Day 51: Wellington – Auckland (Train – 12 hours)

Monday 20th February 2023

The train – Northern Explorer left at 7am and took 12 hours to get to Auckland. It is a 681 km journey across the interior of the North Island, through a variety of scenery – coastline, volcanoes, mountains, lush green farmland and natural bush. Quite spectacular in places.

Day 50: Wellington (Rest Day)

Sunday 19th February 2023

We went to Te Pappa Tongarewa Museum in the morning. Te Pappa Tongarewa in Maori means ‘container of treasures’ and we found lots of treasures which we enjoyed immensely.

Then Nikki, my brother-in-law’s daughter, drove us around Wellington South Coast, exposed rocky shoreline, with groups of old fishing village cottages and beaches. Very picturesque. It was a lovely afternoon with Nikki.

We had an early dinner out as we had early start the next day. We were catching the train back to Auckland from Wellington.

Day 49: Picton – Wellington (Ferry)

Saturday 18th February 2023.

Our ferry crossing was at 7.45 am. It was running late so we eventually left at 10 am. The rumor was that it was going to be a rough crossing and sure enough the announcement on the boat confirmed it. “In 10 minutes time we will be in Cook Strait where we are expecting high swells so could everyone please be seated”. Peter was one of the lucky ones who wasn’t sick. Prue hung in there but about 60 % of the passengers were not well!!

We were all very pleased to get across the Strait and into calmer waters!! We had booked 2 nights in Wellington before catching the train back to Auckland.

Day 48: Blenheim – Picton (30 km in a car!!!)

Friday 17th February 2023

We woke to rain! What a surprise……….???? Wendy left her car with the bike rack still on, so Andrew very kindly offered to take us into Picton. It didn’t take much to accept the offer and as we were nearing the end of our trip in New Zealand we were slowly winding down. To have our last ride in the rain wasn’t appealing.

We had a look around Picton then headed to the library to take shelter and do some blogging before we went to Val and Don’s, our Warmshowers host for the night. We will be catching the ferry tomorrow morning to the North Island.

We were again greeted like their best friends. Little did we know that Val had 3 of her girlfriends staying as well. Val and the 3 ladies were leaving on Friday for a 3 to 4 day sailing trip around the Marlborough Sounds. We had another fun night.

Day 45,46 & 47: Blenheim- Rest Days

Tuesday 14th/Wednesday 15th Thursday 16th February 2023

So instead of 2 nights with Wendy and Andrew we had 3 nights and 2 lovely days with them.

Day 44: Wakefield to Blenheim via St Arnaud (60km + lift in the car)

Monday 13th February 2023

We rose feeling fresh and set off, after a short ride on a bike trail alongside Highway 63, we turned off onto the Eighty-Eight Valley Road, with initially very little traffic to contend with. The Valley Road had rolling hills with a long hill halfway to St Arnaud. Then we came across the logging trucks, where logging was extensively happening. The trucks were really not a problem as they gave us wide berths when passing.

The weather report for Tuesday the next day was not good, with rain and a strong head wind predicted, arising from the tail of the cyclone. We thought we could have 2 days at St Arnaud and then ride to Blenheim the following day when the weather was predicted to be better. But we were going to stay with friends, Wendy and Andrew, in Blenheim so with a lot of dialogue going back and forth we gave in to a lift from St Arnaud to Blenheim (100km). Wendy was caught up with work so Andrew came to the rescue with a bike rack on the back of the car. Prue and Peter were very happy campers!!

Day 43: Nelson to Wakefield (34 km)

Sunday 12th February 2023

After studying the New Zealand 3-day weather radar predictions, it appeared that we had two more good riding days, so we headed off to Wakefield.

