Filling my basket

On Wednesday morning, Rob and I fly to Australia.
I have been reflecting on the time that has past since we stepped of a plane, soggy after a brief stint in cyclone plagued Fiji, never having biked before, having no set route or plan and hoping that someone we had met through the internet would be waiting to pick us up.

I didn't realize then, but we were arriving at the world's greatest farmer's market.

Over the past two months, we have been strolling down it's grassy isles lined with booths and stalls offering fresh, organic, homegrown opportunities. We have been surrounded by the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of New Zealand and have been enveloped by it's bustle of activity.

Luckily, I arrived in New Zealand with a giant wicker basket over my shoulder- an open mind, and the sole purpose of filling it with experiences, adventures and ideas for the future.

Like heading to any market, I had things on my list, things I was craving that I knew would be there, it would just be a matter of finding the right stall and putting it in the basket. This is often the way we travel, mostly because of necessity and lack of time. Focused on getting to our destination, picking up what we came for and heading on to the next.

Thankfully, we had time to wander and time to browse.
Along the way, there were all kinds of stalls that I wasn't expecting, things I had never seen, tasted or tried before- new experiences, adventures, and opportunities to expand my horizons and try something new...FREE SAMPLES!! And not just the edible kind. I filled my basket with these.

And then there were the people at the market- those who were selling their wares, as well as those who were just strolling through, like ourselves. We soon realized that if you took the time to stop and chat with the vendors, meet the people and hear their stories, your own experiences would be enriched tenfold. We built relationships and connections that have allowed us to see behind the facade of some of the stalls, opportunities that we never would have come across just wandering by.

After two months, my basket is growing heavy...

Rob's mom, Jay, sent me an email today...she passed on a message from Rob's Grandma Jessie who had seen photos of our strawberry picking adventures...did we think we were done?!? Our trays were no where close to full. If we were picking berries for her jam, those trays would have to be overflowing.

The temptation is definitely there- to stay until this basket is overflowing, the wicker straining.
The temptation is there to become a regular at this market, with an empty basket each week, strolling from stall to stall, familiar with the layout, chatting with vendors who know what I am there for, bread warm and waiting, bumping into other regulars....maybe even opening a stall of my own.
The temptation is there.

But I can't set up shop yet, there are more adventures to come...we fly to Australia in less than 48 hours, where I will pick up a new, fresh, empty basket....or maybe it will be a boomerang.

It's the little things....

What is this you ask?
Only nature's most incredible invention - the PERFECT TENT FLY DRYING STRUCTURE!!

Rob and I discovered this marvel on a particularly dewy morning in Takaka.
Due to our slightly obsessive tendency to have our gear organized and in its proper place, we will go to great lengths to dry our tent as much as possible before packing it away (if time allows of course). Most mornings this means lots of shaking, holding up in the wind, draping carefully over picnic tables, bushes, tree branches and more.

Enter, the palm...
The frans of the palm stretch the fly, maximizing the surface area for evaporation and allowing for air circulation on both sides. Genius!
This palm was especially perfect as it received early morning sun.

I have never had such a good time watching nylon dry.

Snap Happy

My camera's rechargeable batteries ran out of steam a few days ago.
We hadn't been in a place with a plug for over a week. Okay, well we hadn't stayed overnight in a place with power.
When the batteries finally lost their charge I freaked. NO POWER? NO CAMERA? What the heck am I going to do? The fact that Rob had a fully charged camera was of little comfort. I need my camera.
I sulked and scoffed mentally....'well, I would have taken a picture of that, humph'

But after a couple days of cameralessness I began to feel liberated.
I didn't have the ghost of photography stress hanging over me, sitting on my shoulder, egging me on- you should take a photo of that, you may never remember without one, how was the light in that one? do you think the colours will turn out? does it show the perspective properly? is there a better angle for this shot?
I began to realize what a distraction photography can really be from the experience that you are trying to immortalize.
Instead of rooting through my bag, digging out the camera, changing the settings, playing with the flash, etc, etc, I found myself in stillness, taking in the moment, instead of trying to capture it.
Now if only I could figure out how to post those moments on the blog.....

(this was only an observation...my camera has since been fully charged and I am back to being as snap happy as ever...but it was a nice break!)

Chloe-1, Diabetes-0

The other morning I woke up and rolled over in my sleeping bag. Rob was already awake.

"I don't want diabetes today" I grumbled.

I bet he was expecting something more along the lines of "good morning", but he didn't seemed surprised in the least by my choice of first words for the day. Seeing as we live in a tiny tent, he was awake each of the 5 times during the night when I awoke to test my blood sugar.

Each time it's the same...
Diabetes wakes me up for one reason or another, high or low. I start rummaging around for my glucometer. Rob says "You okay?". I reply "Yep...just high" or "Yep...just low". Deal with it. Then we can both go back to sleep. Till the diabetes alarm goes off again.

I know I am very fortunate to even have an internal diabetes alarm, as many people don't and just sleep through their highs and lows, but sometimes....ahhhhhhhhhhh, I wish it would just leave me alone. That particular night I was plagued by a high that just wouldn't go away, despite extra boluses and finally a shot, I was reduced to the final option...change the pump site.

So the other morning, when it was finally time to get up and start the day, I was just about done with diabetes.

Most of the time, I am totally, 100%, A-okay with the fact that I have diabetes. That's the way things are, I can't change it, so I deal with it. Diabetes is just another part of my day- brush my teeth, test my blood sugar, count carbs, change a bike tire, eat, exercise, pump it up, etc, etc.

