The end of my time with Adam took an unexpected turn, in the form of a yellow bicycle.

Leading up to this moment were a series of events, making it seem very much like this was meant to be.

The first step towards my great adventure!

So, let me backtrack a little…

I was due to leave Adam’s place on Saturday and had booked my bus before arriving. Unfortunately when doing this I had booked the journey from Gisborne, which was a 45 minute drive from his house and in a different route to the bus which would pass his place, so there was no chance of jumping on earlier. The bus from Otoko (the correct bus stop) to Wellington was $75, which I would have to pay on top of the $40 I had originally spent. This, in my mind, was not an option.

My next thought was to hitchhike to Gisborne in time for the bus’ departure so I decided to ask Adam what he thought the chances were of me arriving in time. It was at this point I discovered he would be driving to Gisborne on Saturday early morning anyway. The timing couldn’t be more perfect!

We had to leave the house just before 6am to allow us to get to town early enough. I discovered Adam did this trip every Saturday morning, visiting different garage sales around town to pick up bargain tools and equipment for the project, as well as to find items he could sell on for a profit.

I had enough time to visit four different garage sales with him before he would drop me off at the bus stop. It was at the second sale, (a large yearly event taking place at the local surf club) that I saw it. A yellow bicycle sitting in a rack alongside one other, with a $20 sticker on it’s frame.

Adam knew I was looking for a bike as part of my next adventure. I have the challenging and exciting goal of travelling New Zealand by bicycle, in an aim to cut costs; get fit; and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the country up close.

With literally seconds to decide (the garage sale business is a savage affair, buyers racing from one garage to the next trying to beat each other to the best wares) I went for it, in the hope the driver of the bus I was about to board would let me bring it along!

After Adam dropped me off I needed to go to a cash machine. If I could get the bike on the bus it would cost me $10 to do so and I had no cash left. On the way I passed a Goodyear Tyres shop and decided to see if they had a spanner I could buy in case I would need to take off my front wheel. They didn’t, but there were a couple of shops down the street that might.

Before I knew it, the nice man was pumping up my tyres so I could cycle down the street in search of a spanner. Unfortunately, the back wheel had a different valve which could not be pumped up with anything he had available, so I set off on foot, leaving most of my belongings with the lovely chap.

Popping into another shop I ended up sharing my tale, with a shop assistant from Doncaster of all places (just one over from my home city of Leeds). They had no spanners on sale, but I suddenly had two staff members searching private toolboxes with the aim of following me back to my bike up undo the tyre! I had to thank them but eventually decline the offer, if I took my tyre off I’d need a spanner at the other end to put it back on.

The final shop I tried had adjustable spanners for around $30 and so I went back empty handed, not feeling quite right about paying more for a small tool than for my entire bike. I decided to ask the Goodyear man to undo the nuts enough for me to unscrew them by hand if need be. When I arrived back at the shop he was there trying yet again to pump up my back tyre. What a guy!

The people in those shops really did make my morning, by this time I was so touched by how ready everyone seemed to be in helping me along the way that I barely cared whether or not I got my bike in the bus!

I made it back to the bus stop with half an hour to spare and just after the bus pulled up. The bus driver agreed that for $10 I could load up my bike. Great news! He did want me to take off my front tyre but as it turned out, an unforeseen problem of the tyre not fitting past the breaks meant it wasn’t coming off, with or without the nuts. Well, I guess at least I’d had some morning exercise with all my racing about!

Anyway, problem solved. I got myself, my bags and my new bike on the bus, ready for the next stage of my adventure.