Tour Aotearoa Days 13-15

Day 13: Ditch

Upper Hutt to Maitai Valley 99km

After a night in my own bed it was time to get moving, I had booked the ferry the night before and was on the 9:00am sailing. It was hard to leave home and difficult to muster the motivation to get moving, but I had a boat to catch. The ride to the ferry is the same as my usual commute to work. Along the Hutt River Trail I met my friend Karl, and he rode with me from Lower Hutt to the ferry terminal, with me struggling to keep up as Karl was on his road bike and without all the extra gear I was hauling around.  On the ferry I ran into Erik and Greg again, we talked about whether we would do the optional off road bits around Queen Charlotte Drive, Erik was keen, and I thought that I might do them. I was back on familiar ground again as this section of TA was part of the KB14 route. 

Flasher than the Interislander

In the end I decided not to do the off road sections as I had reached the high point on Queen Charlotte Dr and started to descend when the first turn off arrived, and the prospect of more climbing wasn't that inviting. I stopped for a milkshake at Havelock and then made it to Pelorous shortly before the cafe shut, at the cafe I met two young ladies who had done KB14 and had a quick chat. I had plans of getting to Nelson before dark, the only thing between me and Nelson was the Maungatapu Track. 

Warning. Pain Ahead

The Maungatapu Track is probably the hardest single climb on the TA route, it starts off OK and then gets progressively steeper, the track surface also gets rockier as the gradient increases. About halfway up a stick got caught in my rear deraileur and everything came to a dead stop, fortunately I was only going at about walking pace. I stopped to investigate the damage, which amounted to a broken deraileur hanger, fortunately these days I always carry a spare. Oddly, of the 4 hangers I have broken over the last 12 years, 3 have occurred in the Nelson/Marlborough region. It only took about 15 minutes and some peanut M&Ms to fix the hanger and get moving again. 

One of these things is broken

It was getting dark as I crested the saddle, I took the descent easy, walking the steep rocky section into the creek near the bottom, as I was on my own and it was not in an ideal place to munt yourself in the dark. I ended up camping by the river in the Maitai valley.

Day 14: Wind

Maitai Valley to Kawatiri 125km

Nom Nom

I stopped for beakfast in Nelson at Fords cafe, the same spot I stopped during KB14, it was here that I discovered that Erik had got himself a helicopter ride after smashing his wrist on one of the off road sections around Queen Charlotte Dr, ending his tour, Erik would have to rank as one of the unluckiest TA riders, a shame as he had put a huge effort into the cue sheets and designing the TA riding top. Luckily he had been riding with his old friend Greg, who raised the alarm, I had been crossing paths with the two of them since the start of the tour and would miss the opportunities to catch up and sometimes ride together. Alison, whose partner was doing the tour stopped and had a chat while I was eating breakfast, she assured me that Erik was being well looked after. 

Leaving Nelson I got mixed up in a group doing a guided tour of some of the Great Taste trail, I had a yak to the guides and eventually parted company with them around Stoke. Once out of town there was a nasty headwind all the way to Wakefield, even the birds were going backwards, so it was head down and grovel time. Wakefield is where the route departs from the KB14 route and heads towards Tapawera, rather than St Arnaud. Wakefield is also where my Mother grew up and was the home of my Grandparents, so for old times sake I went for a wander around the town and had lunch at the Wakefield bakery before heading up Pigeon Valley Road. Riding through the valley I was stung by an unidentified sort of stinging insect, which was just as well as I has been falling asleep on the bike, I then missed the turn off to Sunday Creek Rd and had to back track for a few ks. I stopped at Tapawera, where my Uncle Donald and his family lived while he worked in the forestry in the area, and stocked up at the 4 Square. I then moved on to Tadmor where my Aunt Steph had worked in the telephone exchange when they were farming in the area. The road turned to gravel on the way through the Tadmor saddle to Glenhope, I was passed by a couple of fellow TA riders around here, whose names unfortunately I can't recall. I Got to the Kawatiri campsite in the dark and camped there.

