Well my month long holiday is over, sooner than I expected. Courtney's visit was great fun,, we saw soooo much stuff while she was here which was really cool. I think she'll be limping for a few weeks yet from all the walking we did, but I think she'll get over it. haha
The return of the family though means that my year here is almost over! I'm starting to get my ducks in a row for New Zealand. I've had my ticket booked for months now. I have a 7 hour layover in Hong Kong International, so I should be fine even if my first flight is delayed a bit. I booked a hostel in Auckland, a quiet family owned place this time instead of the bustling Hosteling International joints I usually haunt. I figured I might have a better chance to catch up on my jet lag and meet a few nice folks at a less mainstream hostel. Though all the reviews and photos seem like it is a really nice homey feeling place. The currency exchange rate really works in my favor too, I'm only paying about 12 euros a night. I started sending out farm requests this week also. I have two replies so far. One to the north and one to the south of Auckland (both within 2 comfortable days cycling range) The one to the North sounds more my style, so I think I might take them up on the offer. But I need to talk to the owners about a few more details before we decide on anything.
I talked to a bike shop in Auckland who said they could outfit me with a bike and luggage racks inside of 24 hours after my arrival in NZ, provided I give them a bit of advanced notice when I'm arriving and send them my height measurements, it sounded like they'd set aside a few second hand bikes in my size for me to try out.