If you are here to read my earlier post on walking the South Island section of Te Araroa; click here
I took two
weeks leave to do a ‘bike packing’ tour following the route of ‘Tour Aotearoa’
through the North Island and then cross Cook Strait and bike through to
Christchurch. This sort of trip requires a bit a preparation; starting with
booking a plane flight from Christchurch to as far up the country as I could
get, which is Kerikeri. From here, I had a bus trip booked from Kerikeri to
Kaitaia. I had the name of a local nice guy Oli Lancaster who would be willing
to shuttle me to Cape Reinga. Also I needed to organise the crossing of Kaipara
Harbour. Rod and Cheryl from Shamrock Charters were doing a fishing charter on
Monday 13th so could pick me up late afternoon from Pouto Point.
There would nothing for the rest of the week. I was going to have to get to
Pouto Point by Monday afternoon or face a bit of a detour
The bike I was
going to use needed a bit of work; new wheel hubs, handlebars and tyres. I was
taking my old mountain bike a 26” hardtail Kona Cinder Cone. I also needed new
bike packing bags to make it as light and manageable to ride bike trails and do
long daily distances. I settled on Revelate bags; a Sweetroll handle bar bag
and a Viscacha saddle bag. My one-person tent could fit into a drybag strapped
to my top bar.
I did a trial
run one weekend with an overnight trip up to Kaikoura using the inland road on
the way up and coastal highway for the return leg. All relatively quiet and an
interesting ride because of the recent earthquake damage. The bike needed to be
packed into a bike box with as much gear as possible but kept at a maximum
weight of 23 kg. The rest would need to be jammed into a carry-on bag with a
maximum weight of 7 kg. This took a bit of last minute head scratching with the
carry-on bag being over 9 kg of stuff bursting out of a cotton shopping bag.
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| The bike loaded up on trial run to Kaikoura |
Saturday 11th – 50 km – Cape Reinga – Utea Park
I had to wake at
4am for the 6.00am flight to Auckland. This involved getting Corina out of bed
who is no ‘early bird’. I was a bit nervous checking in hoping the bike box
weight would be ok and I would not have to do a last minute repack. In my
nervousness I only grabbed the one boarding pass from the check-in
machine. Luckily I noticed before
hopping on the plane and went back through security and found it kindly placed
on top of the machine. After a couple of hours wait in Auckland Airport it was on to a
smaller plane to Kerikeri on a fine day. The flight was momentarily delayed
while a woman passenger was asked to come out onto the tarmac and investigate
the vibrating noise in her luggage which turned out to be a battery powered shaver.
Bay of Islands
(Kerikeri) airport is just a small building opened to receive the flight and
send the return flight back again. I
asked where I could assemble my bike and where I could leave the bike box. I set it up in a
quiet corner of the car park and a woman came out took the box away in her
keenness to close up. Once loaded up I headed the 6 km into Kerikeri to find a
supermarket and stock up on a bit of food. I had a couple of hours to kill
before the bus ride so I rode out to the historic stone store a few km out of
town. It was lovely day and I was feeling positive about the whole trip. I got
back to the bus stop and took the wheels and pedals off the bike to ready it
for the bus. The bus was late arriving after being delayed by a road accident
on its way up from Auckland. The passengers are then first dropped off to buy
their lunch at the shops by the bus stop while the driver heads off to swap the
bus for a smaller bus and fresh driver. The bus trip to Kaitaia is over 100 km
via SH10 through Kaeo. I tried phoning Oli to say I would be late but he
wasn’t answering his home phone. There was nothing to worry about as he was there waiting for me at the
bus stop with his beat up old ute. It turns out he is retired and lives in an
old cottage on the land of a friendly farming family some 20 odd km from the Cape.
He regularly picks up walkers and bikers from Kaitaia and takes them up to the
Cape and asks for very little reimbursement.
While driving
up he is giving me a commentary on the place. I was a bit uneasy with his
driving as he was bit all over the road often across the median strip and other
times running close to the shoulders where the road drops away steeply. Just
while I am thinking I hope we get to the Cape without an accident we come across a
young Asian lady standing on the side of the road trying to wave us down. Oli doesn’t
seem to want to stop so I said ‘stop Oli there is a car in the paddock’. I could
see someone still in it. I got out and ran across the road, at the same time another
guy coming in a car from the opposite direction also stops and we both head
through the hole in the fence and down to the car which appears to have rolled but is now
upright. Approaching the car, the engine sounded like it was still running but
it turned out to be the stereo hissing off station. A young Asian woman was
still in the driver’s seat, the other guy opened the door and went to help her
out but she was caught by her hair. I pulled the hair away from where it was
stuck around the crumbled door pillar. We helped her up to the road. She was
confused about where she was and what had happened. I went back to the car and
tried to turn off the stereo, and grabbed her wallet, phone and some clothes.
