Rail trail and rain

On my first three days off, ages ago as it now seems, I went to pedal myself through about 120k's (that's Kiwi for kms) of the Central Otago Rail Trail. I had a headwind all of the way (joy), but thankfully the way was mostly downhill. Despite this, I swear that fellow cyclists coming uphill the other way were going faster than me.

On Monday I biked to Wanaka (53k's). I had a headwind again, of about 60kph. The ride took me more or less all day, and I was exhausted after it. The way back was much more enjoyable: still a headwind (the wind does not like me here. The feeling is mutual), but it was "bugger all", as my source of information put it, 7kph.

Wanaka is a lovely town, right on a lakefront. I will have to go back with my sister, to go to Puzzling World - with a giant maze and other mind-boggling puzzles to train the grey matter. On Tuesday I woke up to the sound of gentle rain on the tent roof. "Yes!" I thought, "I don't have to go anywhere!" So I sat reading A Time of Omens until three in the afternoon. It was very relaxing. After that I got moving and did a nice easy walk up Mt Iron. The views weren't clear as clear, the clouds were still hanging low. In the evening I watched the end of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, simply because it happened to be on TV and I love the soundtrack.

Something happened the other day at work that has never happened to me before. An elderly male customer said to me, "What are you doing here? You should be at school." When I told him I was 18, he said, "You don't look it." Must have been because I was smiling that day.

Another male customer asked me, as I was making him an ice cream, "You're not from Auckland, are you? Your accent's like it was from further north." Loads further north, dear customer. But I felt smug all the same. When I can fool both Poms and Kiwis (Brits and New Zealanders), I'll be satisfied.