The first few days of cycling and camping have gone OK too, just taking it easy and settling in to life on the road. The first day was a very hilly 80k, then 96k and yesterday 105k. Average speed is between 20 and 22 kph depending on the wind and terrain. Today I have done about 25k so far but then stopped in Whakatane to upload the video (below) which is taking a long, long time .. the sun has come out and I'm sat inside an internet cafe on my PC. Oh well ... anyway, below is a video of the first week or so. it covers travelling, shopping and an overview of my bike.
Before I left I was always being asked if I was doing it for charity, which I wasn't. However I always said that I may add a justgiving page to the blog incase anyone wants to donate anything. At the moment it just seems that I am on holiday so it doesn’t feel right trying to raise money. However if at the end of the year I have got home and covered > 30k km it would be a challenge which people may feel warrants supporting a worthy cause. In the meantime I have decided to have some mini challenges which I will aim to raise money for, sections which may not be too much fun e.g. crossing the Nullabor plain or cycling the whole of China. This will also enable several different charities to be supported. I will add more details as and when.
In the meantime, I’ve been really impressed with NZ. It’s totally stunning and I haven’t even started to scratch the surface. I am heading east, around the north Island East Cape, which should get me to the furthest east mainland point in the southern hemisphere (I think). Then it’s time to start heading home.. well after looping the south Island and getting back to Auckland for the flight to Sydney on the 1st of Feb .
All the best .. Neil
