At least it's a good city place, everything I need & good company. Back on the road Wednesday, when the holiday madness is over.

After putting almost 1,000 miles on the BMW, I gotta say it may be good for some, but not me. The riding position & footpegs/controls is profoundly uncomfortable for more than a couple hours so I am glad I don't have to do much of that here. I also really dislike what holidays does to decent traveling - screws it up good. I thought to stay in Piha, on the west coast adjecant to Auckland City, but this huge campground was quite full. The "no vacancy" sign specifically said "no, there is no room for your 'little' tent! So, after checking another I am now back in the city at Avondale Park, where I spent my first week while buying the bike. It doesn't matter much, the city is required riding for getting south anyway.

Back to Uretiti beach on the way around Northland - it's real nice here but much more crowded than last week. The campground, run by the dept. of conservation, is just up the hill to the right. I find myself swimming in the Pacific across from Costa Rica.

Rain is done for now and Christmas with Alan & Jannete was marvelous! (not to mention the food...) Instead of being alone on the road, I was a special guest of this wonderful family who owns the "Cowshed" camping ground. This is the great joy of traveling - meeting awesome people. If you ever find yourself in New Zealand, it's a must-stay. I took off & then rode through the Waipoua Forest, a rain forest on the west-central coast of Northland. The tiny road in the picture is of one of the many one-lane sections along the way, but indicative of most of the ride through that forest. Elevation is about 800 feet, just off the coast and windy today; I found myself thinking it's a bit cold but then remembered that 68F° is pretty good for the day after Christmas - just a bit cool for around here.

Merry Christmas to everyone visiting my blog, especially my sad family stuck in winter (I escaped!). It is raining today but I found this cool little campground with everything I need near Kaikohe called the "The Cowshed". Yes, there are cows here and elsewhere in New Zealand, along with the 40 million sheep. If it stays dry for an hour tomorrow I might go a couple kms into town for that New Zealand delicacy 'fish & chips'. I will pick up the trip again after Christmas when hopefully the sun will be back!

Well, I made it to the "top of New Zealand", but didn't stop at the beach campground I wanted. I assumed that since the BMW weighs much less than the others, it would do dirt roads better. That may be true under normal circumstances but in this situation I have a couple hundred pounds of stuff tied to the bike right behind me. As a result, the front wheel is "traction challenged" and just kinda slides around on the gravel, which is what the side roads are around here. Not impossible, but certainly not ideal since I have typical road "tyres". So I will stick to pavement, where this is not a problem, except for short bits. Oh, & I figured out the BMW gets 54 MPG but premium (12:1 compassion ratio) cost around US $5.65 a gallon! (NZ $2.16 per/L) So I estimate this trip will cost me ~US $750 in gas. Imagine touring this place in a big RV, though diesel  is cheaper, about 20%.

I have been in the Northland area for the last 4 days, so I thought I would illustrate these regions. I believe they are called "provinces" & I am pretty sure to hit all of them, since there are none that are solely in the high regions in central South Island - high and cold snow peaks. That little island on the south end? Stewart Island & I don't think that's on the agenda though there does appear to be a ferry for the 381 people that live there.