.

Well, it wasn’t exactly in the city, but it was a good job – and now I’ve left it. I finished work last week, and now I’m in NZ, enjoying some warmth and sunshine.

A few days in Auckland, time for a haircut and a few booster jabs. Will head up to Whangarei tomorrow, to spend a few days at the beach.

It’s good to be home again – there’s something nice about walking down the street, and every house is different to the one next to it. What a novel idea. Good to catch up with a few old friends too, enjoying the balmy weather, sitting outside well into the evening.

Now that I’ve finished work, things are starting to seem closer, more real – it’s only just over two weeks until I’m on the road! I’m now getting into the living out of a bag stage too. Still got lots of stuff here though, so I haven’t yet had to adjust to having one clean/one dirty. Handwashing’s not too far away though…

For those in NZ, will try and catch up in the next 10 days. For those in the UK, we’ll have to do something on the 16th. Not sure what yet, will probably be fairly low-key though. Starting with a mean hangover might not be a good idea.