Up earlier today than yesterday but still tired as I was up till 1.30 trying to speak to people in the UK. I chatted to my Dad for a hour or so in the morning which was great. I also started looking into Chinese Visas and routes through Tibet. This is a major planning issue right now - without it costing £2000! I also contacted several people on Warm Showers about accommodation in the North on my route.
I headed off after lunch and biked into Wellington again and then had another little look round. I decided that I would hitch for a bit to get past the motorways just north of Wellington. I was told by several people that this stretch of the North Island is not worth biking and as I have limited time that I should hitch if possible and then bike the other parts further North. I was glad that I did as I ended up meeting a Samoan father (Maposua) and daughter (Natalia) who were absolutely lovely and very interesting people. They picked me up just outside of Wellington and dropped me off in Paraparaumu. The conversation was good we carried on chatting over a McDonalds in Paraparaumu. It is great to talk to enthusiastic and energetic people. They want to set up a high end hotel complex in Samoa - which would be great. I was invited to go and work and stay there after I have finished my travels..... That would be an interesting thing to do. I now have another new thing on my "To Do List": go to Samoa. If other Samonans are anywhere near as friendly and welcoming then I will love it :-) They have some friends that live in Auckland that I might be able to stay with before I fly out.
I biked from Paraparauma North for a while but found that there was quite a lot of traffic and so decided to try and hitch again. I managed to get to Foxton and tried to hitch again but I did not have much luck and it was getting dark and so I had a bike round town to try and find somewhere to camp for the night. I biked around trying to find a public loo or pub/restaurant to use the loo before putting up my tent but I could not find one (the public ones where locked and the town was dead) and so I stopped to ask some people walking their dogs. They invited me in for a cuppa tea. It turned out that they were English people that moved to NZ a few years ago. Their 2 eldest sons are in a rock band that are touring Europe: the Rabble. They showed me videos etc which was really cool. They have a little antiques shop in town which is very cute. Travelling really is all about the interesting different people that you meet along the way.
I headed off and put my tent up behind the squash courts in town. I always feel safe around squash courts as I seem to have spent so long at courts at different times of my life. By the time I had left the people in Foxton and put up my tent etc it was pretty late.
I headed off after lunch and biked into Wellington again and then had another little look round. I decided that I would hitch for a bit to get past the motorways just north of Wellington. I was told by several people that this stretch of the North Island is not worth biking and as I have limited time that I should hitch if possible and then bike the other parts further North. I was glad that I did as I ended up meeting a Samoan father (Maposua) and daughter (Natalia) who were absolutely lovely and very interesting people. They picked me up just outside of Wellington and dropped me off in Paraparaumu. The conversation was good we carried on chatting over a McDonalds in Paraparaumu. It is great to talk to enthusiastic and energetic people. They want to set up a high end hotel complex in Samoa - which would be great. I was invited to go and work and stay there after I have finished my travels..... That would be an interesting thing to do. I now have another new thing on my "To Do List": go to Samoa. If other Samonans are anywhere near as friendly and welcoming then I will love it :-) They have some friends that live in Auckland that I might be able to stay with before I fly out.
I biked from Paraparauma North for a while but found that there was quite a lot of traffic and so decided to try and hitch again. I managed to get to Foxton and tried to hitch again but I did not have much luck and it was getting dark and so I had a bike round town to try and find somewhere to camp for the night. I biked around trying to find a public loo or pub/restaurant to use the loo before putting up my tent but I could not find one (the public ones where locked and the town was dead) and so I stopped to ask some people walking their dogs. They invited me in for a cuppa tea. It turned out that they were English people that moved to NZ a few years ago. Their 2 eldest sons are in a rock band that are touring Europe: the Rabble. They showed me videos etc which was really cool. They have a little antiques shop in town which is very cute. Travelling really is all about the interesting different people that you meet along the way.
I headed off and put my tent up behind the squash courts in town. I always feel safe around squash courts as I seem to have spent so long at courts at different times of my life. By the time I had left the people in Foxton and put up my tent etc it was pretty late.
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