Back at the road a few more people had stopped. I gave the driver her phone and
zipped her wallet into her pocket. The other woman was complaining of a sore
neck, probably whiplash. The driver had a few lacerations to her head and right
upper leg. I cleaned up her leg with water from a bottle someone had. The cuts
were deep and would need stitches. A guy had brought out a first aid kit and we
used it to cover her cuts with gauze patches and a bandage. There was no cell
phone coverage here so Oli had tooted his car horn to get the attention of a
neighbour he knew on the hill across the road. The guy came down with a
cordless landline phone and called the local volunteer ambulance service who were
going to take 45 minutes to arrive. After doing all we could and with a large
group of people now attending to them, Oli and I decided to slip away and head for Cape Reinga
Arriving at the
car park I put the bike together. Oli can’t walk too well so I biked down to
the lighthouse to take the obligatory photos while he waited. It was getting
late and he had suggested he should take me down to Te Paki Stream to start my biking
from the hard sand on Ninety Mile Beach. Here I was going to miss out doing the
first 22 km of this length of the North Island ride. Driving down the stream I found out it was deep in
parts and had a lot of soft sand. Oli mentioned a lot of people get themselves
stuck here but it had never happened to him. Shortly after saying this he manages to get the ute
stuck and I started to sense another drama unfolding. I was out of
the ute frantically digging his back wheels out. It turned out he probably
didn’t have it engaged in low ratio 4WD properly and after a bit of jiggling with the gears it popped out of the ruts.
I said thanks
and goodbye to Oli at 5.30pm. He said he only wanted fifteen dollars but I gave
him fifty. I was underway just after low tide, in my hurry I hadn’t bothered to
put on any padded bike shorts. There was a steady side wind and supposedly hard-as-concrete sand felt a bit draggy. The evening was fine as I pushed to get as
far down the beach as possible before dusk. A couple of hours down I came
across a couple biking slowly in the same direction. They were making a day
trip from the Cape and were running out of steam. They were still hoping to
make it to Ahipara that night. Just after 8 and just before the sun began to
set I spotted the flag for Utea Park and headed through the sand dunes. I found
the last empty cabin and claimed it just before a station wagon with a couple
of tourists turned up from the road end.. I found the shower and washed up. The
owner Tania turned up, she ran a relaxed set-up, I asked her what she wanted, and
fifteen dollars was all she asked. In the kitchen I made my meagre meal of two satchets
of Cup-O-Soup with a handful of biscuits washed down with a mug of black tea.
The night was
clear with a full moon shining through the curtain-less windows of the cabin. I
awoke during the night to strange stomping noises. I sat up to look out and see
a mob of horses grazing their way through the campground.
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| Stone store, Kerikeri |
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| Car after accident |
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| Starting with a visit to Cape Reinga |
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| Thanks Oli |
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| Ninety mile beach not always tailwind and hard sand |
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| Cabin at Utea Park |
Sunday 12th - 155km - Utea Park – Waipoua Forest
I got up early
and got underway on the beach while still close to low tide. The wind was more
a tailwind then the previous evening and I made quick work of the last 30km
into Ahipara. I had to push through soft sand to get up to the road. I went
looking for the campground to use the water hose to clean the salt and sand
from off my bike. After this I stopped at the general store for a couple of
sloppy pies and then sat on a park bench to give Corina a call.
From here the
route takes back roads through Broadwood and Kohukohu to catch the Rawene
ferry. I stopped at the store in Kohukohu for more food and made the 2pm
crossing. While on the ferry it began to rain so I left Rawene wearing a jacket
in the sticky warmth. At the turn-off onto SH12 the rain stopped and I was
relieved to be able to take the raingear off again. I stopped in Opononi for an
ice cream break before biking through Omapere and the steep climb up the hill
that looks back over the town. Not long after this the road climbs up into Waipoua
Forest with a long 300+ metres altitude gain. After a short stop at the large
kauri tree Tane Mahuta I began a long descent to the turn-off to the Waipoua
Forest café and campground. I had enough for the day and ahead was another 250
metre high climb which I was not in the mood for doing now so I headed down the
gravel road to find the campground without any idea what to expect. I arrived
to find no one there. I propped up the bike and began looking around for what
to do when a guy Lance appeared. He was surprised to see me as he hadn’t heard
a car arrive. It turns out I was the first person to turn up for the night and I could have a cabin
for twenty dollars. I asked if there was any food left by other campers in the
kitchen. Lance then offered to grab a
serving of lasagne from the closed cafe and heat it up for me. After I had a
shower he turned up with a plate with the lasagne accompanied by a corn on the
cob with a slice of melting butter, fresh salad and slices of buttered bread.
He didn’t want anything for it and I enjoyed a nice meal. Lance then left for the
evening and I had the campground to myself
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| Ahipara's biggest store |
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| Rawene ferry in the rain |
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| Cabin at Waipoua Forest campground |
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| Thanks for dinner Lance |
Monday 13th – 152 km – Waipoua Forest -
Helensville
The night was
muggy and the mosquitoes pretty active in the little cabin. I was up early and headed
off towards Dargaville knowing I wouldn’t get any phone reception until the top
of the climb. At the top of the hill my phone beeped for a message received. It
was Cheryl from Shamrock Charters. They weren’t sailing today because of windy
conditions and there were no further planned sailings until Thursday. It was
windy up on the ridge but I had been hoping that wasn’t the case down on the
flat. I carried on to Dargaville contemplating the extra 100 km I was now going
have to bike to get around the Kaipara Harbour. I stopped at the lovely
Bakehouse Café for a coffee, pie and muffin. While at the café I spoke with Rod
on the phone, Cheryl had mentioned in my initial phone enquiry that they sometimes
pick people up in their van. They were going to be out for the day but if I
gave them a call when I got close to Brynderwyn they may come and rescue me from
SH1.
