February 8: Recalculating and Recombobulating

 Zzzzzzz...

Waking on the other side of the world, after a night of vivid flying dreams, the Ralfs lie in bed, basking in the southern summer sunlight and the sounds of unfamiliar bird song. Mary has set a gorgeous table for breakfast, complete with homemade muesli, toast, and jams, and we spend a fun hour chatting on the differences 'tween Kiwis and Yanks, our trees and theirs, our social systems and theirs, that sorta thing.

Time to reboot. Boxes are unpacked. The garage becomes a mess of bike and trailer parts and It's Gary's job to reassemble the mess of frames, wheels, and assessories into a travelling circus. By and large, the bikes made it 8,000 miles with only a few minor scrapes. (Note to self:  Hard padding on all bike parts touching inside of box!) Have to buy a 240V camera; too awkward to get a transformer.

Ellen heads into Papakura to help Mary assemble deliveries for the St. Vincent de Paul shop she runs and to shop.

Four hours of bike reassembly. E returns with new camera and a few articles of summer clothing. (We are packed for winter or at best Seattle June, but it's true summer here, and a muggy one)

John drives us west to the Kariotahi black sands beach for a wade into the Tasman Sea and lunch at the Agave cafe, overlooking miles of unspoiled coastline. The sheep pastures linger right up to cliffs edge, then drop precipitously to meet crashing breakers below, all in a shroud of mist.

Back in the Smith's garage, more hours of reassembly and tinkering. G has warped brake discs, one bent from the flight. E has a wobble to her rear tire. Trying to change out toe clips, a screw is stripped. Uhhh...Need to get to a bike shop.
No worries, mate. Happy hour starts early... Another Sauvingon Blanc from the Marlborough region (world famous wine region on the north end of the South Island)  Yum!  Kingfish caught by John himself  and pasta in cream sauce followed by rhubarb custard complete a long first day in NZ.


Bird of the day:  White-faced Heron  (and 8 of em landed on the rooftop--just for the tourists)