Day Twenty One

Well, for the first time in ten days I will not be sleeping in my tent which means the inevitable has arrived. My last night in New Zealand is here. I’m actually watching the sun disappear behind the mountains as I type this. Cue the “Going Home Blues” :(

Other than the fact that this is my last day it’s been a good, although generally uneventful, day. I departed the campsite shortly before 10:00am and enjoyed a very leisurely (and short – 8km) ride to tonight’s accommodation – a B&B which is very close to the airport which will make transporting my once again boxed up bike less of a hassle.

I arrived at the B&B early but my room was already good to go. I moved all my stuff in with the intention of then heading over to watch some of the four day Cricket test match that started yesterday. Of course, by now it’s been well established how well plans have been kept on this trip. In getting ready for game I couldn’t find my ball cap – I looked everywhere but to no avail. Well, to make a short story unnecessarily longer I deemed that I must not have securely packed it when I headed out this morning. So, since it was only 8km back to the campsite I figured I’d see if the lost hat could be found. I really don’t know why I’m telling this story – it’s really only mildly interesting to me (spoiler alert: I found my hat). If I were you I’d skip to the next paragraph – not that it will be particularly exciting but it has to be better than reading about me looking for a lost hat. So, with my bike now free of all my gear I was able to make it back to the campsite in good time (and on road trips it’s all about making good time). As I neared the gate I could see a blue object sitting on a large rock. Could it be? As I got closer the object started to take form until there was no doubt. My ratty blue hat had been found by some good samaritan who placed it on a rock to be reunited with its owner. And there was much rejoicing – yaaay :)

So anyway, the owners of the B&B are incredibly nice. And it sounds like breakfast tomorrow will be feast-like. Of course, based on what I’ve been eating for breakfast lately, peanut butter and jam would be a feast. Although the remaining handfuls of trail mix I had for supper tonight were tasty :)

On a somewhat related topic, they weighed me prior to yesterday’s hang gliding flight – I think I’m down about 3.5kg (8 lbs) from the start of this adventure.

I should point out that it’s become very windy over the past couple of hours. If this continues I think it will be FAR too dangerous for any planes to take off tomorrow. As a precautionary measure, I think all air travel departing New Zealand should be grounded for at least six months :)

Okay, well… I think I’ve babbled enough (I know, I know, MORE than enough).