After a trip to
the supermarket I headed out of Dargaville on SH12 in warm and windy conditions.
Luckily the wind was mostly a tailwind. The road starts to climb through hills
after Ruawai. I stopped in some shade of a building near Maungaturoto to rest
and eat. A while later on reaching Brynderwyn just before 4 pm I tried to ring
Shamrock Charters but no one was answering. So I carried on down the busy SH1
to Wellsford 27 km down the highway. I pulled into a rest area just short of Wellsford and
then received the phone call I had been waiting for. Rod and Cheryl would drive
out to Wellsford and pick me up there. They were keen on eating out at one of
the restaurants in the town. I got into town and bought an ice cream and waited
on a park bench. We spotted each other straightaway. They were disappointed to
find the Roast Kitchen was closed on Mondays. So they head back the nearly 50
km to Helensville and I suggested they find their next favourite eatery to go
to and I would shout them a meal. We ended up picking up takeaways at Kaukapakapa and headed to their place.
I could sleep overnight in a caravan in their backyard. I stayed up till near
11pm listening to stories from their work with boats on the Kaipara Harbour.
The main subject of the evening being the sinking of the Francie last November
while crossing the Kaipara Bar that claimed 8 lives. They had been previous
owners of the Francie so their knowledge of the boat was of interest to the
police investigating the sinking.
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| Free accommodation in Helensville |
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| The lovely hosts - Rod and Cheryl |
Tuesday 14th - 110 km – Helensville – Miranda
Springs
I awoke to
light rain. Rod and Cheryl are not early risers and I had left my cycle shorts
to dry in their bathroom so I couldn’t just head off. Anyway the advice was to
wait until after the peak morning traffic before heading into Auckland. It was
after 10 am before I got to say goodbye and got underway in light rain. I just
followed SH16 until the big roundabout and the GPS was directing me down
Taupaki Road which had me initially doubting it was the right way as a good
number of trucks began passing me on this narrow road. Eventually I ended up in
the suburb of Massey and found my way onto the North-western cycleway – a joy
to be on. I never saw another cyclist but that may be understandable with the
persistent rain. I found my way into Grafton in sight of the Skytower and
looked to find Khyber Pass Road. Seeing a convenient café on a corner I stopped
for a coffee and a muffin. The rain eased so I could shed my wet weather gear
before heading down to Newmarket train station where for seven dollars I could
catch the 2 pm train down to Papakura with the bike. It was appalling to watch the
behaviour of a group of feral kids that got on the train and were giving the guards the
run-around as they tried to get away without paying.
Getting into
Papakura, I looked for a supermarket to stock up on some food. I left the bike
in the trolley bay in the entry foyer and picked up the likes of oats satchets,
soup satchets, tinned fruit, bananas and buns. The bike was left untouched
always a concern in big cities where shopping centres are always full of little
shits. It had started to rain again as I worked my way out of Papakura on the
Clevedon Road. I thought the GPS route I was following was the coastal option so I
was surprised when it directed me to a turn-off and starting climbing some big
hills. I had bit of trouble with gear changing and there were a few instances
of the chain dropping off to the inside of the small ring as I went to climb a
steep hill. It was a nice area to bike through but disappointing to see the
amount of rubbish dumping on the side of the road.
The rain was
annoying and there were a few sections of muddy road to get me covered in mud as well. I finally got to take off my wet weather gear while taking a break at
the Mangatangi Fire Station This allowed me to dry out a bit before getting to
the Miranda Holiday Park around 7 pm. I
was going to use the tent but being wet I went for a $60 cabin instead. There was a takeaway next door at the hotsprings
pool and the lady at the camp suggested I get around there before it closed.
The place was busy and there was long queue waiting to order. I soon heard the
message the kitchen was closed and the only selection available was fish n
chips. I ordered and expected a big wait and was pleasantly surprised when she
called my number well ahead of others and handed me the package with a wink. A
further pleasant surprise was finding two fish fillets instead of the one I had
ordered. The room had a fan heater that I could nicely arrange my wet clothes
in front of. After eating dinner, I took
a soak in the campground hot pool followed by a shower where the bike shorts
and socks got a wash. Later a catch up with Corina on the phone and then off to
sleep pretty quickly.
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| Auckland cycleway |
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| Auckland train |
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| Auckland rubbish on the side of rural roads |
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| Cabin at Miranda Hotsprings |
Wednesday 15th – 158 km – Miranda Springs -
Arapuni
The fan heater
worked nicely to dry my clothes out by morning. It was a fine weather day and
was underway a little after 8 am. I saw a cycle tourist go passed on the
highway as I headed back down the side road from the campground. I caught up to Darnel and we biked together
for the next hour until the big bridge. He was a young Maori guy who now lives
in Brisbane. The last couple of summers he has come over and cycle toured
around NZ. He was riding a Giant Boulder with a couple of rear panniers and was
drying out his clothes and bike shoes
from yesterday and just riding in nylon long pants and Crocs. He was heading
out to do a circuit of the Coromandel after just having done a circuit of Northland.
