December 6 - New Zealand: Hamilton to Russell (North Island)
Jon woke up at 5:30 to go for a run so we could hit the road bright and early.
Running in Hamilton again - Run #24
With all of the rain we've been getting I decided last night that even though I would have to get up at 5:30 I was still going to go for a run. I was tempted to blow the run off when the alarm went off this morning but thought just once about all of the rain we've gotten recently and jumped out of bed.
My last run in Hamilton was really nice so I decided to head to the river again, only heading downstream instead of upstream as last time. The trail is really nice--great big ferns growing alongside well groomed planters all along the path, and most of it is made of these interlocking bricks like you might use to make a high falutin' porch or something. The parts that aren't made of brick are the elevated wooden walkways, which I guess are there because the path is pretty hilly in places and some of these spots probably didn't lend themselves to an easy route for the pathmaking engineers. Anyway, remember how it's been raining so much recently? Well, as I rounded one of several hairpin, downward turns, I managed to hit a slick spot and wiped out. Smacked my leg down but landed on both hands. I did a quick check, first of myself then around me to see if anyone had seen this momentary lapse of grace, and decided all was well so I kept going. For most of the rest of the run I tried to remember the last time I had tripped and fallen while running and couldn't remember the last time it had happened. And I've run races in the dead of winter when there is ice and snow in Central Park! Oh well, content that the blame belongs on the wet wooden path, I continued the run. I even managed to get in 4 sets of 2min. sprints in an effort to get some speed training in.
We finished off the cream cheese on some pseudo-bagels (really bread in the shape of a bagel) and were on the road by 8:00. Of course, it was a gorgeous morning and barely a cloud in the sky.
And we leave in two days.
Quite fitting, I think, that we should leave New Zealand and the weather be just as beautiful as the day we arrived. Never mind the fact that the entire trip was water-logged.
So we drove the 6 hours it took to get from Hamilton to Russell. It was my turn to drive, so Jon read and I sang (very loudly) to the mixes we put on our MP3 players. Jon is very good at tuning me out when he needs to.
"That's a 10-4, Good Buddy"
Because it was such a lovely day, we had the windows down and enjoyed the sun and nice weather. Unfortunately, we didn't even think about wearing sunscreen because we were going to be in the car. My right arm was in the sun for almost all of the trip (driving north in the morning, the sun is on the east side which was directly to my right). So I have a slight burn that clearly shows the line of my t-shirt. I wised up after a few hours and put on a long-sleeved shirt, but the damage was already done. And so Jon has been smugly referring to my odd coloring as a "Truck Driver Tan". I'm thinking about getting a CB and a "handle".
Really Bad Jokes
At some points on the trip, we drove through some construction sites and had to stop for alternating traffic through one-lane roadways. This is when Jon and I would crack some really bad jokes to break the monotony. Sometimes I would sing for him while doing an interpretive dance, or occasionally we would just make some silly comment about our surroundings.
For example:
"This truck is driving as slow as molasses!"
Hah!!! (that was my joke)
Russell
We reached the Russell Ferry around 2:00 or so. Russell is a small island in the "Bay of Islands" that can only be reached by ferry. So we waited with a handful of other cars for the ferry to dock and pick us up. The trip was well worth the NZ$15 it cost. The view was great and I really felt like I was crossing into another world.
We settled into our Top 10 Campsite (www.bay-of-islands.co.nz/accomm/rustop10.html), which is one of two campsites here. After setting up our tent in the very spacious campground, we had tuna sandwiches for lunch and then walked into town.
Russell is a tiny little town that reminds me of Maine in the springtime. It has little Bed-and-Breakfasts by the sea, in addition to wee cafes and historical sites. We walked along "The Strand" next to the shore and admired some of the houses. One of them was the police headquarters, which is an historical building. The sign next to the white picket fence gives some history about the large tree there, planted in 1870. The sign also says, "This is our policeman's house. Please respect his privacy." Policeman. Like, only one for the entire island. No wonder it's also the headquarters. I'll bet the most exciting thing he ever has to deal with is the occasional missing pet. What a nice place to live.
On the Pier in Russell
We also went out to the beach to play on some rocky cliffs. We snapped some photos, looked at the snails in the rock pools, and found some large purple crabs. It was great fun.
Jon "On the Rocks"
We also found the Internet Cafe, and we logged on for a little while. Jon had a few other emails to read than I did, so I sat on a sofa, read a magazine, played with the dogs, and spoke with the nice woman who was working there. It turns out that she and her dog Brae went for a little trip a while ago. They road from Bluff, which is the southern-most town in New Zealand, to Cape Reinga - the northern-most town. This is all fine and dandy, but they did this on horseback! She had two horses - a riding horse and a pack horse - and little Brae walked alongside or rode horseback with her. She has some beautiful pictures, and is currently publishing a book called "New Zealand - Bit by Bit" which is a compilation of her travel journals. So very cool.
Dinner at the Campsite
We walked back to the campsite and began to make dinner. Since we're leaving tomorrow, we're trying to use all of our foodstuffs so we have nothing to take on the plane. So we made a monster pasta sauce, boiled the last of our pasta, and drank the last bottle of red wine. We also hung out and talked to a couple from Canada who are spending 5 months biking across NZ. Seems like a lovely way to travel.