Chillin'

Made it to Kawakawa. The town is famous for a train that runs right down the main street and for it's Hundertwasser toilets. Check and check. The ride here started out surprisingly well. By about 2/3 of the way, though, I got pretty tired of riding. There was zero to see besides landscape and the traffic rolling on past me. I'm a bit anxious to knock out the final 32 km of the day. I'm chilling at the Train Spotter Café. Had a $12 (about $10 US) omelet with toast that I would get for maybe $6 in the States. Food is mighty expensive here. I need a lot more calories... Free WiFi here, which is nice... My speedometer conked out during my ride. I think all the annoying rattling made it reset... The pavement color constantly changes, and grey is about the worst... Light grey is NG... I'm starving... Just as I arrived here I met a young German kid who is hitchhiking. I might meet him again, perhaps in Cape Reinga, or maybe LA or SF. Small world. He amazes me, doing his solo hitchhiking job. He even said he got picked up by a guy who claimed to be a bank robber... Whoa.
I got here at a clip of about 25 km/hour... Maybe need 1:30 for the final leg of my ride today. I might have to cook dinner tonight, so maybe I'll make a ton of pasta? Weather seems to be improving. Had a few drops of rain falling earlier, but mostly just overcast. When I ride on the worst roads, and cars pass, I have to hope that the flying rocks don't hit me. So far so good... I have a pair of sneakers with me, but I have yet to wear them or my socks. Maybe tonight? Thinking about making a pit stop for several days soon, so I can relax again. Since there's really no compelling reason for me to not stop. I struggle with those thoughts every day. This is not a race, after all, nor do I have a plane to catch soon... Ugh. I saw a wwoofer position in the town where I'm heading, Kerikeri (yet another double-name place name), and I'm thinking about doing it, but it was an emergency fill-in, so maybe they already found someone... I'm Anyway, time for more food, and then I should get going. Talk to you tonight.