He was out of food so I shared the last of my biscuits with him while we
stopped at the other end of the bridge where I was to turn off on to the
Hauraki Rail Trail and he was heading on to Thames, We took photos of each with
our bikes, he was impressed with the light gear setup I had and I was amazed he
was making do with even cheaper and older mountain bike than mine.
The start of the Hauraki Rail Trail
was getting overgrown by the long grass of summer. I met a few cyclists coming
the other way as I made my way down. The Convenient Cow café at Hikutaia was a
pleasant stop, nice food at a reasonable price. The trail continues on into
Paeroa, where I only stopped to fill up my water bottles at a service station.
In Te Aroha I ended up spending a bit of time fiddling with the cable
adjustment for the rear derailleur on the old railway station platform as I was
having trouble changing gears as the outer cable was getting damaged by the roll
bag hanging off my handlebars.
From here it
was on back roads to Matamata. The town is busy with tourists as all Lord of
the Rings and The Hobbit film fans come to Matamata to visit the Hobbiton film
set. Even the local information centre is done out like a hobbit dwelling from
the Peter Jackson films. I went looking for a supermarket and found the New
World. While locking up the bike I was joined by a Chinese guy cycle touring on
a folding bike; a Birdy. We had a short chat before going in the supermarket. Later
coming out of the supermarket there he was again taking photos of my
bike. I guess it’s the bike packing bags that interests other cyclists.
As I headed out
of Matamata and turned into a side road I noticed a plume of smoke up ahead. Shit it looked like a hedge was on fire. By
the time I got the 100 metres up to the hedge it was pretty full on. I biked
through a wall of smoke and ash and stopped to see if anyone was on to it. A
couple of guys were frantically moving stuff back from the hedge and were being
joined by a couple of neighbours. I then heard the fire siren go off back in
town. There was not much point me getting involved so I took a couple of photos
and carried on.
This section of
the route took me out to SH29 which I had to follow for 10 km and then a short bit
of SH1 so I was relieved to turn right on a quiet back road. The road was narrow
with no shoulder as it headed down a steep dip and then up around a few blind corners. As
I was biking up around a corner there was a 4WD also coming the other way I was startled
by a long toot on a car horn behind me. The vehicle, another 4WD then came around
next to me with the passenger window wound down, the driver was shouting at me something like ‘get off the fucken road, you made me have to brake for you’. I was taken
back by his audacity so I let him know I had every fucken right to be on the
road. He then stops his vehicle and this angry young guy covered in tattoos
gets out and it is going to be all on. I put my bike down against the bank and
headed straight at him. Just then a couple of cars come up behind his wagon
parked there in the middle of the road. This emboldens me to start mocking him
‘now look what you are doing, holding up the traffic, get the fuck out of here’
He got back in his wagon ranting on about if he saw me again he would run me
down and drove off. All through this a woman had sat in the front seat looking
straight ahead and never said nothing, probably seen it plenty of times before
and knows to keep her mouth shut. I wrote his plate number down in case I came
across him again and then carried on, stunned at what had just happened. There
a still plenty of morons out there who think the road is all theirs and no one
should ever get in their way.
I turned off at
the Little Waipa Reserve, looking at the possibility of camping there. There were a a
few campervans parked there but no one camping. There was a toilet block with long-drop toilets but no drinking water
source. I headed out on to the Waikato Trail and rode the section to Arapuni. I
climbed up to the road in the township and found a drink fountain for the water
I was keenly after. According to the Tour Aotearoa guide there was a backpacker accommodation here. I tried the cell phone number but no answer so I phoned
Corina and got a landline number. I got through and found out the address, they
had a bunkroom bed for $35 a night. I found my way there and met Lorraine and
later Steve, an English couple who have settled here. Apart from the
backpackers, Steve has a school bus run, and has a shuttle van for the demand
from the nearby cycle trail and Lorraine does relief shifts as a nurse at
Rotorua hospital. No one else was staying so I had the bunkroom to myself with
bedding supplied and a clean near new bathroom to take a shower in. I mentioned I didn’t have much to make for
dinner so they offered to make me a burger as they were about to light the BBQ
for their dinner. A further pleasant
feature was free Wifi so I was able to catch the weather forecast for the next
few days; rain! And then there on dusk it began to lightly rain.
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| Cycle tourist - Darnyl |
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| Afternoon excitement leaving Matamata |
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| Backpacker accommodation in Arapuni |
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| The reason we have Arapuni |
Thursday 16th – 86 km – Arapuni – Pureora Forest
I awoke to
light rain and made breakfast; instant porridge and a can of sliced peaches
washed down with a cup of black tea. The guide book gave an alternate road
route for the next stage as the Waikato Trails were supposed to be difficult
through this part for loaded bikes. Steve came out for a chat and to give some advice
before heading out on his school bus run. I left after 8 am in two minds about
what to do. I headed back to the Arapuni dam and the swingbridge for a look and
then decided ‘what the hell give the trail a go’. The bike ride to Jones
Landing was not too bad at all. After this, there was a road section climbing to
the top of the Waotu Quarry. Up here it was all clouded in, I could hear the
machinery in the quarry below but had no view of it. The track descends in a long
series of switchbacks which wasn’t that bad to do with the loaded bike. From here it
followed a lot of forestry roads before climbing up a steep trail before
descending down steep stairs to Waipapa Dam. The rain was pretty persistent at
this point and I was feeling chilled. After a short break I decided to follow
Waipapa Road from here into Mangakino. Arriving in Mangakino I was feeling
pretty shit with the rain seeping in everywhere. I pulled up under the verandah
on the main street and found a good café to buy a pie, sandwich and coffee. I
had got a call out to Corina earlier and there were now texts waiting for me to
read, my sweet girl had organised accommodation at Pureora cabins for me. A key
would be there waiting. This perked me up no end I had something to aim for.