Day 15: Bugs
Kawatiri to Springs Junction 134km

The nights sleep was broken by the passing of trucks travelling down state highway 6. There was the option at this point to take the optional route over the Porika track, I had done the Porika previously and while it affords a magnificent view of Lake Rotoroa on the descent it was starting to rain and the prospect of the climb wasn't all that appealing. 

Moody Lake

Lake Rotoroa is one of the photo stops, and you can measure the time that it takes for the hordes of sandflies to settle on bare skin in milliseconds, there is a water supply and flushing toilets at the lake so it gives the opportunity to complete some ablutions. 

Bug Problems

After leaving Lake Rotoroa we rejoin the KB14 route on the Braeburn Track. Whilst on the Braeburn I felt a stinging sensation in my right wrist, thinking that this was the start of nerve damage in the hand I looked down, and saw a wasp going to town with it's stabby thing.  I had problems with my hands during the KB14 so while it was a relief to see the wasp it didn't make the experience any more pleasurable

By the time I got to Murchison I was soaked through. I stopped there for lunch, and then headed up Mangles valley towards the Maria Saddle. The Maruia Saddle was one of my favourties during KB14, and climbs gently through some beautiful

The Mariua Saddle

beech forrest. Though I got to Maruia Springs and Reids Store after closing time, the owners kindly opened the doors to let me restock my food supplies, I was not the only rider to benefit from their generosity over the course of the tour. Reids Store is now sadly, closed. 

I stopped for the night at the motel in Springs Junction , the motel there is like stepping back in time to the 70s, but it is warm and dry.  I had decided that spending the night in comfort was preferable to rolling into Reefton late, and then trying to find somewhere to stay. It was too late to get a meal so I settled for  a steak and mushroom pie and a big bag of chicken chips.

Tour Aotearoa Days 10-12

Day 10

Whanganui to Apiti 128km

Quack

Being back in the big city again for the first time since Auckland 6 days ago was quite a contrast to the remote regions of the last 3 days. After some confusion finding my way around the cycle way by the river, I got myself underway and made it to Durie Hill and rode the elevator to the top. It was a pleasant morning so I sat at the top and had breakfast while taking in the view

Whanganui

The next stop was Hunterville about 60km away through rolling farmland. This was largely uneventful, though I did stop at one point and had a nice chat with Seth and Steve, under a shade tree, Steve had come all the way from the United States to do the tour

Hunterville was the lunch stop, a small group of riders had stopped at  a local cafe, so I joined them. I discovered at this point that you cannot buy a single roll of toilet paper, I had run out on The Timber Trail, so did not want to tempt fate any further. I donated the spare toilet roll to the cafe.

I had ridden in this area before, in the opposite direction, when I was preparing for the 2014 Kiwi Brevet, not that it helped much, temperatures had risen again so it was very hot as I left Hunterville making it a hard slog on the gravel to get to the next stop at Rangiwahia.

Grant, who had passed me earlier, was at Rangiwahia, and was planning to stop there for the night as there is a campsite there with a water supply. It was still too early for me to stop so after a short rest that involved a bag of dinosaurs, I carried on toward the campsite at Apiti. The road trended upwards with a few deep gorges to climb in and out of along the way, then a final downhill into Apiti and the campsite. There is a petrol station in Apiti, but again, this was closed by the time I got there. I since heard stories about how the owners had been making emergency runs to Palmerston North to stock up on goods purchased by ravenous TA riders. Greg and Erik were already there, having passed me at while I was stopped at Rangiwahia, and kindly shared their rice and salami hot pot with me. The road beside the camp site was busy with haymaking contractors going hard out to get the hay baling done.

Sunset over the Rangitikei

Day 11

Apiti to Eketahuna: 154km

Remarkably, when I got up the next morning the tent was bone dry, an unexpected bonus as I hadn't had a chance to dry it out since the Timber Trail. Again, I was among the last to leave. Another rider yet to leave had been ravaged by a stinging insect of some sort the day before, and one of his eyes was swollen shut. He managed to get a diagnosis over the phone from his father who happened to be a doctor. After making sure that he was going to be OK, I set off, aiming to be in Palmerston North for lunch. 

