The 28th and 29th not much happened. We biked, and in Whakamata we stayed to shop for dinner and check the air in our tubes. While doing exactly that, a guy when by and said ”Oh, I didn’t expect it to be a queue!”, and we said he could just use the compressor before us, as we were still fiddling with checking our pressures. In a haste, I asked if he knew any good camping ground, and he said we could camp at his place! He drew us a quick map before heading off to his pool game he was a bit late to, and we went to his home. The only direction of what not to do we got was ”Do not touch the plant!”.

His home looked really awesome, and the guy seemed like he could build things, both practically and for artistic style. The awesome kitchen table was made by him, a big, beautiful, wooden one.

The evening went awesome, and I got some homemade glitter nail polish added to my blue one.

The 29th we biked on the Hauraki rail trail, which is made into a kind of bicycle trail. It was not that good, though. You didn’t have to bike with the cars, but instead, it was mostly gravel. I’ve biked many great gravel roads, but those were just too big stones, too soft and too many obstacles, like those kind of bars with space in between so cattle won’t be able to walk that path. Everything shakes when you pass by, and you have to lower your speed. Sometimes they even appear every few hundred metres, making it a nuisance.

We arrived in Te Aroha, and went shopping again. After talking with some nice people we settled to camp in or nearby a park. As there were wifi outside the library we ended up on that side the river.

After another loaf of bread (but as breakfast this time) we were heading out! Really happy that we met Ana, and that she invited two totally crazy Swedish strangers into her house!

Her daughter has built a beautiful magical village, by the way!

Because of the form of New Zealand, and the mostly constant western winds, we would have pretty good winds on the north island, and probably less good winds on the south island. Thanks to the general direction we had biked so far the winds had been awesome, but this day consisted of mainly headwind.

We spotted a really random park, or whatever it was, consisting of many att projects (or just random stuff people had managed to put there, what do we know). There was a fence and gates around, se we didn’t enter, but had a nice view for lunch!

When we finally arrived at the drop zone in Parakai, they had already closed down for the day. Instead of living ten minutes away, we decided to rent a small box (or room, but more like a box) with a bunk bed in it, as this was much closer to the DZ, and also we could use the internet, do our laundry and use the kitchen in there. There was some nice people too, which is always awesome!

In the morning I went up quite early to try and get my briefing at the drop zone. Even though I was there quite early, about half past eight, I had to wait about two hours before someone had time enough to help me convert my license and show me the landing areas and rental gear. I got a Safir 170, and went up as soon as possible. What they didn’t tell me was that the landing area was a bit wet, which made me pitch a bit early, just to get to a somewhat dryer patch. My pants and shoes still got dirty from the walking, though.

Astrid had a small sleep in, but when she was fully awake, she went shopping, and also cooked lunch! Really awesome.

Meanwhile, I made a second jump with two guys I met. To make it easy, we did a Skydance (more or less three people holding hands, and starting on one side, one person let it go and flies to the other side of the line). I had added a weight belt of four kilos, but I was still too light. We managed to do some rounds, though, and it was lots of fun!

Also, my pants and shoes were clean again, after a minute in free fall and a more planned, and dry, landing.

Those two jumps took a lot of time, and after eating and packing, we departed at around five. There was a road that was supposed to be shorter and closer to the coast, but we had no idea about the quality of the road. We took our chances, and after ten-something kilometres into the woods, we found a locked gate, with the text “forest harvesting – public access forbidden” or something like that. As we are Swedish, we lifted our bikes over the gate, rather than turning around and bike uphill again. It was labour day, and that may have helped, because we saw no-one in twenty kilometres. What we did do was to experience an awesome forest, some sometimes good-sometimes bad roads, and a lot of wild life! I saw at least four rabbits and five deers, and of course there were birds both here and there.

