Day 9: Hurry Up and Wait

I’ve decided the best weather forecast comes from what the late P.J. Hoff, a weatherman back in the 60’s on Channel 2, comes from “The Vice President in charge of Looking Out the Window.” After consulting with him, at least the day wasn’t starting out with delusions of grandeur. It wasn’t raining yet, but it looked imminent. Showered, had my mandatory Harroway’s Oat Cereal (today – honey and brown sugar variety!), and packed. My goal was Wellington via the Rimutakas – another of my “goals” for this trip.

Rolled out of the parking lot headed south on SH2 at 9:30 a.m. with a temperature of 8 C. Before I hit Carterton, 15 km south, the rain began. There were a surprising number of fair sized towns enroute, which were slow to pass through, although the rural areas between cities opened up to the 100 kph limit (about 90 kph in my case due to the rain).

Until I passed through Featherston and entered: the Rimutakas.

The people who laid out this road must have previously worked at a spaghetti company. The road climbed and continuously curved left, then right, then repeat. 55 kph (30 mph) curves were the “big” ones; 25 kph (15 mph) curves were the “tight” ones. I was rowing between first and second gear, easing through the curves in the rain. As I neared the summit, the temperature had dropped to 6 C.

Made the summit. Now: down the other side. Stayed off the front brake most of the time, using engine compression to maintain a safe speed. Again, back and forth, left and right – right into the construction zone. I suppose you have to do maintenance even on roads like this, but did they have to do it while I was here? 30 kph through partially packed, slightly muddy gravel, in the rain, on a 700 lb rented motorcycle on the opposite side of the world. Amazing how much seat foam your sphincter can collect at times like these.

The section only lasted a minute or two, but I was glad to regain solid pavement. 10 minutes later, I was back onto level, straighter pavement. Hema;s “Motorcycle Atlas” listed the the Rimutakas portion of the road at “5 smiles” – I’d agree, if it had been dry out.

Slogged on toward Wellington, hoping to see a bit of the city before my 1:00 p.m. ferry to Picton on the South Island. I arrived at the Bluebridge ferry terminal just after 11:00 a.m., and found out that due to rough weather in the Cook Strait, the sailing had been delayed to 3:30. Oh well, more time to go exploring!

I dropped the bags that normally travel strapped to the passenger seat in a locker at the Downtown Backpacker’s Hostel across the street. The “Beehive”, the Executive wing of the parliamentary complex, was one block further.

Called “The Beehive” because of its (controversial) shape, it was designed in the late 60’s by a British architect, Sir Basil Spence. The Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers have their offices here.

Immediately to the north of, and connected to “The Beehive” is the Parliamentary wing:

This wing was built in the 1920’s, replacing the previous wooden House of Parliament that was destroyed by fire. The final building in the complex is the Parliamentary Library:

The Library is being repainted to its original color scheme. The garden out front is a white camellia garden in memory of Kate Sheppard, a suffragette who led the movement that resulted in New Zealand being the first major country to grant women the right to vote, back in 1893. Kate Sheppard is on the $10 bill; Sir Edmund Hilary is on their $5 bills.

As it was getting near the revised 2:30 p.m. check-in time for my ferry ride, I reclaimed my checked bags and headed back to the terminal. The departure had now been pushed back to 4:30, with boarding set to start at 3:50 p.m. I decided to just hang around the terminal and read. The ship arrived around 3:15, and they began the unloading process.

(For scale, those windows on the deck above the words “Strait Shipping” are about 5 feet tall.) They finally rolled us aboard at 4:50 p.m. With the help of a native Kiwi making the passage back to his home on the South Island on a 1953 Velocette 350 that he’s owned for 40 years, I tied down the bike and moved to the 7^th level of the ferry.

The crossing was near amusement park quality; there were several waves that broke onto the windows of the lounge, so there was some serious rockin’ and rollin’ going on. But the bike was still upright when we landed, so I unstrapped it and made it to the Picton Campervan Park at 9:30 p.m., where I rented a cabin for the night.

Tomorrow: West, then south toward Nelson and Westport.