Eric and Catherine, my wife's parents, who had been waiting for an opportunity to catch up, met me a Ashurst and bought me lunch at a nearby cafe.

Eric and Cath

From there it was a 20km ride to Palmerston North on the cycle trail, which was made unpleasant by a headwind that had sprung up from nowhere. I bypassed Pamerston North and headed up the Pahiatua track. 
I have driven the Pahiatua Track many times but this was the first time I had ridden it. There were road works along the way, at one point I passed a steam roller only to then have it then chase me up the hill, a tad disconcerting. The hill was not as bad as I expected, I stopped at the top, sat on a pile of gravel and replaced my front brake pads, which had been screeching at me every time I hit the brakes since the second day of the tour. I stopped and got a burger in Pahiatua and then took to the back roads to Eketahuna. It was early evening and the riding was calm and pleasant, Erik and Greg caught up again, they had stopped in Palmerston North, I rode with them to Eketahuna, where they elected to stay at the camping ground. 


While I was in Eketahuna I met a young man who told me about free beds being offered to TA riders just out of town, keeping this in mind I kept going, about 10km out of town. I came to the sign that offered a shower and bed for TA riders, my hosts Fran and Derek, had a friend doing TA that had already passed through, entering into the spirit of TA open homes they had put the sign on their front gate. It was their son I had met earlier in Eketahuna while taking a photo of the kiwi.

Eketahuna

Day 12

Eketahuna to Upper Hutt: 138km

I spent a pleasant night sleeping inside, and was treated to a cooked breakfast the next morning. I was again extremely grateful, and overwhelmed by the generosity of complete strangers.

The ride into Masterton is predominantly downhill, Grant caught me up and we rode together most of the way to Masterton. I stopped for something to eat in Masterton and planned to meet up with family in the area, my brother lives in Greytown and my wife was working at the Martinborough Fair. At this point I didn't realise that the SpotNZ tracking was down and still had me eating my burger in Pahiatua. As I passed through Gladstone on the way to Martinborough I saw a sign supporting the TA, another symbol of the of the high level of awareness and support of the tour in general, particularly in smaller towns.  

Feeling the Love

Martinborough was having the second day of it's annual fair, held on the first Saturdays of February and March each year. The crowds were huge, eventually I found my wife, Tanya, a mountain bike widow from way back and we had lunch together. Tanya told me about running into Jo and Scott who had been just ahead of me since Whanganui.

I wasn't able to catch up with my little brother as he thought I was still in Pahiatua and had made other plans. Between Martinborough and Cross Creek I got hammered by a NorWest headwind, not unusual in the Wairarapa, but that didn't make it any more pleasant. There is now a cycle way from Featherston to the turn off to Cross Creek which makes the ride more pleasant as the road on this stretch doesn't have much in the way of a shoulder. At the Cross Creek car park I met a rider and tour guide from Green Jersey Cycle Tours who took the photo below.

On the single track to the old Cross Creek station site I passed two riders going  in the opposite direction, who had caused much discussion as they had been seen on the train heading to Wellington and it was assumed that they were TA riders taking a short cut. The ride to the Rimutaka Rail Trail summit was into a howling headwind, again, not unusual for the this area. My house is about 500m from the course, off the Hutt River Trail, I was unable to resist, so I stopped at home. I went out to dinner at a local Indian restaurant with my family, I also took the opportunity to do all my washing and replace the spigot on my camelbak that had vanished a few days before.