The official route takes further trails and back roads to Pureora via a spot that marks the
centre of the North Island. I decided that with the wet weather the best route
was the direct route straight up SH30. I found my way to the cabins about 4.30
pm and found the key in the fire hose reel cabinet outside Cabin 2. This was perfect;
no one else there, a room with a fan heater and kitchen facilities and along
the verandah was the bathroom with a hot high pressure shower.
I had a couple
of cup of soups along with peanut butter on toast for dinner. There was no
cellphone coverage but I made do with listening to National Radio on the phone.
All the while it continued to rain. The only interruption to the evening was
Moana the lady who Corina had organised the cabin turning up to see if I was
ok. She was moving stuff from her car into Cabin 1 and said something about
that she was staying there but then drove off and I never saw her return.
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| Grey wet day |
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| You can't just ride through these stiles. There are an endless number of these on the North Island trails |
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| Extra chores on a wet day |
Friday 17th – 100 km – Pureora Forest -
Tauramanui
I awoke to
steady rain so I got ready slowly. At times during the night it had rained
quite hard. The Timber Trail was going to be hard work in the rain. I was
starting to think the best option would be to just bike along the road to
Tauramanui and hole up at some accommodation for the rest of the day and hope
for better weather tomorrow. After a while I went and looked at the start of
the Timber Trail and met an older guy who had come down from Matamata to take
an e-bike through to booked accommodation at Black Fern Lodge. I first needed to drop the key off and pay
for the accommodation at Pa Harakeke 2.5 km away. On the way there the rain
stopped and things started to look more optimistic so I rode back and headed
out onto the Timber Trail. Another couple of guys were readying themselves in
the car park and promised to catch me up. On to the trail there was no sign
that the guy with the e-bike had set out.
The ride was
enjoyable through the trees as it steadily climbs up through the forest. The
rain came back lightly but didn’t seem that bad under the trees. I got to the
highest point feeling good. The downhill from here is quite enjoyable though I was
starting to feel a bit chilled. Coming out of the forest at the 27 km mark there is a shelter
which I pulled into for a snack and to put on an extra layer. As soon as I got
underway again the rain stopped and the sky started to brighten. I whipped
through Piropiro Flats while spotting the construction going on to build a new
lodge. I stopped at the Maramataha Bridge for a lunch break as the sun came out
so I lay my clothes out to dry.
From here there
is a short climb to the start of the tramway section. My memory from a previous
ride through the Timber Trail was it seemed all downhill from here. I was
disappointed to find the wet track was making it drag on my tyres and it wasn’t
easy freewheeling downhill. In the cuttings the track was particularly rutted
up and wet. Coming into one cutting on a downhill piece I noted how rutted it
was and got myself in two minds between racing through and slowing down. The
front wheel dropped in a hole and I tipped over the handlebars and face planted
into the mud with the bike landing on top of me. I quickly thought, ‘you’re ok,
get up’. I hopped back on the bike covered in mud and at the first stream
cleaned myself up a bit. The real downhill part did come and the last 10 km to
the road which includes the Ongarue Spiral is a real hoot.
I made it into
Ongarue about 6 pm and started heading along Back Road to Taumaranui. The bike,
the bags and myself were absolutely covered in mud. I spotted a water tank with
a hose outside a farm building on the side of the road and stopped to clean
myself up, to look at least halfway decent before getting into town. I couldn’t
get phone signal until I hit the main road outside McDonalds. I called Corina
to organise if the Taumaranui Holiday Park had a cabin available while I went
into McDonalds for a quick meal. Next I
went to the supermarket just before it closed. Corina phoned back to tell me
they were holding the last available cabin for me. I had to put the lights on
to bike in the evening gloom as I biked through town and 5 km down the highway
to the campground.
I was paying
for a ‘family cabin’ and the cabins are in pairs. The adjacent cabin was
occupied by a young couple who were permanents at the campground. There was a
dog kennel on the porch and their door was open and they were sitting up in bed
watch TV yelling at the dog to shut up while I sorted out my bike and wet gear.
The girl came out to have a smoke and I found out they were staying there
because they couldn’t find rental accommodation in Tauramanui. Every time they
thought they had a place lined up some other prospective tenant would be get
the preference. Her partner was working in forestry 75 km away in Raetihi for which
he got a ride out to. She couldn’t work because she couldn’t drive as she had a
history of seizures. Looking for a place to live in Raetihi wasn’t an option as ‘all they
have got there is a Four Square’.