Motorcycle mileage: 102 km for the day.

Day 8: What New Zealand Needs Is Tom Skilling

Up at 7:30 a.m. to threatening skies; OK – another day of vacation in New Zealand! After completing my morning routine, packing, and a hearty breakfast of Harroway’s Oat Cereal (a New Zealand product similar to Quaker Instant Oatmeal, but the oats are ground finer and it makes more of a mush than oatmeal), I watched the weather forecast on TV One.

The cold front, as predicted yesterday, was moving up from the southeast – meaning the southeast coast of the North Island would be rainy today. I also checked the weather forecast from www.metservice.com, which is sort of the NOAA of New Zealand. They agreed; the east coast would be rainy (which is more intense precipitation than “showers”, I learned), while the west coast would be fair.

I looked at my options. My goal for the day was to wind up near Wellington, such that I could approach it tomorrow from the east – thereby fulfilling another goal of this trip: riding through the Rimutakas, a “five-smile” route in the Motorcycle Atlas, and the photo I’ve had as a background on my phone back home since I started planning this trip.

I would start out toward Taupo, about 90 km south. From Taupo, I would have to choose one of two different routes south: one headed east, toward Napier, the Pacific Coast, and the rain, or another that carried me down the west side of the country, through Turangi and across the “desert road”, and the sunshine. I took Horace Greeley’s advice and decided to “Go West, Young Man”.

The skies still looked threatening, and the temps were cooler (it was 7 C, or about 45 F when I left), so I put on my electric jacket liner, leather jacket and pants, rain suit top and bottom, and retroreflective vest. I was wheels up at 10:15.

After 40 minutes on SH5, or 20 km before Taupo, it began raining; sometimes light, sometimes heavy. As soon as my western route diverged from the southern route, the rain stopped: aha – good choice! – but only for ten minutes, after which it began raining again. But not before I stopped to take this photo of Lake Taupo from its north end:

(Note the rainbow. Did I mention it was raining?)

The road (now SH1) wrapped around the eastern and southern shores of Lake Taupo, with nice, gently sweeping curves where you were never going in a straight line, yet you could make decent progress. The rain was light most of the way to Turangi, where I turned due south onto “The Desert Road”. The Desert Road is actually a misnomer; there’s no desert, but it does cross the flat, central plain of the North Island. And where a desert is typically hot, the desert road is cold – the morning’s forecast called for a chance of up to 1 cm of snow, but temps around 10 C (50 degrees F) (?) – so I figured I was OK.

As soon as I made the turn, the reading on my dashboard thermometer dropped from 10 C to 6 C, and I began climbing on a set of slow, sharp esses. The wind and rain both picked up, and I kept climbing for about 20 minutes. When the curves stopped, I was at the top of the plain; the road straightened out, the rain and side wind both picked up, and the temperature kept dropping, bottoming out at 3 C (37 F). For only the second time of the trip, I plugged the jacket liner in and set it for about 20% of power.

Snow appeared on the tops of the mountains to the east, and I also saw my first New Zealand police officer of the trip. I was going about 90 kph (in a 100 kph zone) due to the side winds, so we didn’t get a chance to talk. But the road was sufficiently straight, long, and wet, that it warranted this proof:

(Again, sorry about the RAIN on the lens....)

After about 90 km of The Desert Road, I arrived in Taihape, where I stopped in the local bakery for hot tea and a scone. Back on the road 20 minutes later, the rain had stopped and the skies were clearing as I headed for Feilding via a combination of SH1 and SH54. SH54 was another pleasant, winding road, and I eventually turned onto some back roads toward Woodville; here I picked upSH2 toward Masterson.

Naturally, being the eastern route, along the coast – it was clear – the exact opposite of the forecast. I arrived in Masterson 80 km later at 4:50 p.m. Got a room for the night at the Highwaymen Lodge, and am preparing to ride the 90 km into Wellington tomorrow a.m. I hope to see the “Beehive”, and catch either the 1:00 or 3:00 ferry across the Cook Strait to Picton and the South Island. The odyssey continues.