Tour Aotearoa Days 7-9

Day 7 

Mangakino to Timber Trail 100km

After a poor nights sleep at Mangakino, where some of the local youths thought it would be fun to cause a general disturbance in the wee small hours, aside from making a lot of noise they caused no other problems and eventually moved on. There was a bit of drizzle around in the morning, after a trip into the town centre to stock up at the bakery and supermarket it was time to move on, there had been a dozen or so riders staying at the camping ground or in motels in town, so there were a few riders about, this gave a chance to catch up and compare notes so far. The first target for today was Centre of the North Island, about 35km from Mangakino, a couple of km around Lake Maraetai then about 20km on the road, mostly uphill, before the trail turns into a rough 4WD drive track. We had been warned by Erik about the wild blackberry that infested the 4WD track, he had previously cleared a lot of the blackberry while compiling the cue sheets earlier in the year, however the narrow swingbridge at the start was a pain as you had to lift the fully loaded bike across while the bridge was swaying from side to side. The last bit of gravel road was a grovel in the rain on an increasingly waterlogged road surface.

The middle

The Timber Trail is an 85km ride through the regenerating native Pureora forest, it's well marked and features many information boards covering the rich Maori and European settler history of the region, the trail also features a number of long swing bridges.

  

The Timber Trail was one of my highlights of the tour, but like all the other off road sections took a lot of effort and time. There had been word of accommodation at the Black Fern lodge just off the trail, I found the sign and turned off, but after about 500 metres decided to head back to the trail, it transpires that the lodge is a few km off trail. 

Regular Trail Markers

I then decided I would complete the last steep climb and find somewhere to camp for the night. Meanwhile the rain had stopped, I walked most of the climb thinking I would try for the historic No 10 Camp, in the end I set up camp on the trail side. I had  also managed at some point to lose one of my sets of gloves.

Day 8

Timber Trail to Whakahoro: 134km

The Lodger

The remainder of the Timber Trail is an old tram trail that used to service the logging camps along the trail, consequently the gradient for the final climb was not steep and was followed by a 10km downhill into Ongarue.

Turntable

Warning

Part way down is the Ongarue spiral, a clever feat of engineering that allowed the tram line to climb/descend a steep section of the trail. 

Erik and Greg had spent the night at the Ongarue Flashpackers and were just leaving as I arrived, Greg had parted company with his spot tracker the previous day and asked if I had seen it, unfortunately not. It faithfully continued to report his location in the middle of the Timber Trail for some days. I washed the bike had a magnificent lasagna for breakfast and used the shower at the Flashpackers.

Breakfast

Between Ongarue and Taumaranui Jo and Scott from the third wave caught up with me, so I rode with them to Taumaranui where we had lunch, Mark who I had encountered the day before on the timber trail also joined us, We booked the boat ride from the Mangapurua landing to Pipiriki for 1:00pm the next day. Steve and Seth also from third wave arrived at the cafe just as we were leaving. The ride through to Whakahoro was uneventful with just a 400m climb in the way, and passed by Owhango where I had been hoping to get something to eat, unfortunately I was too late, so had to move on. I busted out a bag of jelly dinosaurs and got to Whakahoro just after 8pm, again too late for the shop. There were spare beds on the dormitory at the DOC camping ground so a night inside was appreciated.

Day 9

Whakahoro to wanganui 117km

It was an early start, but I still managed to be last of those to leave the dormitory. I was grateful to have spent the night inside as it bucketed down overnight, which turned the first 4WD road section of the Bridge to Nowhere into a boggy mess, the mud was so thick that withing seconds my forks and seat stays were so clogged with mud that I couldn't push the bike, let alone ride it

The mud became less of a problem as the climb to the high point on the trail began, the track narrowed and became a series of pinches and dips that invariably had a bog at the bottom of each dip. The riding conditions had no doubt been worsened by the rain and the passage of  a 100 plus riders over the past few days. The going was so slow that I began to wonder if I would miss the boat at  Mangapurua Landing. I eventually reached the top where there is a memorial to the servicemen who were given land to settle after the First World War

Memorial

There is plenty of evidence of their presence from empty paddocks, fruit trees and the odd Hydrangea, but it is indicative of the harshness of the environment that no one managed to settle permanently. The initially fast downhill flattened out and the terrain became wetter again and was punctuated by regular narrow swing bridges which you has to push your bike across on it's back wheel. After about 3 hours of isolation I emerged a the crowd at the Bridge to Nowhere, there are at least 2 tour operators doing tours to the bridge. I didn't enjoy the trail, possibly because of the time pressure and possibly because of general tiredness, it's one I would like to go back to at some point.                                                                      

Bridges

I made it to the landing with half an hour to spare, as I loaded up, another rider arrived early for the next boat, we squeezed him in and  hoofed it down the river. The image below shows me apparently wide awake, when in fact, despite the noise of the boat, I was falling asleep.

