NZ Day 1

Cedar Rapids airport, getting ready to depart. You'll notice that's all the luggage I brought for the 10 day trip. I got a lot of funny looks from the folks at the flight check in booths when they asked if I wanted to check any luggage. I explained to them that you didn't have to be clean to ride a motorcycle. Megan and Dave have a washer and dryer, so I did have clean clothes the whole time.

Fast forward 24 hours and a lot of airport stress later, here's the Kingpin Tour I had for the trip. It's going to be a beautiful day!

Here's a picture I took while just out and about

Lake Taupo. Ice blue water, green everywhere, a nice change from the snow and ice I've been looking at for the last few months.

Just 50 or so miles down Hwy 1, I found myself in the middle of a desert. That's when I started figuring out how fast the scenery changes in New Zealand.

So after being awake for nearly 40 hours (with the exception of 5-6 hours of airplane sleep) 24 hours of which was spent flying or running through airports, and about 11 hours of riding, I finally arrived in Paraparamu. I was cranky, stinky, sleepy, hungry, and really craving a beer. I didn't really care too much about that stuff when I saw the beach across the street from the hostel.

So I took a shower and went looking for a place to eat. I ended up choosing the "Lakota Resturant and Bar". Mainly because they had beer and food, but also because I thought it was strange to come all the way from South Dakota (where most of the Lakota people lived) and see a resturant in NZ with it as a name.

The food was great, the beer was so good I had two, and by the time I was ready to leave, I was so close to falling asleep that I could barely communicate with the waitress (I did explain that I was tired, not drunk, I hope).

So I made my way back to the hostel. You'll notice the SUV parked on the lawn there. I paid an extra $10 to reserve a "sea side view" room, only to open the window to an SUV view. Great... well it didn't matter because I was asleep 10 mintues later and left before the sun came up the next morning.

Stay tuned for the next installment...