Motorcycle mileage: 423 km for the day

Day 7: A Week Ago, I Was Complaining How Hot It Was

Haera Mai / Kia Ora ki Aotearoa. (Hello from New Zealand.)

Awoke at 6:20 a.m. this morning, and tried to fall back asleep until 7:00, when I decided adrenaline was going to win. Looked outside, and it appeared to be CLEAR again, although it wasn’t very light yet and I couldn’t be sure. I completed the morning routine, and opened the room drapes around 8:00 a.m. to SUNSHINE! Woo-hoo; a second day of sun – maybe there is something to be said for clean living!

I ate my breakfast, a mixed berry Danish roll that I had picked up last night at New World market. It was OK, but I won’t be sending away for any compared to my usual morning Harner’s treat. I finished packing, and went out to load the bike around 8:40 a.m.

It was raining.

I swapped the electric jacket liner for the rain gear, and set off south for Rotorua, a city with many active thermal features (geysers, hot vents, mud pools, etc.) at 9:00 – my earliest departure yet. I was about 25 km north of Auckland, so I wound up commuting through the city at the end of rush hour. Ah, congested, multi-lane freeways with the smell of diesel fumes in the air – I felt at home.

By 9:45, I was on the south side of the Auckland bridge. The rain had turned into a mist, and traffic began easing. (I had to pass up a nice picture of Auckland City as I neared the bridge. One of the problems with touring on a motorcycle is that if you’re riding along, and see a nice photo op, unless you’re at a point where you can pull to the side of the road, stop, get one glove off, snap the picture, then get the glove back on and rejoin traffic, you don’t get the photo. “Candid” photo ops are much more possible in a car.)

I’m also trying to balance riding a lot of fun, twisty roads (which are slower than the direct routes) with the desire to see certain sights (which require time you don’t have if you’re always riding the scenic routes). So I decided to bypass the scenery and beaches of the Coromandel area and peninsula (the beaches would be empty in the rain at 54 degrees F anyway), and headed straight for Rotorua on SH1. SH1 was comfortable and familiar – few curves, 100 kph (kilometers per hour, which is 62.5 mph for the English unit folks), and pretty direct.

When I hit Hamilton, a pretty good sized town about 120 km south of Auckland, I decided to see if it would be possible to send my tent and sleeping bag back home via UPS, FedEx, or their Kiwi equivalents. That’s right, folks, I’m to the point where if I’m going to get wet every day, I’m considering staying in a hostel, holiday park cabin, or inexpensive motel at night to get dried out. Wimp. I found a “Pak n’ Save”, where I found out it would be about $400 to have the excess sent home. Thanks, but no thanks – the gear stays with me.

I changed over to SH5 at Tirau (where it started raining again), and was at the iSite (tourism information center) in Rotorua 60 km later at 12:45. I booked a motel room so I’d have some place to drop my luggage, and a tour of Te Puia – a Maori cultural center and good viewing point for Pohutu Geyser, which can reach heights of 20 meters during eruptions.

As you enter Te Puia, there are many Maori carvings.

The Maori did not have a written language until white men introduced it in the late 1800’s. The carvings were the way their history and storied were passed on to future generations. The patterns in the carvings also are significant; a stair-step pattern signified three constellations next to each other, the only one that I can recall being Sirius, but the locations of the three constellations form a series of steps that the pattern recalls.

I saw Pohutu Geyser erupt from across the park. I think it’s shorter than Old Faithful, but that could also be the result of a jingoistic memory.

And the surrounding area is heavily mineralized from the geyser’s mineral (and sulphur) content:

And although I know it seems like there are a LOT of pictures of ferns on this blog, I learned today why the national fauna of New Zealand is the silverback fern. It’s because when you look at the back of the leaves (as seen at the bottom of the photo below), they’re silver:

And, finally, I was able to see a kiwi bird in a nocturnal exhibit at the park. The birds are endangered, quite rare, and quite skittish, so no photographs are allowed in the exhibit. The kiwi bird is about the size of a chicken but much more spherical in shape, with a pointy beak 4 or 5 inches long. In 1800, they estimate there were 12 million kiwi birds in New Zealand; today, there are about 70,000.