Wide Awake

We arrived at Pipiriki about an hour later, went back to the office to pay for the ride, eat ice creams and clean the bikes. It was hot at Pipiriki, hotter than it had been anywhere else on the tour. I left Pipiriki at about 3pm after mucking around for too long, and got to Wanganui about 6 hours later, passing Neil (I think) on the way who had kayaked down the river. As I was riding up one of the small pinches alongside the river  through some road works a DOC worker who was passing me in the opposite direction gave me a bottle of water, which I much appreciated as it was still hot. I had a meal at the Aromoho Hotel and stayed at the Holiday park just down the road where I had booked a cabin. I discovered Jo and Scott had already taken the cabin next to mine, I took the opportunity to do some washing, borrowing some $2 coins off Scott as I was out of change. I fell asleep while my clothes were drying and had to stumble to the dryer to collect it in the early hours of the morning.

Tour Aotearoa Days 4-6

Day 4

Kaipara to Miranda: 157km

After a restless night, due to the number of people sharing the facilities, some of whom were departing at indecent hours of the morning. The night before I had put out a distress call on facebook to find out who stocked batteries for my nightlight, Edd had kindly offered to ring around on my behalf. Apparently Planet cycles on Dominion Rd had what I needed, Edd offered to meet me when I got to Auckland. I left around 8:00am after saying farewell the those I had ridden with over the past day and a half, Sam, Dave, Jess and John, I did expect them to catch me later in the day though.

I enjoyed the ride through Helensville and then Riverhead, to the outskirts of Auckland city, the terrain was undulating and the temperatures not too hot, I passed Neil on the way, repairing a puncture. I met Edd on the Northwest Cycle Route, he gave me a banana. We rode into town and detoured up Dominion Rd to Planet Cycles, Kevin and John (the distinguished gentlemen of the tour dressed up in their tux's) were already there. I purchased my replacement battery and we went and got some lunch.

Mexican!

After lunch Edd had to go to work, I carried on to Mt Eden for some panoramic views of the city, where Neil caught me up.

Land of Orcs

I joined Neil for the ride South out of the city, this was probably the trickiest navigate of the tour. Neil is a dedicated Fru Ju man, but he sets a limit of no more than 1 per hour, Fru Ju's at this point were not unwelcome as again temperatures were above comfort levels. Somewhere along the way we decided that we would take the coastal route to Miranda, my reasoning was that we weren't doing much coast riding on the tour, conveniently forgetting 90 mile beach not so long ago, and that the route wasn't as hilly, wrong. the going was OK until we got to Kawakawa Bay then the going went up, with three pinches between Kawakawa Bay and Miranda. At this point Neil dissappered into the distance and I left my sunglasses on a seat 3/4 of the way up the first climb out of Kawakawa Bay, not being mission critical I left the glasses to fend for themselves. Once back on the coast the going was pleasant again as temperatures had dropped and there was very little wind, but it was getting dark. I got to the Miranda camping ground after everything had shut, pitched my tent and then wondered about what I was going to do for dinner as my food supplies were running low. Luckily the free food box in the kitchen was well stocked, so I managed to scrounge a tin of tuna and some rice seasoned with Worcestershire  sauce, I spread the banana Edd had given me on some cruskits for desert. This was my first 150km plus day of the tour, but the riding was relatively flat and all on sealed roads. 

Day 5 

Miranda Camp Ground to Matamata: 141km

I was among the last of the tour riders to leave the camping ground the next morning, the first target was Thames about 30km away. I bypassed Thames and rode on to the Hauraki Rail Trail  until I got to the Matatoki Cheese Barn Cafe, where I had one of the most enjoyable meals of the tour, a ploughmans lunch, simple but delicious. 

