True NZ Hospitality

In the past few days, Brian and I have experienced some true NZ hospitality, generosity and sincere kindness. As we were cycling out of Dunedin a few days ago, I was getting sweaty and thus stopped to take off a layer of clothing. Right when we were ready to begin pedalling again, an older man came up to us and asked us where we were from, where we were headed today, how many kilometres we average each day, etc; the usual questions from locals and travellers alike. Then he said, "Would you like to come to my house for a cup of coffee? I just live up the street." Brian and I both looked at each other and thought, "Well, we just started riding, it's almost noon, and haven't even made it out of the city..." In the time it took for us to have those thoughts breeze through our consciousness, the old man said, "I've got some carrots in my garden. Come on home with me and I'll pick some for you. And I'll make you a cup of coffee." Who could say no to garden-fresh carrots? So, we followed this man, who introduced himself as Alex (he looks suspiciously like a slightly more plump Mr. Dressup), for about ten minutes up the road to his place, his self-built home since the sixties. A cup of instant coffee later (which, surprisingly, wasn't that bad), we had been introduced to photos of his grown up children, his deceased wife, and heard stories of construction woes as he lived in a shed on the land while he spent four years building his house. What a great guy. He obviously just wanted some company on a Saturday morning, and found two Canadian cyclists. Lucky us. Brian and I shared some "Can-you-believe-how-awesome-this-is?" looks a few times during our coffee time, and again when Alex reached into his freezer and offered us a frozen tub of homemade vegetable soup (with veggies from his large garden, of course) and five slices of homemade bread. He figured we get hungry riding all day - he was right - and we would appreciate a homemade meal - he was right again. Alex's generosity extended to a trip into his glass hot-house where we picked a number of very tasty grape tomatoes for the road. Meee-oh-my, what a kind man! We managed to get his address before we left, so we'll be sending Alex a thank you package when we get back to Nelson... Our spirits were sailing, and so were our bikes the rest of that day. The sun was shining, the air was not as brisk as it had been during the weeks before, and we were riding up beautiful hills 400 metres high, giving us splendid views of the city of Dunedin, and the coastline north of the city. Later that afternoon, we stopped at a small look-out to get some photos of the coast, and this one of my shadow:As we were about to depart, a car pulled up with two fellows inside. They got out of their car and began asking us all the usual questions about cycle-touring. One guy was from Dunedin, but originally from Taiwan, and told us about numerous spots along the coast that we must stop to see. His accent was a little difficult to understand, but we managed to laugh and figure out what he was telling us. Yet another friendly NZ experience... Just before dark, we stopped in a small town called Palmerston (pop. 900), and decided that the elementary school yard was quite appropriate for a free camping session. Indeed it was, and I slept like a baby, even with the trains going past. The next morning brought similar sweet weather, and things were still looking up! Way up, right Brian?

Just north of a place called Shag Point (I used to live at a place called Shag End in Nova Scotia, heh heh), we found this lovely and vast beach to stop for a snack of wasabi peas and stale crackers - quite a good combo, we discovered.

It seems inevitable that our future children are going to be tall and skinny:

The day was going so well, with the exception of a fairly strong head wind. While riding, I was tucked quite close behind Brian, trying to maximise the efficiency of the concept of drafting. My mind was wandering through random thoughts, and not surprisingly my bike was wandering back and forth a bit too. Wandering a bit too far, though, because I suddenly heard "Shwwwwppp!!", I quickly looked down to see my front tire and Brian's trailer tire rubbing together and then my balance got all buggered up and I found myself looking at the fast approaching pavement. Shit. I totally bailed. Dee down! Dee down!! I got up quickly, and took a quick assessment of my body parts which all appeared to be there and working alright. My black marino shirt ($20 at Costco in Calgary) had a rather impressive gaping gash at the elbow (which hurt) and my knee felt like it was bleeding, but there was no gash in my Patagonia polypropylene pants (must remember to buy more polypropylene instead of marino wool). Wow, a bit of a shocker, I must say. Tears of surprise started to flow (I admit to crying fairly easily, especially when startled - I inherited it from my mom). Brian stepped in like my hero and bandaged me up, picked up my bags and my bike, and then stuck out his thumb to get us a ride to the next town.

NZ generosity experience numero trois: Dave, a folk singer, entertainer, rolly-polly man in his sixties, and quite the story teller, gave us reason to believe in the kindness of others in NZ. He had been in Dunedin at a "folk raid" (folk clubs apparently make fun t-shirts, raid each other and jam it up for a weekend every year), and was on his way back home to Christchurch when he pulled over to pick us up. We managed to fit both our bikes, Brian's trailer, all our gear, all Dave's folk music instruments, plus me and Brian into his mini van. He told us funny stories and his personal history all the way to Oamaru, the next town large enough to have a hospital. Before dropping us off in the hospital parking lot, he took us for a drive through the historical part of town and showed us where to go and what to do, and described all the festivals and things that happened in this small town. What a great guy. We'll hopefully get to see Dave and his barn dance band, Bantom of the Opera, when we make it to Christchurch in a few weeks. I'm definitely going to buy that man a beer.

In the emergency ward at the Oamaru Hospital, Brian and I met Joy, the sweetest and most caring nurse I've ever met. She took great care of us, and was such a pleasure to be around (even during my tetanus shot). An x-ray later (how many x-rays can I get in one week??), the doctor said that I should come back the following day to see the fracture clinic just to be sure.... Great. First, my brother and I get bee stings on the same day, and now my mom and I both break bones. What's next? I was in quite a bit of pain from muscle spasms and such, so joy gave me a sling and some pain killers and sent us on our way to the local campground with a big bag of ice.

The next morning, Brian and I returned to the hospital where the doctor at the fracture clinic said that he couldn't really see any obvious cracks in my x-rays, but due to the look of my inflamed elbow, the location of the pain, and the limitations in the movements of my elbow, I've likely got a wee crack in the head of my radius bone. Regardless if there is indeed a crack or not, there's nothing they can do for me, so I just need to rest and relax and wait and see how long it takes to heal. Can I ride soon? It's hard to say...... Hmm... our bike trip is postponed until further notice. So for now, we've made a nice little home at the Top 10 Holiday Park ("Top 10" isn't a rating, it's just a brand name, and if I were to rate it, I'd give it a 72 out of the top 100, and I think there are only 80 holiday parks or less in NZ). But, to make it cozy and warm, we've got our first plant resting in a plastic yogurt container: a Thai basil plant, useful for eggs in the morning and pita wraps for dinner, and adds a bit of greenery to our stark white cement cell.

Here's the stark white cell, complete with crappy curtains and an electric plug-in heater:

But things are looking up because today, day three since the bike fall, my arm has more mobility, less pain, and we've got a few NZ beers to ingest with dinner. Can't get better than that, now can you?