Miscellaneous notes: (1) Saw the Southern Cross (for the first time, as Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young would say) tonight. (2) The phases of the moon are backwards down here. At home, a waxing moon looks like a “D”, and a waning moon looks like a “C”, which I recall by the acronym “DOC” (the “O” in the middle is the full moon). In the southern hemisphere, the acronym would, indeed, be “COD”. (3) I still need to do the Coreolis effect experiment to see which way water swirls down a drain.

Tomorrow’s route depends a LOT on the weather. The cold front that overran the area today has dropped temps into the single digits (Celsius); it was 8 C (about 46 F) on my way back to the motel from Te Puia. So my route may be adapted to accommodate areas of frost or snow – but it will be southward (toward the cold; think southern hemisphere), toward Wellington and the Rimoutakas if possible. Stay warm.

Motorcycle mileage: 288 km for the day

Day 6: So THAT’S What The Sun Looks Like

I awoke in Kaitaia at 7:20 a.m., and, as usual, couldn’t fall back asleep due to concerns about what the day held. I’m usually not one to worry, but once I awaken, I’m not likely to fall back asleep on this trip; in fact, I don’t normally begin to relax until I’m underway.

But today, I awoke to SUNSHINE and temps in the mid-50’s. I started a load of laundry, showered, packed, and made my instant oatmeal breakfast. While my clothes were drying, I walked into town and picked up the CO2 cartridges I wanted for my emergency tire repair kit. I finished packing, fueled up the bike, and was underway about 10:15 a.m.

My immediate destination was Waipoua Forest along the west (Tasman Sea) coast. I drove south on Highway 1 for about 20 km of mostly straight road, with a few sweepers thrown in for variety, under sunny skies. This was followed by about 10 km of slower curves (hard to believe the main road from the north to the south – we’re talking State Highway ONE – would be so twisty. Back in the states, we’d just blast the obstructions to smithereens and have another fast-but-boring road). I soon hit my turnoff at Mangamuka, where I jogged over to State Highway (SH) 12. SH12 was even better; almost no traffic, and speeds around 80kph on the straights and 50 in the curvy spots.

I was hoping to catch the 12:00 ferry outside Rawene, and through some blind luck, I arrived about 10 minutes before departure. A 20 minutes ferry ride and about 20 km later enroute to the forest, the clouds reappeared. I stopped to don my full rain gear, and it paid off about 10 minutes later as I again hit moderate to heavy rain. At this rate, I’ll had had so much experience riding in the rain by the end of the trip that I may just try riding across the Tasman Sea back to Sydney….

The rain let up as I entered Waipoua Forest. It was like riding in some sort of computer-generated ancient forest; the trees would form an arch over the road such that you would be driving in a tunnel at times. And none of the trees are anything I’m familiar with, and the ferns are HUGE!

I shortly arrived at Tane Mahuta: The Lord of the Forest. It is the largest living kauri tree in New Zealand, with a trunk girth of 13.8 meters (about 45 feet for you English unit types) and an overall height of 51.5 meters (170 feet). Standing in front of and beneath its canopy was like being in another world.

I rode on toward Dargaville on one of the longest stretches of twists and turns that I have ever encountered in my life; I don’t know the distance, but it must have gone on for at least 20 minutes. By the time I reached Dargaville, I decided to forego the more curvy route along the coast through Ruawai on SH12 and opted for the somewhat longer but straighter SH14 into Whangarei, where I rejoined SH1 down to Orewa Beach (again) for the night.

Tomorrow’s plan: head south through Auckland toward Thames and the Coromandel peninsula and perhaps on to Tauranga and Rotorua. A lot depends on the weather, as they’re forecasting the coldest temps of the year, with single digit highs in some areas of the North Island. I guess I’ll find out how wearing an electric jacket and pants works in the rain.

