{"id":346,"date":"2007-02-14T20:22:04","date_gmt":"2007-02-15T04:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/GoneSouthV3\/?p=346"},"modified":"2007-02-14T20:22:04","modified_gmt":"2007-02-15T04:22:04","slug":"miranda-to-rotorua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rideeatcamp.local\/miranda-to-rotorua\/","title":{"rendered":"Miranda to Rotorua"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The Denver Boot was created by John Denver in 1982 as an act of revenge against Billy Ray Cyrus, who stole his achy breaky heart. Soon after the vehicle disabling device swept American cities by storm. Meter maids across the country finally had the last laugh. It became such an institution in America that President Ronald Reagan named Denver a national monument, the only country singer (and man) to receive such an honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Quick to copy American popular culture but not keen on fussing with the details, the New Zealand government adopted a similar device one year later known as Dunedin Boat, whereby Kiwi motorists who have yet to pay three consecutive parking tickets are forced to tow a 10-meter motorboat. Their penalty therefore is the need to stop more frequently for petrol because of the extra burden. The rash plan was hailed as a failure by Kiwi legislators, but due to the speed of bureaucracy, the law is still in enforcement 27 years later. About every third car is towing a boat in this country. The Kiwis must be real rebels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are the thoughts that ran through my head as Carrie and I spent kilometer after kilometer on Sunday (DAY 3) riding from Miranda to Te Aroha, a small town along the edge of the Hauraki Plains. The plains were once a swamp that sometime in the 20th century the government decided to drain in order to create farmland. There’s little else in the plains but cows, crops, canals, and cars. It was a long day with headwinds and little escape from the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n