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| Taumarunui, New Zealand |
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| my friends Jon and Sharon |
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| 'riding the bus' |
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| Taumarunui school kids |
after leaving New Plymouth i rode up to North Egmont village and spent the night at a very old lodge at the base of Mt.Taranaki. it was a great place to enjoy the views of the mountain and coastline and was able to explore a bit around the mountain. the day after i made my way down the mountain and towards the 'Forgotten Highway'.
a 150Km section of road following the old highway through the South-Western heartland of the North Island. it was a hilly but quiet road, very little traffic, a few tunnels and a 15km unsealed section of gravel road. there was only one store along
this route so made sure to bring enough provisions to last the entire two day trip.
on the second day after riding over some undulating and very steep roads i ran out of water and got quite dehydrated. when i was about 10 km outside of my destination (Taumarunui) a school bus pulled up next to me and the driver shouted "do you want
a ride mate!" - "throw your bike in the bus". i usually don't accept rides but this time i was happy to get a lift.
so with only a little hesitation i accepted his offer and put my bike inside the empty 50 seater Japanese school bus. the bus driver was a Dutchman who emigrated from Holland to New Zealand when he was only eighteen and never went home. his name was Jon and i spent the next couple days with him and his Maori partner Sharon. They were both very kind and generous hosts. feeding me, doing my laundry, letting me use their cars, showing me around town, etc. i even went on the school bus run as Jon's co-pilot when he went to pick the kids up on a sunny Friday afternoon.
i had a very pleasant time in Taumarunui and was lucky to meet up with some locals and get an inside perspective of a small New Zealand town. Thanks for the hospitality Jon and Sharon! see you next time.
