February 10th, 2009 To Invergargill
The last couple of days I have felt I have "turned a corner" in more ways than one. First of all, despite the hard riding- hills, wind, rain- I do feel I am getting stronger. Also, I reached the southernmost area of the south island and it really feels different- so remote, rainforest, and with cool antarctic winds- I do feel I am at the bottom of the globe. Other than that, the sadness that was plaguing me before has started to ebb away and I feel I am beginning to really enjoy myself and become myself, again.
I was in a lovely bay yesterday. It took a long hard rainy ride to get there, but I toughed it out and camped even though I was soaked. I was about to take a cabin when I thought about the damn tent I am carrying and figured I had better use it. All I really needed was a warm (hot) shower, so I made it through the night. In the morning, I was reading the plaques above the bay and how the dolphins swim there, and how not to disturb them. The sign said "love us from afar or lose us forever" as human encroachment has pushed them to extinction. I thought I wouldnt have the good luck to see any, when suddenly I spotted a cluster in the water! Yeah! Their fins broke the surface as they dove and swam.
Then the guy who I was standing near took off down the beach and tore off all his clothes and jumped in! What an *&^%!! Not only is this disturbing them, its f-g freezing! I couldnt believe it. But, I thought it was pretty cool. So that goes to show you how remote it is.
Now I am in Invergargill which is the last city before heading north to the sounds, and Queenstown, West Coast. I dont think I will spend much time here because the city really seems like some backwater Deliverance meets High Noon kind of place; I think I will take a flight to Stewart Island and then start riding to Te Anua.
HOWEVER, the winds blow from the south west and they are STRONG. You cant escape these winds- never experienced anything like it! How I wish I had a tailwind. This Scot cyclist I met had one and he said they were practically blowing him up the hills without even pedaling. I guess he wanted to rub it in...
1 comment:
Hi Laura! I was just catching up on your blog, and I wanted to say that I hear ya about those winds! Here's from my journal while sailing for a month around the sounds...
We sailed to Bligh Sound in dreary weather but strong winds came from the right direction to sail straight in. That loud, crazy wind kept the anchored boat at a lean and resulted in turbulent, unsteady sleep. First thing the next morning, we high-tailed it out of the shelterless, wind factory without much exploration. A pod of dolphins swam with us along the way.
Still dark and rainy, whistling winds, low clouds, and our little blue budgie (parakeet) squawking away "40 knots 40 knots!" Surfing a left on a swell into George Sound, the captain was still muttering about Bligh... mrr mrr mrr what a God-forsaken place. We settled, unsettled, in George Sound when I read this timely old saying about Plymouth weather in a biography of Captain Cook:
The west wind always brings wet weather
The east wind wet and cold together;
The south wind surely brings us rain,
The north wind blows it back again.
-from the biography of Captain James Cook,
by Richard Hough
Thanks for your blog, Laura! You're truly adventurous and strong. There's nothing that compares to going out there and getting it all under your fingernails, so enjoy.
Susan Toth
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