Yum

The Hauraki rail trail carries on to Paeroa, but on the way passes through Hikutaia, it was at this point that I had my first and only puncture of the tour. Conveniently, Hikutaia is the home of the Convenient Cow Cafe, I purchased a real fruit raspberry ice cream and fixed my puncture. Today being Saturday the rail trail was well patronised with cyclists enjoying the day.

Paeroa was the scene of my worst navigational blunder, I took the wrong turn after crossing the bridge and headed  left 15km towards Waihi, stupid really, because I knew the way to Te Aroha. Ironically I found the leg of the Hauraki rail Trail that heads towards Wiahi the most interesting section of the trail, it includes a 1km long rail tunnel, the site of the  old Victoria Battery and some beautiful scenery. Most of this section had poor cell coverage and it wasn't until I had nearly reached Waihi that my cellphone started beeping at me, I steadfastly ignored it for a couple of km and then checked it to discover all sorts of people messaging me telling me I was lost. I turned around more than a little peeved at myself, performing my good deed of the day and turning back another rider who had made the same mistake.

The Old Victoria battery

On to Te Aroha, which brought back memories of 10 years ago when I had done a couple of nights work in the area. Leaving Te Aroha there was a favourable wind, cloud was also building and the air was beginning to feel like rain. I got to Matamata at about 7pm, the town was busy as there had been races that day, so all accommodation was booked out. I was sitting at the Subway devouring half a footlong and pondering my next move as rain was starting to fall, one option was to head on to the camping ground at Little Waipa Reserve about 30km away. While i was thinking on this a couple who lived just out of town offered me a bed for the night, this was actually the second offer of this nature I had received. I spent the night at Henry and Robin's place, in luxury as this was the first night I had spent in a bed since leaving Cape Reinga, Henry and Robin are keen cyclists and were very interested in the TA, having noticed cyclists riding past their place for the past 5 days. This was one of the highlights of the tour for me and I am extremely grateful for the hospitality of these two strangers.

Day 5 

Matamata to Mangakino 90km

After a good night's sleep and breakfast it was time to hit the road again, this was to be one of the shortest, distance wise,  yet one of the hardest days of the tour. It started off OK with a pleasant enough ride to Arapuni and lunch at the Rhubarb cafe. There were about half a dozen other tour riders at the cafe including Erik who was having a catch up with his family, Erik would have to be the most unlucky rider I encountered on the TA, more about that later. The Cafe was the last food stop until Mangakino, I did have the other half of my 12 inch in my bag for later though. Once away from the cafe we were onto the Waikato river trail proper, I found the Waikato River Trail quite challenging, this may have been for a few reasons, whether it was gradient changes, the changing trail surface or just tiredness.

The Waikato River

I used my first aid kit for the only time when I came across a couple who were walking the trail, one of them had slipped and turned an ankle, I gave them a crepe bandage and carried on as they were confident of walking back to their car. Water became an issue with the only supply being the Waikato river, which I thought a dodgy proposition, forgetting that I had water purification tablets.

I encountered Kevin heading back towards Waipapa, he had lost his Garmin GPS unit, I told him that I hadn't seen it and he asked me to tell John to go onto Mangakino with out him. I met John a short time later and relayed the message, but he refused to go on without Kevin so he too headed back. I finally got to Mangakino after having to lift the bike through  far too many stiles.

Stile Style

The Bus Stop Cafe was still open at about 7:30pm when I arrived, the owners were following the blue dots and waiting for the stragglers. I was shattered and spent quite some time staring at the menu unable to make a decision, this was apparently quite the problem with TA riders when presented with a menu with more than 1 item. Erik and Greg arrived during this time, Erik had had an unplanned dismount  and had landed in a wasps nest and had a number of stings, I had avoided the nest, as I had been warned about it by a walker, I gave Erik some of my voltaren. Another rider had a spill at the bottom of a series of downhill switchbacks, all agreed that it had been tough day. Time for a dip in the lake to clean up and another night in the tent

Tour Aotearoa Days 1 to 3.