Diabetes management becomes routine. But routine in a way that it is a constant fixture on your conscience. I am thinking about diabetes all the time. I am constantly doing 'mental check-ins' with my body. "Body, how do you feel? Low? High? Shaky? Achy? Jittery? Heart racy? Head achy? Hungry? Cranky? Icky? Fine?". Every time I eat, move, walk, exercise, sit still, leave for somewhere, go to do something, wake up, go to bed...I take diabetes into account. Sometimes the result is doing math or dealing with blood tests or insulin administration, other times it is as simple as just checking in and then moving on.

Apparently, diabetes makes demands of my unconscious mind too, which must mean that even though I may think I am taking a break from diabetes during sleep, my brain never really stops checking in, hence the internal alarm.

Woe is me! When I get this frustrated, deflated, I-don't-want-to-play-this-game-anymore, rundown, burnt out feeling, I know that it is time to distract myself, do something active, and prove to myself that this can't hold me back or get me down. I just won't let it.

A little diabetes victory also helps...like a perfect 5.5 on the glucometer...but these are sometimes hard to come by.

So I sometimes find that reminding myself that it could be a lot worse helps....

How I am I SO LUCKY to have a disease that still lets me to do things like climb mountains, paddle rivers and lakes, run, sea kayak, surf, bike, do cartwheels, eat a field of strawberries (well, it did protest a little at that one!)...you get the point.

What can't I do with diabetes?

And when I start to think like that, my competitive streak comes out...diabetes, you're goin' DOWN!
Diabetes has come awfully close, it throws some low blows now and then and has had me up in the corner, down one one knee, but I am still the reigning champion, and I plan on keeping it that way.

Thanks Annie....

I totally forgot to report! My Fruit Bar woes have been temporarily solved.
While driving up the East Coast we past through Blenheim...a fruit picking capital here in NZ, as well as the home of Annie's factory.
Annie is a woman who makes her own organic fruit bars...well, she probably doesn't anymore, but she started out with one wee dehydrater and her business has since blossomed.
Now you're thinking, what was all the fuss about Fruit Soure bars when there actually was an alternative here in NZ?
Let me explain. I had seen these 'Annies' bars a few times, (although they are not everwhere) but as with all things 'organic' they had an 'organic' price tag attached...over $2 per bar in most places!!
I was going to have to find an organic money tree if I was going to support my fruit bar eating habit here in NZ.
Here's where I lucked out. At the Annies factory, they sell off cut bars in large 1kg bags for a mere fraction of the price.
That's me with 2kg of fruit bars! Yippeeeee!
Unfortunately, the factory is the only place you can get the off cuts...and after the kayak trip I have eaten 1kg already (with the help of Rob and Liz who just can't resist the deliciousness).
But more good news came by email yesterday.
My good friend Kathleen who is meeting us in Australia in a week has already packed a box of the old faithful Fruit Source. Yipppee again!
Fruit bars for all!

Greek Goddess?

I just received an email from my mom titled....'interesting'. Interesting it was.

Did you know that 'Chloe' in Greek means...

'Goddess of Agriculture'

No wonder!! I feel as though my obsession with all things green and growing has suddenly been justified!
And on that note...did you know that the prefix 'Chlo' makes reference to just that...all things green and growing...think chlorophyl.

Therefore, I thought it appropriate to celebrate my new title by posting pictures of my very first KIWI on a tree sighting! As well as my very first 'Fig fresh from a tree'.

Sea Legs

Have you ever had that rocking feeling? That feeling that you are still swaying with the rise and fall of a boat on a swell?
Well, I had that feeling, laying in my sleeping bag after kayaking.

Liz, Robbie and I rented kayaks in Abel Tasman National Park, the smallest National Park in New Zealand. We all paddle at home (granted more canoeing than kayaking) and felt prepared and confident to head out on our own.

They call this process 'Freedom hires' which sounds way more exotic than 'renting a boat'.

Once they checked out our skills on and off the water, we were 'free' to explore. (After booking campsites, getting maps, current weather forcasts and tide timetables of course!)

With my pump stashed in it's waterproof bag and clipped onto by PFD, insulin stored right at the bottom of the kayak where it would be submerged and cool, and supplies waterproofed in plastic bags, we headed out.

The next four days were spent paddling up and down the coast, spying on rays sunning in the shallows, exploring lagoons where seals leave their pups unattended while they go about daily seal duties...a form of seal 'daycare' I guess, hiking parts of the Abel Tasman track, and learning to live by the rhythm of the tides.

The tide in Abel Tasman rises and falls by 5 meters each day...what that means is a REALLY far way to drag a loaded kayak through the sand when you arrive at your camp site at 'low' tide...not that I would know.

Okay fine...we timed it wrong every day.
But there were just too many good things to explore to arrive at your campsite at noon!

We were graced with beatiful weather and calm waters the first two days, however on our last night in the park the winds started to pick up from the South East. The last land those winds would have touched would have been South America...and maybe a few Pacific Islands along the way, but not much more. Translated...rather large swells cruising towards the coast. The kayaks were super stable and there was no real danger, however, I was glad that I had kayaking experience under my belt!
The only awkward part, beside the roller coaster stomach effect, was landing on the beach in crashing waves. But this just turned out to be an artful dance - trying to undo your sprayskirt (which attaches you to the boat), CRASH, standing up in a moving boat, CRASH, lifting the rudder, CRASH, throwing your paddle to shore, CRASH, keeping the boat straight in the waves, CRASH, trying to jump out on shore, CRASH, trying to drag the boat up on shore, CRASH, CRASH.
The result was three bedraggled, wet, salty but very happy paddlers.

(Robbie before the swells!)

Oh the places we've been...

"It’s opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew.

Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

OH! THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!

You’ll be on your way up!

You’ll be seeing great sights!

You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights." An exerpt from Dr. Seuss

I appologize for the blog hiatus, but in the words of Dr. Seuss...things just started to happen, so we went along and we started happening too.