I spent a bit
of time cleaning up, showering and washing my mud-caked biking clothes before
making myself a meal in the kitchen and making a late night call to Corina
while watching a rat scoot across the patio and into the scrub. My clothes were
hanging all around my cabin, the fan heater kept tripping off, the TV was on
loud in the room next door, giant moths that had got in earlier were banging
around the room and these weird looking beetles were flipping all over the
floor as I lay down to try and sleep.
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| Contemplating another wet day |
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| Not so bad in under the trees |
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| The sun came out for a lunch stop at Maramataha Bridge |
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| Ongarue Spiral part of the great downhill |
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| End of the trail, covered in mud |
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| Cabin at Tauramanui Holiday Park |
Saturday 18th – 113 km – Tauramanui -
Jerusalem
It didn’t rain
in the night as it was forecasted to do and I got away early about 8 am. I was
supposed to head towards Whakahoro to follow the trails heading down to the
Whanganui River. I have been there before and know how sticky the papa soils in
this part of the country get after heavy rain so instead I intended to head
along SH4 to Raetihi and then turn to follow the road down to Pipiriki to
re-join the official Tour Aotearoa route. First there are some good climbs
heading out of Taumaranui. I stopped at Café 39 South for coffee and scone
before continuing the climb getting to National Park for another stop for a pie
and coffee. From here is becomes generally downhill all the way to Raetihi. A
nice highlight of this bit was humming along at 40kmh when the Northerner train
came along side and the driver gave a toot on the train horn and a friendly wave.
I took a bit of
a look around in Raetihi as this was the town my father was sent to and bonded
to a job for the first two years after he immigrated to New Zealand back in the
early 50s. At the time it was the government’s policy to spread immigrants
around so they wouldn’t form ghettos. Raetihi seemed pretty quiet. From
chatting to a group of teenage boys on the main street I found out most people
were probably down at the A&P show a little way out of town. I stopped at
the town’s only supermarket; the Four Square and stocked up on food. They had
jandals for sale but not my size. My spare shoes, old running shoes were
getting pretty rank from getting wet so I was keen to throw them out.
It was mostly
downhill to Pipiriki and it looked like rain was threating. Seeing the river
all swollen in flood with logs floating down I was relieved I hadn’t tried to
go down to the Bridge to Nowhere. The cabins at Pipiriki were all booked out by
road workers fixing up the endless flood damage along this road so the only
option would be to camp but with the threating rain I chose to carry on to
Jerusalem, Jerusalem or Hiruhārama has an old nun’s convent that has been
turned into a backpackers. The last two remaining sisters now live in a small
Lockwood cottage up behind the old building. I found one of them sweeping out
the church and got the ok to stay. At the old convent there was only a German
family staying in a family room and a couple of guys doing possum control work
in the dorms so plenty of room to spread out. During the evening a thunderstorm
came over and it poured down for a while before clearing just before dusk.
After the rainstorm cleared I went for an enjoyable walk along the road before
going back to the warm and muggy upstairs dorm room to sleep.
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| Makatote Viaduct |
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| Worst in Raetihi |
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| Best in Raetihi |
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| High flow in Whanganui River |
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| Church in Jerusalem |
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| Backpackers in Jerusalem - the old convent |
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| Ready made clothesline in the dorm rooms |
Sunday 19th – 130 km – Jerusalem -
Huntersville
I got away
about 8am in misty, warm and humid conditions. I enjoyed this section following
the Whanganui River Road through the small settlements of Ranana (London),
Matahiwi and Atene. My enjoyment with this section was tempered by the cage on
my front derailleur breaking. I could still change chainrings but the small
piece hanging on would touch the chain now and then making disconcerting
noises. I stopped and taped up the break. I also noticed a few loose spokes
that needed tightening. The road is in poor condition after floods from June
2015. There is a lot of road works going on including rebuilding retaining
walls on the Gentle Annie climb where at the top you get a good view back up
the river. It then descends down to SH4 where I stopped at Upokongaro at a
café. A crap café, the proprietor was reluctant to fill my drinking bottles
(would only do one). The scone I ordered was only a half of the ones on
display. And to confirm it wasn’t just
me, some guys who came in on bikes began complaining about what they ended up
with.
As you come
into Whanganui there is a cycleway that follows the bank of the river. Getting
into town, I stopped at The Warehouse for a pair of two dollar jandals so I
could throw out by stinking shoes. After shoe shopping I went to the
supermarket to buy food for lunch. Whanganui has a cool secret, a tunnel that
leads to a lift that takes you to the top of a Durie Hill that overlooks the
town. Here I enjoyed eating my lunch in the warm sun before heading off along
back roads to Hunterville. Soon I found I was heading towards these ominous
looking dark clouds and sure enough; in rolled a thunderstorm as I took shelter
in a woolshed. It carried on raining on and off as I biked into Hunterville.
After buying takeaways for dinner I found accommodation at the Station Hotel.
After a shower I went into the bar for a beer and there was no sleep until the
drunks outside my window stopped arguing sometime after midnight and drove
home.