Prelude

Waitiki to Cape Reinga: 20km

After a 6 hour bus trip the previous day from Auckland we had disembarked at Waitiki and spent some nervous moments assembling our bikes on the lawn, hoping that nothing had been forgotten and knowing that if we had, it was too late. Most were staying at the Waitiki Landing Holiday Park, some elected to camp closer to Cape Reinga at the Tapotutopu camp site.

I had planned to camp at the camping ground, but my friend Paul Smith had booked a cabin and had a spare bed, the opportunity to spend a comfortable night in a proper bed for possibly the last time in a while was too tempting to turn down.  An unexpected bonus was protection from the horde of mosquitoes that descended on the camping ground once the sun got low in the sky.

Cape Reinga

After a couple of hours faffing around I headed off to cape Reinga at around 10am, expecting a nice gentle warm up ride to the start 20km away. Apparently, I'm a slow learner and the lesson from KB14 (KiwiBrevet 2014) hadn't sunk in, everything in godzone is lumpier than expected. Anyhow, I got to the start in plenty of time to have a look around, chat with other riders and have another fret about what I may have forgotten. I also managed to find a spot with intermittent cell reception, so I was able to check messages and social media.

Day 1

Cape Reinga to Ahipara: 102km

After the pre-ride briefing, during which we were promised favourable winds on the beach, we  set off at 2:00pm, hoping to be off the beach before dark and beat the incoming tide. The first 15km was on the road, back the way we came, then a right turn onto Te Paki Stream Rd, the first gravel road section of the tour, this gradually degenerated into a sandy stream bed banked on both sides by sand dunes before we got onto the beach proper. The promised favourable wind had not eventuated, and was in fact coming from an easterly direction, not quite a full on headwind, but difficult all the same. The term "hard sands" is a relative in that it means harder than soft sands, and though firm, the sand still had some give in it. By this time everyone was spread out along the beach and although the scenery was beautiful the riding became very monotonous, and very tiring. I rode by myself for about 30km, taking a stop every hour, I was by this point starting to get very tired and was wondering if I would get off the beach in time. I had noticed a group behind me slowly catching up, and when they finally caught me during a rest break I was invited to join them, I gratefully accepted. I was quite fatigued at this point and rested up in the bunch, at one point mesmerised by a spinning wheel with a single white spoke amongst all the black spokes, until the next rest stop. After this I was able to take the my turn on the front .

Swallowed by the Peloton

In the end we numbered about 18 riders, this was all organised by Nev from Nelson who had known what was coming, the  company and  shelter were huge relief. About 15km from Ahipara the wind shifted around behind us and we were able to speed up. It was around 9pm by the time we got off the beach, luckily the local takeaway bars knew that we were coming and had remained open. I bought a feed of fish and chips and headed back to the camping ground, there was a queue for the hose so I opted to leave washing the bike until next morning. I was unable to eat all the food that I had bought, so I took the time for a shower and spent my first night in my $50 Warehouse tent. This was one of the hardest days of the tour, made difficult by the wind, sand and the time pressure of trying to get off the beach in time.  

Day 2

Ahipara to Trounson Park Camp Ground 125km + 16km

Next morning I washed my bike and had a chat to Paul, who said he was going to try and make the 8:00am Kaipara ferry the next morning, some 240km away, I wished him luck knowing that this was well beyond my capabilities. The day got steadily warmer and I was passed regularly by faster riders. A pie and milkshake at Broadwoood, then on to an off road section to Kohukohu for the ferry. The day was getting hotter and hotter, at one point I checked my phone messages, put the phone down and finished my drink. I arrived at the Kohukohu shop, stocked up and went to pay, at this point I realised that my eft-pos card was with my phone some 8km behind me. Luckily I had some cash, but I had to go back and get the phone. The phone was where I had left it, but the backtracking had cost me about 90 minutes, 16km and a 300m grovel back up the hill.

