The next morning we ate our scrambled eggs and English Muffins again to our great enjoyment. Not only do we like them, but we're saving about $12-$20 by making them ourselves (breakfast can be expensive here).

We always try to get an "early start" but mostly fail. That morning was especially slow for us. The sun shone brightly (unusual for us in NZ) so Joan got out the solar panel and started typing the journal on the Newton. I started to pack but decided instead to say goodbye to the 4 English fellows next door. I liked those guys. They had worked unloading fishing boats on the south island and on their time off they drove up to the ski slopes to snow board. Together they bought a car for $500 (=$333US) and had driven it all around. They managed to be adventurous without being obnoxious. I remember one guy's name was Jav - short for Javier.

Joan finished her chapter and it was definitely getting time to go. However, I was feeling bad because Joan writes almost all of the chapters and here she snuck another one in. So I told her I wanted to write the next one right then. I had to twist her arm a bit but I wrote it (NZ Chapter 1).

Halfway though, Luthar came back again to talk to us. I stopped writing for a few moments to respond to him then out of the corner of my eye I saw a sleeping bag flying through the air beside me. Joan had communicated her anger. Even Luthar sensed it. He quickly broke off and went back to his flat and I quickly ended the chapter and went to help pack.

We rolled out of the campground around 11am and after stopping at the bank and the post office (where I finally mailed the letter to my friends in Australia - the one I had been planning to write for 2 years) it was after noon before we left Kerikeri.

We took some shortcuts that day on "unsealed" (unpaved) roads, the first we took in New Zealand. The road was beautiful. We rode side-by-side since the traffic was so light. Fluffy white clouds skattered across the sky and we had nice vistas of the green sheep and cattle covered valleys. If I could be any farm animal, I think I would be a sheep in New Zealand. It's not too hot, they have a lot of room, friends are all around, free haircuts and de-lousing and they can sit quietly under nice big bushy green trees all day long. The only drawback would be they take away your 6 month old lambs and eat them.

So we saw a lot of sheep (and cattle) paradise. Unlike the Scots, the Kiwis left or re-planted a lot of trees in the pastures making for a fine looking country side. They grow oranges and Kumara (sweet potato-like plant) and a few other crops but most of what we have been riding through is pasture.

By the way, the area around Kerikeri is like the Plymouth rock of North America - it is where the first European settlers lived. We camped just a 1/4 mile from the oldest stone house and the oldest wooden house in New Zealand. Along the road we passed where old mills and churches had been an in some cases remained.

Also, 1/4 mile from our camp was an old Maori fortress. It sat on a narrow piece of land with a river on each side and steep sides. Basically, 3 sides were too steep to attack and the only open side was protected by a series of trenches, once rimmed with fences. It is very much like Indian Point on the Grand River where the Erie indians made their last stand.

Fortunately the riding had not been too terribly hard. Some hills but not too steep. For lunch we sat on a bench next to a little store in a tiny town. A young woman politely handed me a piece of paper containing a religious tract. It appeared non-denominational. This was not the last religous person we would meet that day.

Lunch was bread with lamb meat and creamy havarti cheese - it was great. Nonetheless, we stopped for pastries at the next town, 10km later. A young Maori women behind the counter said she was moving to Salt Lake City soon. I reckoned immediately that she was Mormon. I don't care if she is Maori and in New Zealand. When someone moves halfway around the world to Salt Lake City, there is a 98% chance that that person is Mormon.

Joan didn't see this. She said the mormon church is fine "if you're the right color." Joan was concerned about this young Maori women in Mormon country and wanted to warn her about discrimination but it sort of came off as an attack on the Mormons. But the young woman did not seem angry. Later though, she said we, "talk good. Not like those other ones." Other Americans I suppose.

After leaving Kaihoe, we went downhill gradually for 10km. Neither of us realized it, but we must have been gradually going up all day. It was wonderful to make so much distance so quickly.

At the bottom of the hill, the terrain changed. We were now in a wide valley following a river. It was quite flat for sometime and we made excellent time. We stopped for a cold drink about the only store between Kaihoe and Opononi. A man there described the road ahead in detail: There would be 3 more hills. The first and worst 8km down the road. Then 2 more smaller hills later on.

We always take road advice with a grain of salt. People who only drive just see the big hills with long vistas and often miss major climbs. This guy was exactly right.

When I was a kid I read this book, "Nine True Dolphin Stories." I read it many times. One of the stories, I'm almost sure, was about Opo, the dolphin from Oponini, New Zealand. Opo the dolphin came into the beach at this little town and played with the people - even let kids ride on its back. In front of the pub they have a satute of Opo playing with a child. The Opo story ended like most of the dolphin stories: Opo was killed by fisherman but it is unclear whether it was accidental or not.

The campground at Oponini is especially nice. We set up our tent at the top of a hill and had a great view across the bay to an enormous sand dune.

next: The most amazing thing happens and Eric's horn gets fixed.

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