Since my last post we have been to the end of the earth and back...quite literally.
We drove north, to the furthest point possible on the south island - Farewell Spit. Here, the land ends and a spit of sand begins which extends for 27km, arching out into the ocean. You can take a bus out on the spit, but we opted to walk.

We started out along the beach, much like others we have been on, and followed others up the spit. The ocean stretched out to the south but a hill of scrubby brush, gorse and flax blocked our view to the north.
Soon, our curiosity got the better of us. We saw a man coming up and over the hill from the north. We started towards him. Meeting mid-way, he greeted us...

"You like sand? There is lots of it!" He said in a thick Dutch accent.
As we crested the hill we understood.
We were instantly transported to another world - a dessert world, void of humans, save for a few footprints. Sand dunes dominated and the wind shapped the landscape, grain by grain, creating endless patterns of ripples, disturbed only by circular patterns created by grasses rotating around thier roots...and of course, our footprints.

As the saying goes, we took only photographs and left only our footprints, wondering how long it would be until the wind reclaimed the sand and turned it back into ripples.
Farwell Spit...an appropriate name, as you really did get the sense that you were leaving the world behind.

Disclaimer...the spit is a nature reserve and you are supposed to take a tour, however there is public access on the first 2km of spit...this is where our dune adventures took place...we weren't breaking the law! Promise!

Snap

Even for those who are not the slightest bit camping inclined, you can probably tell that this is not a good thing.
The ingenuity displayed by Mr. Vance was overcome by the poles' will to become two separate pieces of metal.
This may or may not have been the outcome of a hasty tent set up, at dusk, as a home needed to be made, dinner cooked and gear organized.
Regardless, Rob has fixed the problem once again - this time with tape, and portions of other poles borrowed from others. Another "what would pop do" kind of moment.

The Bluebird Takes Flight

A few days ago, we got a message from Liz (the Liz who joined us for the first part of our bike journey). She was buying a car and heading north...were we in?

Two days later she pulled into Katie and Mark's driveway and we met "Bluebird"- her new Nissan and our new mode of transport for the next two weeks.
Bluebird has a few quirks...like no antenna, therefore no radio and one back window doesn't roll down, but other than that, she is one fine mobile.


We have been flying (in comparison to our two wheels) up the coast and have been to some incredible places already...Kaikoura, where we got up close and personal with fur seals, Picton, where we ravaged every second hand store for used CD's (we decided Rob's singing was still better than NZ classic country hits), Anakiwa, where we visited Outward Bound New Zealand - voted the best place to work in New Zealand...and a little town outside of Nelson where all of our strawberry picking dreams came true in an organic farmers patch. For $5, three of us gorged ourselves on warm, sweet, juicy berries, picked picked right off the vine and ended up taking over 1kg with us in the car. (Notice that I am putting them directly into my mouth and have none in the tray!)

Things are definitely moving faster, but my two travel companions have been showing compassion for a broken hearted biker and have been stopping, no questions asked, when they hear a 'gasp' or an 'awwwwww' or an outright "STOP THE CAR" from the back seat.

That's how I got the photo of the giant crayfish and how we got to visit the salt flats outside of Blenheim where NZ table salt is made.

It may not seem like a big deal, but those little stops make a world of difference. For me, the sights, sounds, smells and tastes are the trip....and New Zealand is just too darn sweet to miss out on even one strawberry.

Boogie 101

Boogie Board...check!
Flippers...check!
Wetsuit...check!
1 liter of Apple Juice just in case of an exercise-induced low...check!

Unfortunately, the pump can't go swimming...well, not without a hard, waterproof case.
It works great, but doesn't feel all that good under a wet suit.
So yesterday I tested...10.2...took my pump off for the hour in the water...brought the juice just in case (not needed!) and then tested again after...5.2!
Boogie Perfection!

Check out what Tim and Cindie, the American cycle touring couple we met outside of Wanaka, had to say about us on their website...

http://downtheroad.org/adventure-travel-bike-touring-blog/

Beach Livin'

After 2 months of emails back and forth, tentative dates come and gone, we have finally arrived in Waikuku Beach for a visit with Mark and Katie. Over the past few years, Chlo and I have come to realize that the outdoor industry we are a part of is VERY small. It seems that everywhere we go we bump into someone we know, or at least someone who knows someone who we know (can you follow that?)

Example: Mark, Chloe and I all work for Nahanni River Adventures as guides (1st connection) and then Mark and Chlo went to school together last year at Queen's (2nd connection) and now we are in New Zealand at the same time...the list goes on.


Regardless, we finally made our way up to Waikuku Beach (just north of Christchurch) and were welcomed into the laid back, beach going, daily surf life of Waikuku. Where you can pick peaches off at tree on the walk to the beach for a oceanside snack and pick apples from a tree on the route home to put in a pie for dessert! In the early afternoon we headed down to the beach, just a short 2 minute walk. The four of us walked down to the Ashley River and then back up through the little village and each had a go at the "flying fox" - a zip line of sorts at the local park. We had the beach to ourselves, no one was around, the tide was high and the surf was low.

In the late afternoon we decided to check out the surf again, so we geared up and headed back to the beach. Mark, Chlo and I, with our boards in hand, jumped into the ocean and played for a good hour! Mark, has been trying to surf everyday since he arrived 2 months ago, gave me some well needed advice. The surf looked a little different than back home in B.C. Chlo had the best surf of the day on the Boogie Board, her timing was perfect and she was rewarded with a nice ride. I must admit, I did not have as much surfing success as I did in Tofino last fall. Nonetheless, we had a blast and left the beach tired, a little chilly and feeling like our brains were waterlogged.

Upon returning from the beach, we showered up, started a fire and made a lasagna for dinner. We settled in at the table (now 6 of us, Mark and Katie's roommates arrived home - Graham and Lori) with great food, amazing people and local bottles of wine. Thank you very much Mark and Katie!