The Rawene Ferry

The Rawene ferry sails regularly, so after a 20 minute lie down on the grass it's on the ferry across the the Hokianga. A burger and some fish and chips at Rawene, again I struggled to eat the fish and chips. Thankfully it was starting to cool down by this point and I decided to push on, with a target in mind of Tane Mahuta, and then to find somewhere to pitch the tent for the night.  

Opononi

It started to show signs of rain on the way to the twin seaside towns of Opononi and Omapere. I restocked at at the service station at Omapere and headed  onto Waimamaku. I made a pit stop at Waimamaku and was caught up by Sam, Dave, Jess and John. They  were also heading on to  Tane Mahuta, I left before them expecting that they would catch me up well before the big tree. The 400m climb before Tane Mahuta was gradual and not to tough, aside from the odd bit of drizzle the rain never eventuated, I still found myself walking the odd section to break it up. 

On the downhill to the tree an opossum appeared suddenly in my headlight from my right hand side, where it ended up I don't know, but if I had hit it I think I would have come off second best. I got to Tane Mahuta around 10pm, about which time the others caught me up.  There was a tour group still at the tree, we had to take a photo for one of the control points, unfortunately the results weren't spectacular.  The others were keen to head on to the DOC camping ground at Trounson Park Rd. I had promised myself my cutoff for each day was going to be 9:00pm, but the night was balmy, the company good and the road quiet so I decided to join them. Shortly after setting off my front light failed, after a bit of fiddling about I came to the conclusion there was a short in the battery cable, among the group there was now a total of 3 headlights and a similar number of rear lights, we juggled the riding order to attempt to give everyone enough light to ride by, aided by a bright and full moon. The last section of road before the camping ground was gravel that had been recently graded, this left piles of deep soft gravel that would have been interesting during the day, but at night and with not enough light were rather challenging, I nearly had an OTB  when my front wheel dug into a particularly deep patch of gravel. We got to the camping ground at about 00:30 in the morning and set up camp. The camping ground had a hot shower, unusual for  a DOC camping ground, and gas cooking facilities. By this point I was low on food, Jess and Dave gave me a packet of their noodles for which I was extremely grateful.       

Tane Mahuta at night

Day 3

Trounson Park Camp Ground to Kaipara: 114km

Another cool morning, and rising a bit late after the long day before. The nights sleep had been frequently interrupted by the mating call of an amorous bull, others said that they had also heard Kiwi in the night. We had breakfast, then off, mostly downhill to Dargaville. Dargaville brought a stop at a cafe for lunch, my first proper meal for 3 days, and a bakery to stock up for the ride to Poutu Point. It was sweltering by the time we left Dargaville, but the going was mostly flat so we were made good time for the first 30km. Then it got lumpy again, neccesitating some tactical walks for the final 30km to Poutu Point. A local farmer had left bottles of clean water by the roadside and had offered the use of his barn as accommodation. The water was gratefully received as everybody was now running low, I lost touch with the others from here for the last 10km, the heat and the long night before having taken their toll. I was passed by a number of wave 3 riders, all going hard out to make the 6:00pm cut off for the ferry. I had resigned myself to spending the night on the beach and taking the 8:00am ferry the next morning. I made the beach at 6:30pm, 30 minutes after cut off to find a queue on the beach and the ferry still loading, 

I joined the queue out of hope, more than anything else, as a quick count revealed far more than the 30 riders and bikes the ferry was supposed to be carrying. In the end 43 riders and bikes were loaded for the trip across the Kaipara Harbour. Trays of watermelon were passed around, and hot drinks and biscuits were also provided by the crew. Takeaway orders were placed, to be ready when we reached Helensville. Those keen for more headed on into the night towards Auckland. After some confusion about their location we found he takeaway bar and the Kaipara Cruising Club, where TA riders had been accommodation for the night for $5.

Sunset on the Kaipara Harbour

I ordered my first beer of the tour, and again couldn't manage to eat the fish and chips I had ordered. I waited my turn for the shower and then found an unoccupied spot on the floor to sleep on.