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| Leaving Jerusalem |
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| Broken derailleur cage |
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| View from top of Gentle Annie looking back up Whanganui River |
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| View from Durie Hill, Whanganui |
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| Accommodation at a classic kiwi country pub Hunterville |
Monday 20th – 150 km – Huntersville –
Palmerston North
The hotel
manager had given me the key to the back door so could go inside to make
breakfast. They have a couple of boxer dogs that keep guard over the yard that
followed me everywhere I went. I got away about 8.30am and at last the weather
was promising to become settled. The route was sending me north up SH1 at
first. I passed a turn-off to Highway 54 a tempting shortcut that would have
taken me to Palmerston North via Fielding. Instead I faithfully followed the
official route up and down mostly gravel back roads through localities like
Rangiwhahia and Apiti. At the 80 km mark I was as close to Palmerston North as
when I started in Hunterville. There were no shops or cafes open and I didn’t
find the Waterford Café that is located a few km before Ashurst. I was not
happy with that day. After 140 km I finally got to stop at a small supermarket
in Ashurst and bought a pie and drink and gave my sore feet a bit of a rest.
From here I followed the river trail in Palmerston North though it does veer back on the highway for a bit in the middle. I found a supermarket and then
used the GPS to find the holiday park by using the address of the place that
Corina had given me. The ‘open street map’ I have for the GPS doesn’t have a
search for campgrounds. Arriving at the campground I found out there were no cabins available so the tent got
unstrapped from my bike for the first time. Across from me was a South African
family who had moved down from Auckland. They were paying 200 dollars a week to
stay in a tent at the campground as this seemed better to them than paying a
weekly rent of $500 for a suitable house.
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| Manawatu back blocks - endless |
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| First night in the tent |
Tuesday 21st - 120 km – Palmerston North -
Masterton
I woke up to
find there was plenty of condensation in the tent even though I had kept the
fly open. It wasn’t going to dry before getting away so I just folded it up
wet. The weather was promising to be
fine and I was underway around 8.30 am heading for the Pahiatua Track into the
Wairarapa. It is an easy climb to the top and then a nice downhill to Pahiatua
where I stopped for a coffee and pie. From here on to Eketahuna using some back
roads for another café stop. The route down to Masterton involved a few gravel
back roads. As I got into town I turned left out passed the hospital to head
out to Peter and Maria’s place. I had put their address in the GPS but
something was not right with the address location and I failed to recognise
their place as I went by and did an extra 5 km up the road. I finally found
Peter at home, up the back cutting up firewood from some trees he had recently
cut down. We had a couple of beers in the warm sun before I took a shower and
he finished his work. Maria came home and cooked a lovely dinner and we stayed
up late catching up.
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| Every town has got have something - Eketahuna's kiwi |
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| Peter and Maria's accommodation house |
Wednesday 22nd – 120 km – Masterton – Bluebridge
Ferry
I got up early, at the same time as Peter and got underway on a nice fine day. I was supposed to
take back roads to Martinborough and then turn towards Featherson but I
compromised and took back roads to Greytown and then down SH2 to Featherson. I
had a coffee and scone as the only customer of the first café I came to in the
town. From here I grabbed a few things at the supermarket before heading out to
Cross Creek. The climb up the Rimutaka Incline Rail Trail went relatively easy.
There are a few tunnels to go through. The one at the top definitely needs you
to have lights on. I stopped at the summit shelter for lunch. I anticipated a
good downhill but the gradient wasn’t steep enough to counter what proved to be a stiff
headwind. The Hutt River trails start out a bit disjointed around Upper Hutt
but move to a more continuous path of smooth asphalt closer to Lower Hutt. The
northerly was now proving to be a good tailwind zipping me along. The only
hazards were people walking with their dogs off their leashes. I had arranged
to go to my sister and brother-in-law’s place for dinner; Rikki and Derek who
live out in Wainuiomata. My initial idea was to ride into Wellington and meet
Derek at his workplace on the wharves and catch a ride home with him. But
through an earlier phone call I learnt he hadn’t taken his work van in that day
so at Petone I turned off and climbed up over the Wainuiomata hill to get my
free dinner. Later in the evening Derek
dropped me at the Bluebridge ferry terminal. I was booked on the 2.30am sailing
with a cabin. For this you get to board earlier and then get to sleep before it
sets sail. The boarding was a bit delayed so I didn’t get on until after
midnight. I got to sleep for only a few hours before being woken by a loudspeaker
message at 5.20 am. I got ready by taking a shower and getting into my biking
clothes and disembarked at 6 am feeling fresh for another day’s biking.
