Invercargill is a small city of 50,000 people. I’m in a dorm room in a hostel right downtown. Lots of coffee shops, restaurants and shopping. Some of the buildings are new, and some have the older architecture that has been restored. Just a nice mix. In the dorm I met two young women who walked the Te Aroa, in sections. Yesterday they walked from Invercargill to Bluff…..such a long day of walking. I can’t imagine walking the distance that we cycled, with a 40lb pack….now that is crazy!!! Many do it in sections, but some do it in one six month trek!
I spent the morning in a coffee shop, where I had eggs Benedict with four huge pieces of bacon. Then I spent a few hours in the library….walked around a bit, then lunch. I was also working out a bit of a plan for when Ted arrives. I think I have a rough itinerary set out, but of course it depends on the weather. It will be warmer in the north island, but there’s more to see on the South Island, and I have a friend that I’d love to see in Gisborne most of the way up on the north island. We will see. I don’t want to rush from place to place, but rather take our time and explore.
Dinner out tonight with two fellow TA riders, Annabel and David. Annabel is headed to Queenstown tomorrow morning, and it was really hard to say goodbye. We’ve spent so much time together that very the past two weeks. David is going to accompany me to Christchurch. I’m so happy for the company as I’m a bit concerned about driving on the left side of the road, but my friend Karen told me when you get to an intersection just think….curb left, wide right! I’ve been practicing this entire time on the bike, so hopefully it will be ok. David lives in the UK so should be able to remind me to stay left!!!
We are going to go north via the East side of the island. A change of scenery. The drive is about 560km, and I’m not sure how long that will take. The map software says 7 1/2 hrs, but I’m not sure how fast I can drive. Usually I drive faster than the speed limit, but after all the time on a bike, I find that a vehicle feels really fast. We should be on smaller roads tomorrow….and hopefully the Easter holiday traffic doesn’t start early!!!