Motorcycle mileage for the day: 358 km

Day 5: North to Cape Reinga (or in my case, Cape "Rain"ga)

The weather this morning started off “unsettled”: sometimes sunny, sometimes threatening rain. But one of my top destinations for this trip was to visit the northernmost tip of New Zealand accessible by road: Cape Reinga, which would be my next logical destination.

The rental agreement on the motorcycle prevents it from being driven on gravel roads. As the last 21 km of the road to Cape Reinga were shown in the Lonely Planet guide as unsealed (usually well packed gravel), riding round trip was out. So I planned to make the day a short one, riding from Kerikeri to Kaitaia (about 120 km), and riding a tour bus to and from the Cape from there tomorrow. Due to the questionable skies, I wore my electric jacket liner, leather jacket and pants, and rainsuit – just in case.

The weather was staying dry, so I stopped for some photos in Cable Bay.

As soon as I snapped these photos, the skies opened up, and I rode in light to heavy rain toward Kaitaia. Since I was arriving so early (it was about 12:20 noon), I decided to stop at the iSite and get information on how to book the bus trip to the Cape. The agent at the iSite informed me that, as of last year, the road is now paved all the way to the Cape – so I would be able to ride to the Cape. We also booked a room at the Mainstreet Lodge (a BBH facility), so I rode there to drop the side cases and camp rolls for security and to make the bike a little less top heavy for the ride.

The ride to the Cape is about 110 km of roads ranging from decent straigtaways where you could make decent time to S-L-O-W twisties where 2^nd and 3^rd gear were appropriate, The initial stages of the raod were pretty boring, but the closer one got to the Cape, the scenery improved markedly.

But nothing could match the absolute breadth of the views from the Cape. You park about 200 m above the light house, on one of the windiest locations I’ve ever been at.

As you walk out to the light house, the views of the beach to the south and the hills to the north are also remarkable.

And the light house wasn’t bad either; it confirmed that even at the northernmost point of New Zealand, I’m a lot closer to the South Pole than home.

The ride back to Kaitaia was dry for the first 70 km, but then the skies opened up again right AFTER I stopped to don my rain suit. The rest of the ride was slow, in the dark, in heavy rain – something I usually try to avoid. I stopped to buy fixings for dinner, and was back at the lodge by 7:30 p.m.

Tomorrow, I start heading back south along the western coast. My goal is to get near Auckland for the night.

Motorcycle mileage: 363 km for the day.

Day 4: *This* Is Why I Came Here

After sleeping for nine-and-a-half hours, my alarm awakened me to blue skies and temps in the 50’s. I showered, put on clean / different clothes for the first time in three days, and ate my imported oatmeal. I walked across the street to the Pacific Ocean – which is the first time the Pacific has ever been on my “right” side.

One of these days, I’ll try to get up to see the sun rise over the Pacific.

I packed the bike and headed north.

I’m primarily using three guidebooks: a Lonely Planet guide for general information, an AA accommodations guide for lodging, and the New Zealand Motorcycle Atlas for ride route selection. I took Highway 1 north toward Whangarei; there were more scenic routes available, but I wanted a few highway miles to become familiar with the bike and the rules of the road.

For a flatlander from the great plains of Illinois, even the Highway was fun, with frequent curves, hills, and speed adjustments. Just before noon, I ran in to a fairly good rain storm; by the time I found a place to pull off and don my rain gear, I was pretty wet – so I also added my electric jacket and rode on. It took about two and a half hours to ride the 140 km to Whangarei.

About 25 km north of Whangarei, I turned onto Russell Road toward Oakura and Russell. This route is rated at “4 smiles” in the Motorcycle Atlas (1 smile = normal road, through 5 smiles = “world-class riding and scenery with the maximum smiles per mile”). In the first 20 km of this ride, I’d probably shifted and turned as much as I would in an entire season back home. Great pavement, almost no traffic, nearly constant twisting back and forth, and scenery that looks more like a different planet than a different country.

The country I’m reminded most of is Ireland, simply because everything here is so green.