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| Beautiful day to bike the Rimutaka Incline |
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| Looking forward to a downhill but the headwind cancelled out the gradient |
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| Zipping along the Hutt River with a tailwind |
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| Honest climb to the top of the Wainuiomata hill |
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| Cabin on the Bluebridge ferry |
Thursday 23rd – 150 km- Bluebridge Ferry –
Molesworth Campsite
It was still
dark when I got off the ferry so I didn’t fancy biking down SH1 yet with all
the cars and trucks coming off the ferry. So I found a bakery open, the Village
Bakkerij and had coffee and bacon and egg pie for breakfast before running the
gauntlet down SH1 to Blenheim arriving as the sun came up. In Blenheim I went
to a supermarket and stocked up with a couple days of food before heading out
of town on Taylors Pass Road. This road turns to gravel as it climbs towards
the pass. I was mostly in the shade on what was becoming a warm day. Down the
other side the road joins the Awatere Valley Road. Initially it is sealed as it
goes through vineyards but then it becomes interspersed with sections of gravel
before it eventually stays gravel, horrible corrugated gravel for the rest of
trip. There are few good climbs along this road. I stopped near the top of a
climb in a shady gully with a creek to eat some lunch. About 3pm I arrived at
the spot where a big slip had closed the road for two months after the Kaikoura
earthquake. There were road workers still working on this stretch of road. The
biggest climb of the day was Upcot Saddle. Being a steep gradient and by now feeling
knackered I hopped off the bike and walked. A little dog came running out of
the scrub on the side of the road. This dog then continued to follow me to the
top of the saddle even running ahead as I got on my bike. The dog had a collar
on so must have been left behind by someone. I didn’t know what to do with it.
I tried giving it water thinking it may be thirsty. At the top was a big
downhill. The dog wasn’t going to keep up so it was ‘good bye dog’ and off I
went. Hopefully its owners would backtrack and find it ok
I pushed on into the evening and
arrived at the DOC campsite at Molesworth about 7.30pm. At the campsite there were
another two cycle tourists in a tent looking very shattered and an older couple
in a campervan. I set up my tent next to a picnic table close to the campervan.
While setting up the tent, the lady comes out for a chat and within a few
minutes I am in their campervan getting water boiled for my dinner and
subsequently many cups of tea. They are a retired couple who have a home in
Auckland but spend a fair part of the year travelling NZ in their campervan. It
was very nice that they looked after me
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| The road in front of mee |
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| Freedom camping mess |
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| The location of the earthquake slip that closed Awatere Valley Road for two months |
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| Goodbye dog. I hope your owner came back for you |
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| Finally reached Molesworth, campground around the corner |
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| I was anticipating cold food for dinner until invited into the campervan |
Friday 24th – 85 km – Molesworth campsite –
Hanmer Springs
Friday was
another beautiful day but freezing cold morning as I crawled out of my tent
that was well coated inside with condensation. While getting dressed the DOC warden came
over to see if I was the guy she was expecting to have arrived from Acheron. No
one is supposed to camp between here and Acheron. She then went off to take the
other two cyclists up to the top of Ward Pass in a DOC ute and probably go looking
for the missing cyclist. I had my breakfast in the relative warmth of the
campervan. The couple in the campervan then also left. I waited until the sun
came down to my tent before packing up but the tent even then it was still
soaking with condensation. I got
underway but just passed the lookout to Molesworth I was held up by a young
female shepherd moving a flock of sheep along the road. I had always thought
there was no sheep on Molesworth Station and she confirmed I was right. She was
from nearby Mueller Station and was just moving this mob to some grazing they
had inside Molesworth. The climb up Ward Pass went easily. After descending down
the other side I met Bram, the missing cyclist. He was a Dutch tourist who
bought a bike and panniers in Christchurch and was biking up to Hamilton. He
had way too much gear with him which left him pushing his bike with the slightest of gradient. A puncture had slowed
him down so he never made the 60 km from Acheron the day before.
The Molesworth
is beautiful but shit the gravel road was rough going with all the
corrugations. There appeared to be a lot of traffic; more traffic than normal as
it seems many people are using it as a shortcut between Hanmer Springs and
Blenheim rather than going via Lewis Pass as SH1 is closed due to earthquake damage. I stopped at a recently built shelter for a
lunch break having only cereal bars and stale date scones left. The shelter
sits in a scenic spot looking back up the river. Further along I caught up with
the two cyclists from the campground who had been dropped of at the top of Ward Pass also pushing their bikes uphill with way
too much gear. It confirmed to me that my lightweight setup was proof of less
is best. After a rest in the shade at Acheron I headed into what had become a
strong headwind for the stretch along the Clarence River. I decided to turn-off
and take the rougher and steeper but shorter route over Jollies Pass. It wasn’t too bad but
there was no cell phone coverage at the top so I had to wait until I had
bounced and clattered my way down to the bottom before phoning through to
Corina to come pick me up. Ideally I should take another day and bike all the
way home to Christchurch but there was a big family get-together planned for the
following day and didn’t want to arrive for that all shattered. Also SH7 was now an
extra busy road with the closure of SH1 north of Kaikoura and I had biked it
one other time and hadn’t enjoyed all the heavy traffic.
I biked into a
busy Hanmer Springs on a warm afternoon. I bought an ice cream and sat down to
check my phone. There was a message from a work colleague, Hamish ‘Hey Andre I
am camping in Hanmer for a few days drop by if you want’. So the trip ended
with me having a couple of beers and nibbles with Hamish and his family. I also
had time for a shower (drying myself with a big bath towel instead of a weight
conscious micro towel) while waiting for Corina to come pick me up. Thanks
Hamish
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| Waited for the sun to come up before stating out |
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| Sheep on Molesworth |
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| Bram has way too much gear |
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| Wide open spaces of Molesworth from one of the new shelters |
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| The shortcut to Hanmer Springs |
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| Finished |
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