Wellington

I am now in Wellington trying to plan the rest of my trip which is taking shape nicely - I am so excited; but you will have to wait and find out what happens next!  I can't believe what I am hoping to do, I look at the plans and think, really? WOW!
I am also trying to postpone the more cycling part - I feel like maybe I have had enough for a while.  I also am finding it difficult in that I have been away for what seems like ages, and I am feeling like maybe I ought to be returning to the real world.  I also tend to like having a project on the go, or working towards something or making or creating something - and travelling means that I can't do that, so I find this difficult.  Cycling gives me a real sense of purpose which helps to balance that, but at the moment I am a bit lacking in purpose and motivation.  I saw a girl in a campsite toilet wearing flannelet pyjamas - goodness, how I miss pyjamas!

Wellington is very nice, the museums are interesting, and the architecture is nice.  It really shows the British influences from the late Victorian era and early 20th century though. There is even a nice statue of Victoria which could be almost anywhere in Britain.  I do love these repeated icons around the world.  I like familiar references hidden in the most unlikely places - a Palladian design, or a statue, or art - I even found the familiar and friendly Durer in the museum here.  Why does every clock in the world sound like Big Ben - or is it that Big Ben sounds like every clock in the world? (Alaska, India and New Zealand all have clocks that play Big Ben chimes).

My Kindle

Here is a post I have been meaning to write for months. My Kindle is great. I love it. for reading it is amazing. It is so light to carry and every kilogramme counts when you are peddling up a hill. I usually use it in large print which surprised me initially. I have read some brilliant stories on my travels, many of which were recommended and many of which have been classics i have always meant to read. I really enjoyed Anna Karenina or Shackleton's story of the south pole and Heidi all of which were free and unexpectedly brilliant. I have enjoyed getting to know some of my favourite authors better, Frances Hodgson Burnet, for example, turns out that her other stories are a bit weird! Yesterday I finished The Woman in Black, which was deliciously spooky. I have loved having gift vouches to spend and really enjoyed The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, which was so good i started at page one again immediately after finishing it.

I love my kindles dictionary. It is so convenient I use it lots. I love being able to look things up from the older and therefore free books. I love being able to check the origin of words or look up definitions I am not sure of when Christof asks the meaning of something.

I have even managed to download books in German to read which I have enjoyed wrestling with.

My Kindle is also fantastic because it does Internet. However I do have to qualify that. It does some websites that it likes slowly and only when it has signal which, especially in NZ isn't very often. I can sometimes update my blog, sometimes book hostels, sometimes check other things, which has been invaluable to me travelling. It doesn't, however, like hotmail. It is also a bit fiddly to type on, so please excuse all my mistakes.

I have music on it to which has been amazing. I was too technologically inept to get the music on it myself so travelled for many months without until Tim rescued me. Thanks Tim. Then one evening i was feeling a bit down and I remembered my music and played it. It was super like being at home surrounded by familiar things, like being able to wrap myself up in my favourite quilt and sit in my favourite sofa. I so appreciated it. Music is also brilliant for cycling in the rain,keeps you going.

In America my kindle broke. I was distraught and really realised how much I need it. Amazon were great and I called them and they replaced it. No problems.
Thank you all for getting me my kindle- it really is the perfect present.

Amazon, don't get big headed! an order search by price option would be great. I know the website has it. I would also like more books available-  am often amazed by what isn't available. Books with pictures would be fab I haven't dared by a travel book as I think it wont have maps. Would be nice to choose the order in which music is played and the best improvement would be an international amazon account so that I can buy books available to German users for example. It would also be nice to load pictures from my camera. A better Internet connection but since its free I have no complaints!

Nelson and Abel Tasman

Nelson is a beautiful town, nestled between the hills and the sea. It is a smallish place by British standards, the middle of town is smaller than Guildford.  It has a very nice feel and many of the houses are charming small 'victorian' homes in the American style but with far more modesty. The town is green and leafy has a very nice cycle path along an old railway line although as with most cycle paths it stops starts and gets you lost. There was an enormous market last week filled with crafts, street performers, and yummy local or specialist produce. Surrounding Nelson are productive farms and small holdings most with trays of vegetables for sale outside and the orchards are laden with Rosy red apples. This is more perhaps what I expected of New Zealand.

Christof and I cycled from Nelson to Abel Tasman, an easy days ride although with some fun hills and views all the way across the bay back to Nelson and beyond. From Marahau we hiked along the coastal track in the national park, which is one of New Zealands 'great walks'. The route was all forest and coastline and the views along the coast were amazing, bright gold beaches blue sky green waters and lots of curious bays and inlets. It was however the easiest 25km  have ever walked in a day. We got the water taxi, boat, back to Marahau which was also a lot of fun getting to see everything from a different perspective. It really looks like those pictures of tropical islands and harbours it is beautiful. Unfortunately I am writing this on my kindle so no pictures for a while.

We rented a kayak for the next day and paddled all around the islands and had lunch on a lonely golden beach. We saw several seals up close and also a penguin swimming around! The green sea was as still as a millpond and so we paddled maybe nearly 20km my arms were so tired! It was also great to see some of the sea birds up close too.

So it has been a fantastic week, beautiful scenery and lots of exciting things happening. I find it hard sometimes to think of anything to write, so many days cycling are rather similar now, the routine isn't very easy to write about. I get up and then have either porridge or eggs for breakfast, take the tent down and load the bike. Set out, try to get about 30km or more done before lunch I travel at roughly 15m an hour if not being very pathetic! Always starving by lunch time which is just as well as i am getting a bit bored of sweaty cheese and stale bread. Then back on the bike. Most days I try to do 60km or more but it doesn't always happen, and New Zealand is hard work for cycling.  have given up thinking I ought to do more! The scenery is aways varied and often very beautiful. However as this seems to have been my life for weeks I haven't got much to write about. I have cycled over 1700km in New Zealand on the south island. Hostels are more widely available than campsites and they seemed to be filled with Germans. All of whom are very nice but it sees odd to find German the language of all kitchen conversations.

A campsite in the middle of nowhere with resident chicken and Weka (a cheeky native bird)

A random goat by the side of the road

One of the many super beaches

Lunch stop

Pancake rocks

The road

Another nice campsite

More road