Beach Trip!!

So while I was looking for things to do in Palmerston North I couldn't help but notice how narrow the island was at this point and that the beach had to be pretty close. Right? So I decided that I would bike to the beach, pack a lunch and make a day of it. Boy was it a good thing I did. Of note, I have now found just how far I can handle on a bike without my "bum" as they call it here going numb. I have also downloaded an app to convert metric so that I will never again think that 40k really isn't that far.

So Sunday the 19th looked great for weather, I walked Doug, made my lunch, and got ready to head for the beach. And one of the many not smart moves of the day started there, I did put on some sunscreen, but missed the back of my hands and didn't bring it with me.

Since I can't link in the site for my GPS watch I at least figured out how to add in a link to the actually activity event on my account. So here is the link to this ride. The ride out was pretty slow, fun fact about an island near the ocean, wind is pretty much a constant. It felt like it was blowing against me all the way to the beach about twice as fast as I was biking. Luckily the direction didn't change and the portion of my trip pack that the watch stayed on for was much faster.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/434406611 - trip there

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/434406604 - partial trip back

I was really really happy to finally see this sign! The whole trip I kept thinking I would see the ocean to give me something to ride towards, that was incorrect. There kept being little hills and rows of trees, I couldn't see the ocean until I was there.

 

 

These rescue boats made me laugh, they look a lot like the Oscar Meyer Wiener car if you ask me!

 

 

These were all over the beach, I'm not sure if they would have stung me, but I walked very very carefully just in case.

 

 

This seemed like a much better way to get to the beach than my version... and the fat corgi made the picture just for my Dad!

 

 

Overall it was a fun trip,  bit more biking and less beach time than I had expected but I saw the Tasman Sea and started my New Zealand continued work on my New Zealand shell collection. My hope is to get one shell from each beach I visit here.... the trick will be remembering which came from which beach and finding different ones at the beaches. By the time I got home the  5+ hours on the bike in the wind and sun had made the back of my hands feel horribly burned... They were even swollen. Luckily I did put the watch on the bike handle or otherwise I would have a wicked watch tan.

 

I really got shocked expressions from the people I was housesitting for when they got back and I told them this was one of the day trips I had done on the bike. They don't think they live close to the beach..... guess it is all perspective!