“Bicycles Allowed”-fence, not the “Nothing Allowed”-fence

After getting through two more fences (more like car blocking, but we had to get our bags off), we just had a couple of kilometres to what would be an awesome camping place! Down to beach, where there were supposed to be a camper van area, and we found public toilets and drinking water. There were sand dunes, some beautiful black sand and also a spot that looked like it was made to be ours. Up on a small ”cliff” with a steep wall down to the beach we pitched our tent, with a great view for dinner!

When we were almost done with ours, we saw some germans down at the beach trying to light a fire, but failing. Of course we would be nice enough to help them, and walked down there with our kitchen fuel. It burnt alright!

One of them gave us a good tip about Coromandel, where we were headed next. Awesome!

It was easier to bike, probably because it was a lot flatter. After maybe 30 kilometres we met a girl who was going to spend half a year in NZ, biking around and experiencing stuff. She told us about a road that was supposed to pretty nice to bike on, kind off flat and all, along Highway 10, instead of Highway 1, where she came from. There had been lots of traffic, and for about 15 kilometres it was not fun at all. We took her advice, as it would only add 9 kilometres over three days, and took a left turn in Awanui after shopping for dinner and breakfast!

Thanks to the turn, we had tail wind, which brought us forward pretty fast. As there were no cous-cous in the store in Awanui, we stopped in Mangonui, bought cous-cous and ate most of the preserved fruit we had bought in China. There were a free camping just three kilometres after the store, but that would set us back around 8 kilometres. Because of that we continued until getting too tired, with another hill in front of us. As wild camping so far had been hard due to all the fences and hills, we knocked on a church where no one opened. There were a house on the opposite side of the road where a man named Wayne let us camp in his garden and use his bathroom. Forgot to take pictures, but the view was amazing, especially with the morning mist in the valley!

The next day, we mostly biked to get to Paihia, close to Waitangi, where the treaty between the British and Maori had been signed in 1840. We thought it would work out to go up there for a visit after the biking, but as the camping was on the way, we checked in and asked about it. At least two or three hours would’ve been needed to actually get something from the visit.

As we wanted to get down to Whangarei, and Jim, by Tuesday evening, we knew we didn’t have time for both. Therefore, we planned to go to the Treaty Grounds the next day for a visit, and then take the bus down to Whangarei.

Campsite for the night

It was pretty early, and there were a BBQ on site, so we decided to try and make ourselves a really nice dinner. After some wandering in the store we had sweet corn, tomatoes, mushrooms, rootbeat, nachos with avocado spread and salsa, olives, pineapple, hummus, a baguette and some wine!

No before pictures, but something in the middle!

The next morning we arrived at the Treaty Grounds at 09.20. There would be a guided tour at 10.00, so we first went to the newly opened museum.

The tour guide spoke about the Maori history, and mainly the treaty, but also discussed about it, to show the problem. The treaty itself had been signed in one Maori version, and one English version, which differed in its meaning.

He also showed us the big war canoes. This particular one could hold a total of 120 people!

The history about the reputation of Russell, earlier also called the Hell Hole of the Pacific, which also was one of the events leading to the treaty, was another thing we got to learn about, with the city in the background.

After the tour it was time for a performance of the traditional Maori dances, beginning with a welcoming ceremony.

They were really skilled in what they did, and the whole performance was a really awesome experience!

After a small history movie in one of the oldest houses of NZ, it was time to get our things at the camping and prepare for the bus ride.

A short journey later, and we arrived in Whangarei again. As we were in a city, we tried to get me a new bell (which was too small for my handlebar) and see if someone could repair my speaker (which is turning the sound itself off every now and then, but maintains connection). None of those were a success, and we biked to Jim’s place. First, we wen’t to his neighbour (same looking car) before getting to the right place! It was an awesome evening, making “real food” for dinner (chick peas and sweet potatoes with curry, coconut milk, sweet corn and onion) and some wine, and a real nice chat with Jim again! This time we also got to finally meet his wife, Karin!