VISA Trip To NZ

Well it seems like an eternity ago now but I’ll write up a few things I did while in NZ for about 2 weeks to get my new VISA to enable me to work in the States for a longer period of time. I landed in Auckland at the same time as Matt, early on Saturday morning way back on Sept 19th. Matt had been away in Bolivia and Peru working and it was his first time back in NZ in 2.5 years. It was great to catch-up at Marke and Paula’s place that weekend. Pretty good timing really. They flew in from London via Hong Kong and I from LA and landed within 20 mins of each other.

After being put to work in Marke and Paula’s yard making a retaining wall I biked at Woodhill with Marke and the Auckland MTB Club that afternoon. It was great fun and I always have a good time at Woodhill. After an evening at the Cooper Room in Taka’s drinking Monteith’s and watching the ABs I crashed that night. The next day we all went for a walk at Piha Beach. I love that beach. That evening Marke showed me some of the local technical trails on the North Shore. A little tough on the SS but I can’t complain as Marke also only had one gear but also no suspension.

The next day I caught up with some colleagues in Auckland after getting my VISA at the US Consulate. Yip. I needed to fly halfway across the world to sit in a room for an hour waiting to talk to a US VISA person for 10mins. In this day and age of carbon miles, dwindling oil supplies and global warming this seems a bit off. Anyhow it meant I had an excuse to head home for a while.

I landed in Welly on Monday night and had till Sunday in the capital. As most people were working I rode out at Wainui and Makara on 3 occasions. It was great to ride the wicked Welly Trails again. I forget how different they are to over here in Redlands. I had totally forgotten how to ride Deliverance. I think it is rougher now but geez in the wet and the roots and the rocks I was all over the show. Crickey. They rest of the time was spent hanging out in town, catching up with friends for lunches and hanging out with Bridget.

On the Sunday night after a pretty cold week in Welly I landed next to the sheep paddocks in Timaru to hang out with the parents and Lauren for a few days. I had a good time of course. I ate lots of Mum’s incredible cooking and baking including homemade Licorice Ice Cream. Mmmm... I also did a couple of rides with Dad for the first time in many years on the local Timaru Trails. Good times. I think he got a little idea of what I really get up to on the bikes these days. Bit different than when I was a teenager and most of the riding was in the flat Burwood Plantation in Christchurch. We also went for a drive through Geraldine, Woodbury and up the Rangitata Gorge/Valley. Lovely country and it reminded me how awesome the Southern Alps are. After too short a time I was back onto the big bird destined for LA.