We left Dargaville early, aiming to ride about 40k to a Kauri tree museum we'd heard a lot about, and then another 12k to a little town on the bay that Paul had told us about, called Pahi.

Well the ride ended up being a bit longer when I left my helmet at our lunch stop. I didn't realize my error for 7k. When I did, Eric was heart-broken. He hates leaving late, and he really hates going backwards. Especially when going backwards means heading back into the wind.

I knew Eric would be really upset so I didn't wait for him to follow me. I just took off and headed back to the lunchspot. Every once in awhile I looked back and saw him trailing way behind. We rolled into our lunchspot and retrieved my helmet. Then we turned around, and with the wind at our backs, I tried to make up for lost time. I pushed really hard, and we started moving 28k to 32k an hour. That's not very fast, especially for hardcore riders, but since we normally move at about 15k an hour, that was pretty darn fast. Eric said he didn't know I could ride that fast. Of course it helped that there were no hills and a strong tail wind.

We made it to the Kauri museum in early afternoon. It was amazing in many ways. The best display was a cross section of a Kauri that died after being struck by lightning. The display showed how the tree died, how they cut it down (the thing was 58 meters long I think), transported it and cut it apart. Another display talked about Kauri gum--which is like amber. It had lots of photos about the gum diggers, showing their way of life. They were called diggers because they dug the gum out of swamps and dirt.

That night we slept in a camp at Pahi, a little beachside town. Again, we had debated about whether or not it was worth it to ride 7k out of our way to get there. But we went for it and it turned out great. On top of its marvelous campground with bay views, and a superb kitchen and dining area, it had a beach full of oysters! The camp keeper told us they were safe to eat, so we got a bunch, steamed them open, sauteed them in butter, and then threw them over our instant fettucine alfredo. Eric says it's one of the best dinners he's ever made.

The next two days were less eventful. On Nov. 3, we rode 70k over major, major hills, with lots of wind, to Sheepworld, an unabashed tourist trap (but the only place to camp overnite in the area). The next day, we skipped going to the actual Sheepworld park, and rode over more hills, with lots of wind, to Auckland. We rode in from the north through lots of suburbs, which were quite busy making hectic riding, and caught the ferry from Devonport into town. Eric was amazed that it took only about 10 minutes for the ferry to let passengers off, let more on, and turn around. The ferries in British Columbia, Alaska, and in San Francisco Bay all have much more tedious docking and bording procedures.

next: Auckland.

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