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I have run away from home yet again. This time to New Zealand.
I don't know if I will visit this town, but Gisborne New Zealand has the distinction of being the first city in the world to see the Sunrise. That means it is already tomorrow there, but 6 hours earlier in the day. Back to the Future indeed.
The plan is, well, you know how well I get along with plans.... Anyway, I arrived in Queenstown, NZ in the south Island on Feb 13th after a relaxing 31 hours of traveling, not including to/from the airport. 25 Hours of flying time. The longest flight was 17 hours.
I took a day off to recover before renting a BMW GS Motorcycle. Maybe I should have taken a week to recover. I will likely stay on mostly paved roads in the South Island for the first portion of this trip. I will have this bike until March 2nd when I will swap it for a Honda Africa Twin, or possibly a smaller bike, as I will be meeting 5 other riders for some backwoods riding. Much of that will be on gravel roads and jeep trails. I fly out March 14th, arriving back in Boston on March 15th. I don't plan on being there long.
As for plans, well, that is all. I have no other plans. I am not even sure of the direction, much less where I will stay. I am not even sure if I will just stay in the South Island, or if I will go north to Dolly Wood, err, I mean Hobbit Land, or Hobbiton or whatever it is called.
Time is a bit weird here. Sure, we are 6 hours earlier, so getting back to the hotel at 11 PM is like 5 am back home, time to get up for the day. The sun comes up around 6am, but does not go down until after 9pm. The brain is a bit scrambled.
I am south of the equator, so wheels spin differently here, that is why they drive on the left side of the road. Not a problem for a bike, we can use any side we want, but the left side seems to be preferred. The only time this is really an issue for me is when I come out of a parking lot, especially first thing in the morning. There is no reference and I am distracted with plans, so taking off and immediately getting on the right side is pretty automatic, but easily corrected the first time you see a car in your lane. Now walking.... Walking is dangerous.
The place I am renting the bike from Central Otago Motorcycle Hire also has a few rooms to stay in if you like. Not much nearby, there is a restaurant withing walking distance, but not much else. Jeanine and Dave are wonderful people. They were kind enough to loan me one of their Honda 230 dirt bikes to bop around town. I took it to breakfast, then down a few dirt roads before going into "town" to get some cash. I am not built for one of these little bikes. Sure, I fit on it well enough, but a tiny thumper buzzing away put my butt to sleep in the few miles I rode it. I am really looking forward to getting on the BMW.
Bike Number 1
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Cromwell is famous for Stone Fruit. I kept looking around trying to figure out which of the fruits were the infamous "Stone Fruit". Turns out that Stone Fruit are just Drupes. That is, Peaches, Cherries, anything with a big "Stone" in the center. Learn something new every year.
Stone Fruit Not sure if that Pear is a stone fruit or not.
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