But even the gently rolling hills of Ireland are like a pool table compared to New Zealand. I arrived in Russell, having traveled about 65 km, two and a half hours later. I crossed the river just outside Russell on the Opua ferry, gassed up in Paihia, and made it as far as Kerikeri before deciding to call it a day.

I’m hoping to head north to Cape Reinga tomorrow, but they’re predicting some pretty wet and windy conditions in the morning, so I’ll have to wait and see. But the word for today was “wow”.

Motorcycle mileage: 267 km for the day.

Day 3: The Longest “Day” Ends in Victory

By the time I was getting ready to board the plane to San Francisco, I was feeling mildly nauseated. This was probably the result of dehydration from not drinking enough, too little food (I hadn’t eaten anything substantive all day), stress, and fatigue. But this first flight leg, about 340 miles, with a flight time of an hour and fifteen minutes, went off smoothly.

The next flight leg was the long one: San Francisco to Sydney, Australia – about 7,460 miles and fifteen hours enroute. We departed on-time, at 10:50 Wednesday night. I was able to sleep for at least half of the flight, but I still wasn’t feeling refreshed. I was also drinking water and Sprite at every opportunity, but was still somewhat thirsty and had no appetite. At least I have enough, uh, “stored calories” that I wasn’t too worried.

We landed at Sydney at 7:00 a.m. local time on Friday morning. I had to pass through Australian customs for incoming visitors, which took about 20 minutes. I met my duffle bag (woo-hoo!) at baggage claim, and set off to check-in for my Air New Zealand flight.

Air New Zealand (ANZ) is quite busy right now, as that are the only air carrier (that I know) operating between Australia and New Zealand. Qantas and Virgin have suspended operations due to the ash cloud from the volcano in Chile, but ANZ continues to operate at flying at 17,000 feet (below the ash cloud) instead of their traditional 30,000+ feet operations. It costs them more in fuel, and the flights can be a bit bumpier, but they’re still operating.

You’re only allowed one carry-on, so I chose to keep my helmet bag and check my backpack. At first, I thought this was another way for ANZ to make a few more dollars – but when it later came time to board my flight, the boarding went SO smoothly and quickly, because you don’t have passengers trying to wrestle elephantine suitcases into overhead bins – I came away wishing U.S. carriers had a similar policy.

I then passed through outgoing Australian customs (them: “How long have you been in our country?”; me: “About two hours.”; more questions ensued as a result.) and made it to my gate by 9:00 for a 9:30 flight. We didn’t board until 10:15, but we were under taxi by 10:30. Add three hours for the flight and a two hour time change, and I arrived in Auckland at 3:30 p.m.!

Off to New Zealand customs, where they actually seemed concerned about who might be bringing what into their country. I declared my food products (three bags of Quaker instant oatmeal, no problem) and my tent. I had to go to a special line, and give my “used” tent to New Zealand Bio-security Operations, who handled it with latex gloves and took it to a back room for inspection. They said they would check it for dirt, vegetable matter that could be injurious for native plants, etc., and if all was well, I’d get it back in 5 to 10 minutes. All I know is that I got my tent back, repacked, after 15 minutes.

But now it was about 4:15 p.m., and I was supposed to be on the north side of Auckland by 5:00 to collect the bike. I was met at the airport by “Dutchee”, whom I had met via the KiwiBiker.net forum, when I asked some questions about traveling in NZ. She pointed me toward an ATM while she called the rental company to be sure they’d wait. They would – phew!

With her excellent navigational and driving skills, we made it to the rental company in Takapuna around 5:15 p.m. Dutchee had a dinner engagement, so she dropped me off (along with some maps, travel guides, and 2 liters of Coleman fuel) and left without even letting me pay for the fuel, airport parking, or petrol – I’m not used to such generosity from strangers.

John, one of the owners of the rental agency, fitted a connection for my electric vest to the bike while I packed the bags and a light rain began to fall. By 6:30, I was ready to leave.

