<\/p>\n

I\u2019m beginning to realize that if I wasn\u2019t born in America, the good Lord would\u2019ve sent me right down to New Zealand. Apparently, my fate drew the short straw (or would that be the long straw?). I say that because the more I read about the place, the more I\u2019m sure I’d love it. Middle Earthen beauty, bad-ass accents, and the tendency to encourage one to bike from bar to bar. In fact, I\u2019m tempted to don an accent and pedal to the bar this very minute. But it\u2019s 7:37 a.m., maybe that\u2019s too much.<\/p>\n

However, it wouldn\u2019t be too much if you happened to find yourself along New Zealand\u2019s Clutha River. 150 years ago, you\u2019d find yourself among 40,000 miners, frequenting the 42 bars and 3 opium dens — and that just in the town of Clyde. Today, the table dancers and drug-fueled evenings may be a thing of the past, but the action is still just as hot. Think spandex.<\/p>\n

Reported by The Sydney Morning Herald<\/a><\/em>, New Zealand\u2019s Otago Rail Trail is the country’s first dedicated long-distance cycleway, paralleling the once \u201crichest gold-bearing river in the world.\u201d Using about 150 km of old railroad bed, the nearly 20,000 cyclists per year have created another gold rush of sorts. Seeing the effects of the trail on the area, the New Zealand government has begun construction on seven more routes that will crisscross the country.<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t worry, even though the old mining towns along the trail have started crumbling, the pubs have carried on. \u00a0After all, that\u2019s how we cyclists roll.<\/p>\n

[image by Rene’ V. Rosengren\/flickr<\/a><\/em>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m beginning to realize that if I wasn\u2019t born in America, the good Lord would\u2019ve sent me right down to New Zealand. Apparently, my fate drew the short straw (or would that be the long straw?). I say that because the more I read about the place, the more I\u2019m sure I’d love it. Middle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,2562],"tags":[717,1881,405,1882],"yoast_head":"\n