17th April: The Support Crew’s Perspective #3

Day 3 + 4: NorthIsland

The team complete an ‘easy’ leg on day 3 – lots of flat and only 76Kms. Both Freda and Ashlee are home and massaged in Brynderwyn by midday. I have another peaceful morning driving through stunning landscape listening to the amazing mind of Jeremy Rifkin. I consider buying copies of his book to send to key decision makers. To my mind he is probably the most credible and visionary voice on transformation and sustainable economic development that we have right now. A must read for anyone working in… well everyone really.

We head south and back to Auckland – the Northland adventure draws to a close. We stop to pick up provisions and Brian Nelson from the Fairground Foundation and Ecostore. Conversation is up-beat stimulated by our new team member and we plunge into the fecund fields of the Waikato. We arrive in Port Waikato and crawl nervously down the street, counting down the house numbers to find our accommodation for the night. There is a collective sigh of relief when we pull up at a rather more hospitable berth than the previous night.

Day 4 is rolling 80km ride from Tuakau down to Raglan. The team, bolstered by Brian and his swish bike, get off at a little past 7.30. The Hikurangi ladies are establishing a cult following amongst their more burly co-competitors. I break the trail in front, yet more glorious weather and landscape.

Arriving in Raglan, I settle into ‘Shack’ café to start scoping out a framework for impact assessment. I get excited when I see that the café is a member of Conscious Consumers – the excellent initiative we hope to start partnering with shortly. If you don’t know about them, do have a look: http://www.consciousconsumers.org.nz/. The waitress clearly thinks I crazy as I stop to take a photo.