Spoiled

It has come to the point that we do not even know where to start to say 'thank you' to our surrogate New Zealand family.
Rich and Col, and Tom, their son, welcomed us back into their home last week, showing us even more fine New Zealand hospitality. Farmer's markets, cafes, late night risottos, unbelievable lamb dinners and even a Crusaders rugby match....we are so fortunate to have been connected with this family, we can't even believe it. Returning back to their place was seriously like returning to a safe, familiar haven. Although the food and the outings have been highlights of our trip, the opportunity to feel relaxed, settled and comfortable in someone else's home while traveling in another country is probably the most incredible gift that we have received. I think the thing we value the most about our time spent with Rich and Col is just that...the time.

The missing link

Now that I have people questioning my sanity (see comment on last post)...back to reality...the reality of living with Type 1 diabetes in New Zealand.

As I have mentioned before, I have been wearing a constant blood glucose monitor sensor for portions of this trip. When I wear the sensor, my pump stores all of the readings (one every 5 minutes for the duration of the time I wear it....so, days and days), graphs and data.
I can then use this fancy wireless cord to upload the data onto a computer and store it on an online data base. Once it is there, it can be accessed by myself and even my health care team.
The data base also turns the information into 1 million (no joke) different charts, graphs, tallys, totals, comaprisons, averages....you get the gist...about my blood sugar trends, response to exercise, food, etc. Valuable stuff.

I have about 16 days worth of data on my pump so far.
But there is a missing link.
I have no cord in New Zealand.

Had, no cord in New Zealand, I should say. I have finally located one and it is on its way to me from the kind people at Medtronic Australia...hopefully.

Through this process of cord searching however, I have become educated, informed and aware of some of the differences between the health care systems, diabetes care specifically, between New Zealand and Canada.

I sent a lot of emails and made a bunch of phone calls- diabetes health care people at home, diabetic people I had been given contacts for in Australia and New Zealand, clinics, companies, organizations...and more. Nothing. Well, I talked to many kind and helpful people, but no cord materialized.
Christchurch has a diabetes clinic, so when we arrived, I decided I would just walk in.
I explained my dilemma and ended up chatting with a nurse for quite some time. Here are some things I learned. (I'm not Stats Canada here, so there may be some errors...dont hold be to these, just get the overal picture)

• Pumps are not widely funded in NZ, much like Canada
• There is some funding however, there is enough for 4 people to be given pumps and all of their supplies each year.
• There are about 20 people on pumps on the South Island of New Zealand
• NONE of these people, have the pump that I have....therefore NO CORD.
• Pumps are not common, mainly because people aren't interested.
• Pumps are seen as a last resort for people with serious control problems, not active, healthy people doing well with their diabetes.
• The people who are on pumps aren't having much success...(might be related to the population that is receiving the pumps - they stand as the only role models of what pumps can do)
• Even if everyone here DID want pumps, and they WERE funded, there would not be enough support and ground crew to make that a reality. 4 people a year is more than enough to handle right now.
• People receive funding for strips and insulin.
• HOWEVER, people here in New Zealand are limited to what is funded. They have a choice of 2 glucometers (blood glucose meters), in Canada they give them out like candy and you choose from dozens.
• Not all insulins are funded, similar to Canada. So people are not necessarily using what they want, or what would be best for them.
• The large majority of high-paid people in government making the decisions for all diabetics in this country know nothing about Type 1....sound familiar?

There are many similarities here, but the most drastic contrasts lie in the use, accessibility and mentality about insulin pumps.

As it turns out, Rich and Col (our couch surfing hosts) have a good friend who has Type 1 diabetes (not on a pump!). He is also an active member of regional as well as national diabetes organizations here in New Zealand. They invited him over for dinner so we could meet.
This is where a large amount of this information came from.
As James spoke about the realities of living in a small, albeit developed nation, with diabetes, I couldn't help but be overwhelemed by how well we do have it in Canada.
Not to say that things couldn't be better, in fact it simply highlighted the fact that we have SO FAR TO GO AS A GLOBAL COMMUNITY when it comes to access to the resources and technology we should have the right to in order to manage Type 1 the best that we can, world wide.

In talking with James, I also realized that New Zealand experiences a similar phenomenon to Canada...there are NO RESOURCES for young adults living with this disease. Once again, there are camps and programs for youth, but as soon as you are too old for those programs...see ya! Good luck! Off you go! This is my main pain when it comes to diabetes support systems in Canada.

It can be really overwhelming to think of all the missing links that need to be found in order to piece together a utopian diabetic global community...

But who knows, if I could find this cord on the other side of the world, maybe there is hope.

A cord, a fitting symbol for the first link, don't you think?
In searching for this cord I have connected and interacted with individuals and organizations in three different nations and two different contients. I now have their support, and they have mine if they are ever in search of their missing link.

Utopia? It won't take long...

This afternoon, me and my bike spent some quality time together...just the two of us.

I took Granny (that's what I call my bike due to the large amount of time that I spend in 'granny' gear...that's the lowest gear possible) to the beach.

Sitting on the pier, watching the surfers on the waves, was where I broke the news...she couldn't come with us to Nelson, Picton or any of the northern part of the South Island.

She didn't say much, but I could tell she took it pretty hard.
We sat in silence for a while.
I explained that it wasn't goodbye for good, just a little while. She would have a nice dry home in Rich and Col's garage in Christchurch, her chain wouldn't rust...she could think of it as a holiday.
I think she was thinking what I was thinking....sure, it would be nice, but the pain of watching Rich and Col take their bikes out of the garage daily for long rides might just be too much to bear.

I promised that I would put her in a spot where she couldn't see what was going on.
Eventually she came around, I could tell she understood that this was something I needed to do.

We rode home in the sunshine, enjoying the little time we had left.

