My legs felt as good as new today, the massage yesterday certainly paid off. Rain was forecast for Taupo and just cloudiness for Rotorua, so I was eager to get past the wet part as quickly as possible. Along the way I saw dozens of signs for thermal parks and caves (it got annoying when … Continue reading Day 14: Riding Taupo to Rotorua

Today's itinerary was inspired by Tom and Donna from the show Parks and Recreation, "Treat Yo Self Day", basically do whatever you feel like. So here we go: 1. Ride five minutes to Spa Thermal Park to lie under a waterfall and soak in a steamy hot spa. Now, I do have a history of … Continue reading Day 13: Taupo, Rest and Relaxation

For the first time during this trip, I woke up to something unpleasant... sore calves. Since the dominant, logical Jenny was barely awake, the dramatic Jenny kicked in: "nooo, not my calves, I need those. I want to lie in bed all day". Obviously my legs were just sore from yesterday's effort, and while I … Continue reading Day 12: Riding Turangi to Taupo

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is an epic 20km hike, with incredible scenery and special sites along the way. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great, so the company I booked the tour with, canceled the trip. I ended up going anyway with two other people at the hostel, Alan and Vicky, who were kind enough to drive … Continue reading Day 11: Tongariro Alpine Crossing

After the big ride yesterday, I slept like a log. I felt fortunate to have stayed in awesome hostels for three consecutive towns, which seemed too good to be true. So I was reluctant to leave, also because I met some cool people here, and the pizza place down the road was amazing. There was … Continue reading Day 10: Riding Ohakune to Turangi

I knew that this one was going to be the hardest ride for my whole trip and the Strava results below definitely prove it. I gave myself 9 hours to arrive in Ohakune, including breaks, and there were three reasons it was so tough: Ridiculous elevation; more than a quarter of Everest, essentially it was going to … Continue reading Day 09: Riding Wanganui to Ohakune (cyclist version)

This was the most scenic ride so far, I rode along and over various rivers and streams, saw multiple waterfalls and gazed upon mist covered mountains in the horizon. Most of the locals have said that it's a shame that I'm only seeing the North Island, since the South Island is so much prettier. To … Continue reading Day 09: Riding Wanganui to Ohakune (tourist version)

I was looking forward to this day, but unfortunately the weather didn't agree with me. It rained a fair bit, so I decided to keep myself (and my bike) dry and enjoy some indoor activities. First off was a beginners' yoga class, which was very refreshing but challenging at some points. To begin with, my legs … Continue reading Day 08: Wanganui, rest day