I chose to head for Orewa Beach, about 25 km northeast of Auckland – about as close to the city as I wanted to stay. My sense of caution was set to “high”, as I was about 10,000 miles from home, riding a rented bike on the “wrong” side of the road, in the rain, to a city where I didn’t have a reservation. And I knew I was tired: first, I couldn’t get the starter to engage (John had parked the bike in gear). Then once I got the bike started, it stalled as soon as I put it in gear (sidestand down).

But I made it to the motorway, and the Beachcomber Lodge, by 7:30 p.m. A hike to McDonalds (local cuisine J), back to the hotel, and I’m ready for bed. Next up: (1) find a wi-fi connection so I can send this, and (2) head north!

Motorcycle mileage: 27 km.

Day 2: Sydney looks a lot like Los Angeles

Sorry about the design change for the blog; it seemed eye-catching but difficult to read in the old format. This seems better so far.

Last night, I wrote: “Let’s see how United handles this one.” Overall, I’d have to say “pretty poorly” so far.

When I finally arrived at LAX just before midnight, my flight to Sydney was gone for over an hour. So I trekked over to the misnamed “Customer Service” area, and queued up. About a half-hour later, it was my turn to talk to an agent. After much typing, she was able to determine that my best option was to fly from Los Angeles to San Francisco at 7:14 tonight, arrive in San Francisco at 8:37, then board their San Francisco to Sydney flight at 10:50 p.m., and arrive in Sydney at 6:25 Friday morning.

Except that would make me miss my connecting flight on Air New Zealand at 7:00 a.m. to Auckland. The agent tried to contact Air New Zealand to see if they would rebook my flight as delay compensation, but no luck. They also would not pay for a hotel room, on the grounds that the delay was due to weather (not their fault) vs. other causes for which they would pay. I tried to reason with them that neither the inbound flight to O’Hare which arrived late, and their need to move the aircraft from one gate to another had nothing to do with the weather – although it then delayed us enough that weather became an issue. Still no luck.

It was past 1:00 a.m. local time, and a lot of the “Customer Service” agents started going home – leaving two agents to deal with roughly 35 tired and increasingly angry people still in queue. I left in case a riot started.

They offered me a certificate for a reduced rate hotel room, which meant I got a room at the La Quinta LAX (nice place!) for $79. And when I got to my room, I rebooked my flight on Air New Zealand for another $260, which is more than half of what I paid for the original round-trip ticket.

So I’m back at LAX, 20 hours after I left, in the same clothes, Allegedly, my luggage is already in San Francisco, and checked through onto tonight’s flight to Sydney.

Two biggest concerns at this point are: (1) Will I make it to San Francisco and on to Sydney – with luggage when I get there?; and (2) the ash cloud from a volcano in Chile may disrupt air travel from Sydney to Auckland this weekend. But I’m hoping my next post originates from somewhere you need a passport.

Day 1: And We’re Off (sort of)

Originally, I thought that I’d need two duffle bags plus a carry-on bag  for my helmet and computer to pack everything I’d need for the next two weeks. Actually, it would all fit into one duffle bag, but the bag exceeded the 50 lb / 23 kg weight requirements of the airlines. So I’ve repacked into one 47 lb duffle, one carry-on, and a small backpack.

I was at O’Hare more than 2 hours before my flight, so even after checking my luggage, clearing security, and trekking to the gate, I had about 90 minutes to spare. (I had wondered if the helmet would cause any odd looks at security. It didn’t, which makes me wonder just what types of things airport screeners see on their screens every day.)

The plane for our flight was about 30 minutes late arriving from Baltimore. Then they had to move it two gates down because of bad feng shui or something. As a result, we were about an hour late leaving the gate. Not a problem yet, as I had about two hours to make my connection in Los Angeles.

Then the storms started moving in. Departures were spaced out at three minute intervals instead of the more usual one minute. And due to our late departure, we were 13^th in line for take-off. Then they cancelled all western takeoffs. Then the storms hit, and hit hard: horizontal rain, 65 mph wind gusts, and plenty of lightning.