Christchurch Connection

A few months ago, I went to a conference for people with Type 1 diabetes in Toronto. Past experiences with diabetes support groups and information sessions left much to be desired, so I was hesitant to attend. But, it was free and the theme was exercise, so I thought maybe, just maybe it would be okay...but just okay.
The clincher was that there was going to be these two guys talking about some cycling trip they had done in Africa.
At that point, I was in the throws of planning this New Zealand trip and was dying to hear from anyone who had cycled...and these guys had Type 1! Even better.

So I went...and dragged my mom along too.
As it turned out, the decision to go to that conference was one of the best that I have made in a long time. I left feeling inspired, empowered and excited about being part of the Type 1 community. The people were the best part. At the end of the day, there was a handful of outdoorsy, athletic Type 1's chatting about future possibilites of getting some kind of group together for OURSELVES. The connections were made.
I had introduced myself to the cycling guys - Tom and Jonny, and picked their brains about my upcoming adventure. Go for it, they urged. Jonny mentioned that he was headed to New Zealand in the upcoming year...maybe we'll see each other down there, we joked.

Well, I went for it (obviously).
And I kept in touch.

Two days ago, I recieved an email from Jonny. He was flying into Christchurch with his partner Melaine for a few weeks. As luck would have it, we were in Christchurch.

So yesterday, two Paradigm pumps met in the square in downtown Christchurch, New Zealand.

They shared travel stories and blueprints for future adventures.

Both of our partners, Rob and Melanie were there too.

They had their own stories to share about travelling, adventuring and living with a Type 1.

They both claimed (proudly) that they could tell when Jonny and I were 'low' before even we could.

They were talking about us and we were sitting right there!

But secretly, I loved it. I love that these people know so much about us, our diabetes and are so supportive of our diabetes-related idiosyncracies.

Anyways, there was lots to talk about and it was great to have a fellow pumper around, if only for a few hours.

Tears on my bike shorts

Two days ago we cycled back into Christchurch, the place where we started our cycling adventure. It was if the heavens were rewarding us for all of our hard work, a strong Westerly was blowing at our backs, a massive tail wind pushing us back to the East Coast. We had come full circle.
Waking up on the last morning we were struck with a couple of different feelings.
We were excited. It was kind of like we were going home in a way, back to something familiar. We were headed back to our Couch Surfing hosts, Rich and Col, the people who had literally put us on our bikes and pushed us off for our first ride almost 2 months ago. We had come so far, had so many stories to share and could actually talk about biking from experience!

On the other hand, there was a sadness, the first leg of our journey was coming to an end. Where had 6 weeks gone? Had we really biked all that way? Been all of those places? Done all of those things that we had been talking about doing for so long? How did that time pass so quickly?

Arriving back in Christchruch we knew we would have to make some decisions. We have two weeks left in New Zealand before we head to Australia, and we have yet to see a large part of the South Island.

Therefore, we have decided that the bikes will have to take a backseat for a while.

We are going to rent a car.

For some reason, I am having serious angst over this decision. I am not done with riding. I'm not ready to say goodbye to my bike, to riding everyday, the challenge of climbing and the euphoria of making it to the top, the wind in my face and the sun, warm on my back, the slow pace of travel and the freedom of eating a big breakfast, a big lunch and a big dinner too! On the diabetes front, I am really not looking forward to the switch back to higher basals and boluses.

There are other adventures in the works, and this is the basis behind the car decision, but I am having trouble letting go. I am actually really sad.

I guess that's where good old flexibility comes into the picture again.
Since booking our tickets and buying our bikes, all kinds of things have happened that have morphed our trip into something different than the original 'plan'. Those 'things' are what have made this trip what it is. What's most exciting is that I have no doubt that plans will continue to change, flex and metamorphasize, adding dimensions and adventures that I never could have hoped for. Just a few that have popped up in the past little while...our good Aussie friend, Simon, was supposed to be working in Alaska, but that fell through, he will now be in Australia when we are. My mom, auntie and unkie will be joining us on the North Island of New Zealand in May, my univeristy housemate Kathleen will be flying to meet us and travel in Australia in April and we may just be doing a little biking in Australia (which we hadn't intended).

Rob and I were just talking about how different our experiences here would have been if we had headed south from Christchurch instead of west 6 weeks ago...one simple decision that would have resulted in a completely different trip. Bizzare to think.

So this decision to rent a car is a good one. Although it is not the way I imagined it, it is just another curve in the road, the next chapter in the story, the next draft of the plan.

It has also provided me with a little insight into myself...
It's funny, when we first started out, I imagined myself throwing my bike of a mountain at the end of the trip, happy to be out of the saddle and never having to pack another pannier ever again, but now, the thought of putting my bike in a garage for a few weeks makes me well up, seriously. I think I may have found yet another activity that will need to become a part of my life for good.
It looks like I am going to need one heck of a gear room.

not so sweet scones

I don't know what made me think of this but...
I FORGOT to list the sugar in the ingredients list of the "I'd rather be baking than biking oat scones" from two weeks ago. (I just scrolled back and checked)

I never put the full amount of sugar that is called for into any recipe. Normally I reduce it to less than half the amount called for and no one even notices the difference, diabetic or not!

I actually don't put sugar in these scones at all...however, the recipe does call for 1 cup of sugar.
Just incase anyone out there is trying to avoid biking and gets the urge to bake.

Map Attempt #2

Rob here...I know this is a diabetes blog, but my recent blogs have had ZERO diabootie content...This is due to the fact that I have selected myself to be in charge of 'cool things' on/for the blog and I will let Chlo do the important diabetes writing! So...

I know this map looks a little overwhelming, but keep in mind I am in the early stages of Blogmapping.

Each blue bubble is a city/town/place/lake/ditch we camped at.

If only I had figured out how to do this before, I could have been posting a map of our daily progress. Alas, I know how to do it now. So stay tuned.

*Note - As we have cycled along, we have come to places where we have decided to take a "fast forward" due to our lack of time. Because of this, you will notice big gaps from Fox Glacier to Wanaka and Te Anau to Dunedin.

Enjoy the maps. Stayed tuned because I am starting to getting addicted to posting cool things on the blog. Chloe is now regretting giving me the blog password. Too bad!

I am going to start adding a section to the blog...It will be named???

Funny things that Chloe has NOT told you

Here is the first instalment.

Chloe has successfully kicked her bike twice. Let me explain.

The first kick occurred after she was forced to walk the final 15 metres of a long and hard climb on the dirt road leaving Queenstown. Her front tire slipped out on the loose gravel and she was forced to get off and walk. Upon reaching the summit, she quietly leaned her bike against a sign post and with little warning, swung around and gave her rear panniers a swift, well directed and aggression releasing boot.

The second kick occured following her knee scrapping, finger skinning "biff" on the flat country road. Immediately after she whipped her bike off the road and swung it onto the grass she gave her rear pannier a little love boot. I am not sure if this kick was a release of anger or if it was a reaction caused by the massive amount of adrenalin that pumped through her body as a result of the "biffing". Regardless, I thought both of these incidents were funny. I did not dare laugh out loud, but inside I was having a good chuckle.

Stayed turned for more "Funny Things.." in the blogs to come.

Map Request

We have happily arrived back in Christchurch and have again been welcomed into the home of Rich and Col...our couchsurfing hosts.

Having started to learn a bit more about blogging along the way and getting feedback from readers, I (Rob) have taken to trying to get to know more about blogging and spicing up the blog and learning how to see how many and where in the world people are viewing Chlo's (and mine too I suppose) adventure blog.

Here is my first, albeit rudimentary attempt at attaching maps to the blog.

If this does not work, hang tight, I am doing my best!

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=101139005752074241301.000448238e1740f7a2b63&ll=-43.407043,172.158508&spn=0.174594,0.337143&z=11

Keep checking, because I am on a roll here in CHCH (Christchurch) and before you know it you will not have to click on a link, the maps will just appear on the blog.

"BIFF"

WARNING - this blog may make parents, step-parents, grandparents, aunt, uncles and close family friends worried about our safety...DON'T WORRY...we're being safe, wearing helmets and zinc suncreen!

We were cruising at about 22km/h down a flat, unassuming road, farm fields stretching out on either side...perfect conditions for getting into 'the zone'.
Now, I'm a Phys Ed student and have heard all about 'the zone' that elite athletes report of attaining during high level exercise...I think my zone may be closely related.
I achieve a similar kind of mind-body separation.
Sometimes it happens when we are crawling up a long climb in low gear, othertimes on long, open stretches like the one we were on today, regardelss, it's as if my mind says to my body-
"Body, you just keep doin' what you're doin'...I'm going elswhere for a while, I'll check back in a few minutes"
Here is where I assume my 'zone' is different from the elite endurance athlete.
My mind goes to...sheepdogs hearding sheep, how do they know exactly what to do at all times? toasted avocado, tomato and cheese sandwiches dipped in gingered pumpkin soup, could I keep bees in my mom's backyard at home? Mmmmm...peaches...hey, I could write about peaches for my next blog...
So that's where I was, that state of mind-body separation when a series of unfortunate events occured that brought mind and body back together as one...
The sound of rubber on rubber and then the warm, but rather abrasive, feel of skin on asphalt with a little bit of bike on top.
Before my mind knew that I had clipped Rob's back tire, lost control and flown over the handle bars into the center of the lane...my body was already up, on it's feet, dragging the bike onto the grass and retieving loose panniers sprawled on the road.
Luckily, the nearest car was about 250m behind us. I was also fortunate that this SUV happend to be a nice, friendly Kiwi Police man and not a transport filled with sheep or milk, or a camper van with a distracted tourist at the wheel. He stopped to make sure I was okay and that the bike was still in riding condition.
"Well, you sure did come off that thing fast now didn't you?"
You're tellin' me mister.
Once again, I was glad I didn't spend alot of money to throw myself off a bridge or out of a plane in Queenstown...buying this bike has given me more adrenaline rushes than I ever could have imagined!
Once mind and body caught up with each other, slightly delayed by the haze of adenaline, I evaluated the damage.
The damage was minimal. One cut knee. One skined knuckle. One bruised shin.
Rob immediately morphed into 'guide mode'- the first aid kit was out and I was patched in no time.
As for the bike, my chain had come off, but no damage to my ride or the panniers.
AND...not even a bruise on the plums riding in the front pannier that flew off onto the road!!

So all in all, a successful first 'biff' in a perfect location and convienient timing to boot.

From now on though, I am going to try to keep mind and body as one, where they should be I suppose, when riding on the road.

Changing on the Fly

So today, I knocked my pump off my shorts and it pulled the infusion site right out!
This has only happend to me once or twice in 6 years of wearing the pump.
Frustrating, as I had just put in a new site the night before, but c'est la vie!

Luckily, there was this perfect, open-air, pump-changing-rock right on the side of the road.
Who knew?!

Soon we were back on the road...pump sites secured and sensor pulling off it's 4th day of duty and still going strong.

Man I LOVE this sensor! That's it on my left side, pump site on the right...we like to travel as a team.

Dam it!

While on the West Coast, I had this great idea...
Fresh water seemed to be a highly under-used resource. With the amount of rain that NZ receives on it's West Coast each year (upwards of 9 meters in some places!), they should really consider installing a giant floating funnel in the sky, collecting a large portion of rainwater that could then be diverted to places in need...other parts of NZ, Australia, Africa, etc.
Brilliant! I thought.
As it turns out however, New Zealand actually is using their fresh water resources, but in a slightly differnt way.
Dam it!