They closed O’Hare for about an hour, and briefly evacuated the control tower. While we sat in the middle of an open, flat field in an aluminum tube during a lightning storm. Finally, the storm passed, and after another 45 minutes, they reopened the airport and we took off – about 3 hours late tonight. I know my flight to Sydney will be long gone by the time I arrive, but hey – I’ll be 2000 miles closer than I was in Chicago. Let’s see how United handles this one.

Day 0: A Journey of a Thousand Miles (well, more like 10,000 miles, actually) Begins with the First Step

Day Zero

Before I began teaching eight years ago, I used to get three or four weeks of vacation every year. And I used those vacations to go places with the family: Vancouver Island, the Canadian Rockies, Maine, Wally World in Orlando – we saw a lot of this country with a lot more still awaiting exploration.

So when I started teaching – with the common misperception of three months off every summer – I thought I’d be traveling all the time. But the kids grew up and had their own commitments, and I became department chair after a couple of years – and all of a sudden, I was traveling less. As soon as school ended, I’d think, “Oh, I’ll wait until I’m a bit caught up on household chores, then go in July.” And in July, it was too hot, or too busy, so I’d wait for August – and all of a sudden, school would be starting and the furthest I’d have been from home was Harner’s Bakery on Galena in Aurora.

But not this year – I’ve always heard of New Zealand as a motorcyclist’s paradise: curvy, well maintained roads that follow the coastline or meander through valleys into the mountainous interior. The roads are not very busy, so you can drive and still enjoy the scenery. With moderate temperatures, even when you’re fully suited up in a jacket, leather pants, and helmet - and I’m a firm believer in ATGATT (All The Gear, All The Time) – you’re not stewing in your own juices. And although a summer departure from Illinois would land me in New Zealand in winter – I decided this was the year to go.

So I booked my trip on the Friday after Thanksgiving: O’Hare to Sydney, Australia (as far as I could get using frequent flier miles), then continuing on to New Zealand. I reserved a Honda ST1300 sport touring motorcycle rental, picking it up in Auckland and dropping it off in Christchurch seventeen days later. I’ve looked into camping, hostels, hotels, visas, and cell phone service.

I’ve watched from afar as a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch in February, with some equally intense aftershocks that destroyed some of the sights I’d hoped to see. I’ve read about tornados hitting Auckland, and volcanic eruptions in Chile that created ash clouds that are still disrupting air travel from Australia to New Zealand. At this point, the only possible disasters left are locusts (not sure if they exist in New Zealand) and the plague.

And, finally, it’s time to go. The months of mental packing have morphed into the physical collection of two pages of “stuff” that I’ll need for the next three weeks. And as the day of departure grows closer, I find myself getting a bit nervous – anticipation of the unknown, I guess. But there’s no turning back now – so I guess the appropriate closing would be “Hi ho, Hi ho, it’s to O’Hare I go.” Wish me luck.

Packing List

Here’s what made the final cut:

Riding gear: Leather jacket and pants. Retro-reflective vest. Rain jacket, pants, and boots. Heated liner jacket and pants. Dual controller to modulate output of heated gear. Two pairs of gloves: insulated winter gloves and deerskin summer gloves, plus rain covers that work with either pair. Helmet with separate liner. Riding boots. Aerostich wind triangle for drafts. Earplugs.

Camping gear: Dome tent and ground cloth. Down sleeping bag and liner. Compressible pillow. Thermarest pad and air mattress. Rope. Candle lantern. Cook stove and pan. Collapsible bucket. Mug, bowl, and utensils. LED head light. Broom and dust pan for keeping tent clean. Iodine tablets for questionable water supplies.

Clothing: One spare pair of jeans. Three T-shirts. Three pair of underwear (the easy-to-launder, polypropylene type) and socks. One pair of camp shoes. Stocking cap. Toiletries kit.

Safety gear: Gerber multi-tool. Nebo socket / screwdriver set. Tire plugging kit and CO2 adapter to fill tire in an emergency. Cell phone that I hope to unlock and use.

Miscellaneous: Netbook PC (you didn’t think I was doing this from my phone, did you?). Camera and batteries. Road atlas. Lonely Planet guides of North and South Islands. One novel. Reading glasses.