For the past few days we have been riding along a series of lakes, canals and 8 different dams.
Water flowing from the glaciers in the Southern Alps is carefully diverted, held up and released to supply power to New Zealand.
A few weeks ago, we visited another power station on our way out to Doubtful Sound on the West Coast. Here, they have drilled a massive 10km tunnel through a mountain ( no small feat!), which allows a lake to drain out to the sea...in the process, it turns a few turbines and voila! Power! Serious business down here!
I am still not too sure where all this power is going. The population of all of New Zealand is about the same as the city of Toronto.

Anyways, it got me to thinking...
My pump is like a dam.
I can control the flow and output of insluin to meet my energy requirements, or lack there of.
Although the relationship is opposite, I slow the insulin to a trickle when I need the tubines to run full bore. This analogy came to me as I reduced my basal today beside these massive red pipes diverting water.

I don't think I will ever get over the dramatic impact that exercise has on the amount of insluin that I need to send through the turbines.

With all this riding, I am down to a basal rate of 0.1 units of insulin per hour...pretty much as low as you can go without turning the pump off- a mere trickle through a crack in the dam wall if you will, and I ride on this for about 6-8 hours a day.
What ends up happening is huge insulin conservation, a full reservoir!

If only all the dams in New Zealand could conserve water like I conserve insulin!

Although I guess they don't really need to, there is lots more water where that came from and luckily, I still have lots more cold insulin waiting in my holding tanks...but that's not what conservation is all about now is it?

1000kms!!

We hit the 1000km mark today!
My counter clicked over soon after leaving Twizel.
Mount Cook was looming in the distance and the sun was rising in the East, light streaming through funky cloud patterns in the sky.

We rode for our 5th consecutive day today. Each of the five days has been between 50-80kms- unheard of for us so far this trip. But ever since our 3 day rest in Dunedin, our legs have felt fresh and up for the challenge. So we have been flying!

We have also been craving Fish and Chips. So when we arrived in Tekapo tonight we decided to celebrate our 4-digit milestone.

Greasy, delicious Cod and Chips, wrapped in newspaper on a park bench overlooking the lake.

Packin' Panniers

Just in case you were wondering....

1 front pannier holds...

2 months worth of diabetes supplies

OR

4 peaches, 3 nectaries, 6 apricots, 3 plums and 7 pears

High Class Hobos

And no, we didn't wash these either. We're working at building up our immune systems!

Grocery Shopping

Road sides stands make me so happy...so very happy. In the last two days...free-range eggs and all the peaches, plums, apricots and nectarines a girl could ever hope for.

Sheepish Behaviour

There is something about livestock and bikes...

When we ride by a field of sheep or cattle we ALWAYS evoke a reaction.
Twenty-five cars and thirteen transport trucks can whizz and rumble by and not a cow or sheep or bull flinches...but ride by on a bike...

The reactions are distinctly different depending on the animal.

Cows are extremely curious of bikes. As we ride by, heads come up, cudd chewing stops and more often than not, the herd begins to amble over towards the fence. Today, we had the most rambunctious heard yet. (Well...aside from the big black bull on the gravel road that is!). We stopped for a drink across from a field of cattle. This was enough to get their attention. They started to approach. Due to our past history with livestock, we began to pedal. The cows began to run. Within seconds, the entire heard was thundering alongside the fence (THEIR side of the fence luckily!) racing to keep up with us. I was just hoping and praying that they saw the fence running perpendicular to the road, the one that seperated the cows from the sheep. They did, and we kept on riding, leaving about 100 head of cattle lined up along a fence, waiting for the next biker to ride by.

Then there are the sheep. They consistantly take a more 'sheepish' approach to oncoming cyclists. Heads come up, cudd chewing stops and panic ensues. They run like stink in the opposite direction. I am confident that more than half of them don't even know what they're running from. But the first one takes off like a shot and it's instantly like a field of wooly dominos. This is what I imagine is going through their heads...
Who's running? He's running? She's running? I'm runnnnnnnninggggg! Ahhhhhhhh! Why am I running? Gotta run faster, faster? Where am I running toooo? I'm running, I'm running.
Since they're freaking out anyways, Rob and I have taken to 'hooting' and 'yipping' as we ride by, just to see how fast they really can run. But I think I am going to stop that hooting and yipping...

today, two poor sheep jumped right into a creek in their panic to get away from us.

Rob said it was okay...they were wearing Merino....yuck yuck yuck.

My theory is that the livestock are accustomed to cars and trucks, large rolling creatures on four wheels- they must see them as their own entity, seperate from people. They also recognize people, two legged walking beings. But combine a person with wheels and LOOK OUT!

Rob's theory is that the bikes wheels must give off some kind of frequency that humans can't detect, but that sensitive sheep and cow ears pick up. Sure, Rob always has the fancy, technical, scientific sounding explaination...

Either way, it's an amusing phenomenon...as long as they stay on their side of the fence.

Broken Home...

Rob here again...

What would my Dad do? Better yet I was thinking, what would my Pop do? All I kept imagining was my Pop at the cottage, quietly thinking about a solution to a plumbing or cracked hose problem. He would think so patiently, and then without fail come up with a solution. Alas, I think I may have figured it out. House clamps!

Do I have you wondering yet? Confused maybe? Alarmed? Consult the picture below.

Two nights ago we heard a weird sparking, crackling noise coming from outside. But, we were camped on a beach, in the middle of nowhere, with no one around. Weird. However, when I peaked outside and looked up at our tent poles, it all became clear. One section of our tent poles had cracked. It was not windy or rainy and the pole was not under any unusual stress. It simply cracked. Luckily, the crack is only about 2 inches long and did not keep running down the pole.

This is where the hose clamps come into play. About 5 kilometres down the road the next morning, Chlo stopped to turned down her Basal rate and this is when the idea sprung into my head. "Chlo, I think I have the solution...Hose Clamps" Needless to say, all I could think about for the rest of the ride to Oamaru was getting into town and finding "Plumbing supplies" to fix our home. After a hard ride, into a headwind for 50 Km, we made it to the 'Mitre 10' - A Home Depot of sorts. I found the hose clamps and quickly went outside to start the repair job. Leatherman in hand, I squeezed the clamps around the broken pole. Luckily, our tent has a new pole system that has sliding knuckles, that can move between to the two adjoining poles (that might not make sense). Regardless, the knuckle is now fixed under the broken section of the pole and consequently giving the hose clamps structure to squeeze the crack.

We are fixed! Home repaired. Thanks Pop!

Rob...signing off!

the secret life of bees

Bees are facinating.
Everyday, we ride past numerous stacks of different coloured, weathered wooden boxes. Sometimes, the air above the stacks is thick with busy bees. As we ride by, we can hear the buzzing. Othertimes, the boxes appear still and quiet, at least from afar, with only a few bees coming and going.
I have no idea what happens within those boxes, to me it one of life's great secrets, but I know that the result of whatever is going on in there is sweet, soothing and even healing.
Here in New Zealand, the result of some bees' mystery work is Manuka honey- a honey with antibacterial properties so strong it is used in hospitals to treat infection.

On weekends, the people of New Zealand seem to mimick a similar pattern of behaviour.
While the towns and cities bustle with action during weekdays, the weekends find those same streets still and quiet, as if everyone has retreated to their hives to carry on with their secret lives.
Although this can sometimes be frustrating for an outsider with no secret life of their own, I am beginning to appreciate the value of these secret lives. At home, I am accustomed to being able to get whatever I want, whenever I want it. I know there will always be a grocery store open, and I will always be able to find a cafe, restaurant or store to browse through. I never even check open or closing times. Things are just always open it seems.
But here, people live secret weekend lives where they step away from work, shopping, 24-7 consumerism and the frantic pace of life that this creates.
Maybe it is just a coincidence, but we have noticed that the people of New Zealand are warm, friendly, laid-back and generous, among other honorable traits. They seem to have found balance between work and play.
I have no idea what they are doing in their hives on the weekends, but it seems, that like the bees, the result is something sweet, soothing and even healing.

HoboCans

This was the moment that we officially became hobos.

Since then, my Dad has begun calling us 'HoboCans'...short for 'Canadian Hobos'...he also offered to start funding apples for us if we were having trouble finding them on the side of the road.

Real time...

Rookie Bloggers no more!
We think we've figured out how to post video.
All thanks to a rainy day and free, unlimited internet!

Just to warn you...we're not videographers, but this was taken at the peak of our third and final climb between Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers...there was an earlier blog with the photo of the route...one of our toughest days so far!

A Recipe for a Rainy Day

Flexibility is proving to be the key to happiness on this trip...well, that and baked goods.

We had meant to leave Dunedin Friday to start our bike up the east coast.
It's sunday and we are still here. And guess what? It's......RAINING!
We checked the weather service and there are little tiny raindrops covering the entire nation.
We've decided to stay put for yet another day.

There is one key factor that is allowing us to make this decison with considerable ease.
Liz
Not the same Liz who biked with us...but another Liz that has come into our lives, welcoming us with open arms.
Liz is a Queen's Physeddie too! She is on exchange right now at Otago University here in Dunedin. About a week ago we got an email from her saying "if you guys pass through Dunedin, just let me know and you can stay with me".

And just like that, we were on her doorstep (caution to anyone reading this who may be thinking of offering!!). We had our laundry hanging out back, our bikes in the yard, and my insulin in the fridge!

We didn't really even know Liz and Liz didn't really know us. But we have been having a fantastic time. We all love paddling, hiking, talking about outdoorsy things, doing outdoorsy things and being outside. We have explored the Otago Peninsula, saw a giant Albatross, tramped with sheep, climbed the steepest street in the world, toured the town, gone to a rugby game, seen the view of the city from the top of Mt. Cargil and more...but what we have really bonded over is food...we have spent a large portion of our time here grocery shopping, going to Farmer's markets, cooking and baking.

So when we awoke this morning to teeming rain and gusting wind, there was really only one solution.

Stay, bake scones, drink tea.....ride tomorrow.

I never realized how small of a distinction there really is between biking and baking. Coincidence? I think not! In my opinion they should be freely interchangable.

That's Liz up there making orange-honey-butter to put on our warm oat scones.

This is me enjoying a warm, whole wheat, oat scone with orange-honey-butter and a steaming mug of English Breakfast tea...in my pyjamas, in a dry, cozy, warm living room.
Rob is to my right, doing the exact same thing.

I'd-rather-be-baking-than-biking-whole-wheat-oat-scones

2 1/2 cups Rolled Oats

1 cup All Purpose Flour

2 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soada

2 1/2 tsps. Baking Powder

1 cup and 2 TBS Butter

2/3 cup Buttermilk (may need a bit more)

Combine all dry ingredients and mix. Look outside and be glad you're not biking in the rain.
Cut in chilled butter. Look at bike in back yard and tell it you will ride tomorrow. You promise.
Add buttermilk and combine untli everything sticks together.
Pat the mixture into a big rectangle about 1 1/2 inches thick.
Cut into wedges and place on a baking sheet.

Bake at 350 F for 30 min or until golden brown and you have forgotten about biking at all.

I-don't-like-bikin'-in-no-rain-Orange-Honey-Butter
Combine a few tablespoons of softened butter, some honey, the zest of an orange and some orange juice. Mix well. Spread on warm oat scones. Enjoy!