Today was a shorter ride which we both appreciated, after yesterday’s very steep climb before Nelson. We arrived feeling good at the Wakefield Hotel, where we set up our tent on the Hotel lawn area behind the pub. There is no campground in Wakefield and the hotel accommodates us campers, as long as we buy dinner in the pub, so pizza for dinner with a few wines went down very nicely,

Day 42: Pelorus Bridge to Nelson (64 km)

Saturday 11th February 2023

We climbed out of bed early as we couldn’t wait to get out of “midgeville”. Such a shame as the place is beautiful. Said our goodbyes to Jacob, James and Kayla and off we went.

Google Maps said very steep hills, so Prue was a little scared and was not sure what to expect! The road was busy, but it has just had repairs from flood damage the year before so it had wide shoulders and the surface was good.

The first hill was manageable, but the second hill was steep and hard. Prue was struggling and thought she wouldn’t be able to climb this gradient, but little did she realise she had made it to the summit. This hill was a little deceiving as most hill climbs are windy, where this hill had two straight and steep inclines. Also, it was quite warm so perspiration was pouring off. The decline was fantastic – very long and windy. We were even following a car halfway down.

We got to the flats below where we had lunch and a welcoming party of midges/sandflies. So, after the quickest lunch, we had a pleasant ride into Nelson along the bay. Peter found his favorite campsite 5 kilometers out of Nelson along the Brook River.

We arrived and just about to set up the tent when it started raining heavily. We put tarps over both bikes and we sitted it out until it stopped. One of the other campers said it has rained on and off all day and between showers the sun comes out. This happened thankfully and we finished setting up camp. On TV the news was all about the weather and the approaching cyclone that is heading towards the lower North Island with the tail lightly sweeping the top of the South Island, where we were going. We again pondered what we should do?

Day 41: Picton – Pelorus Bridge (65 km)

Friday 10th February 2023

We had a lovely stay with Val and Don and we didn’t get to bed until 10.30, a late night for us!! Left Picton at 9.30am and said our goodbyes, they have invited us to stay on our return which is lovely.

We had a gorgeous ride along Queen Charlotte Drive – we did follow Google Maps which took us to the port, where a gate stopped us going any further. The Marine Port Officer told us we could not get through this way, so we took the scenic road which was very hilly but very spectacular, and breath taking scenery – what a joy to be in the South Island.

We had a morning stop at the Ngakuta Bay, just beautiful, Peter suggested we have our spare 7 days here!!

We then continued onto Havelock, famous for the green mussels where we had lunch. Then a gentle ride into Pelorus Bridge and were greeted by midges / sand flies/ black flies. They were everywhere, so Prue put her long pants on, socks, long sleeve jumper and beanie on trying to cover every bit of herself up!

We set up the tent and had to ask the neighbour if we could use some of their fly spray, to spray inside the tent. We have never seen so many insects inside our tent. Prue was not going back into the tent until after dark, that’s when we were told the sand flies go to sleep.

New Zealand – North Island

Day 40: Wellington – Picton (Ferry)

Thursday 9th February 2023

We are catching the ferry today and then having 7 days touring a loop around the top of the South Island.

The plan is to ride the loop – Picton, Havelock, Pelorus Bridge, Nelson, Wakefield, St Arnaud, Blenheim – Picton.

We had a lovely ferry crossing across Cook Strait – we were warned it is normally a rough crossing but we were very pleasantly surprised with a beautiful smooth sailing with the sun out and what an introduction to the Marlborough Sounds.

The ferry was running late so we were running late to stay with our Warmshowers – Val and Don. Their combined age is154 years and they cycled Europe, UK, Japan and USA. We had the warmest welcome and such a fun night.

Day 39: Upper Hutt – Wellington (47 km)

Wednesday 8th February 2023

We met another lovely couple, Taree and Ria. Taree has cycled almost all of New Zealand, so he was very helpful in planning our next 7 days on the bike. We are ahead of schedule as we have got into Wellington 7 days earlier than planned so with Taree’s help we have planned a loop around the top of the South Island to fill in our time. So, we left camp feeling super organized!

Our ride into Wellington was along the Hutt River Trail. It always amazes us that there is always one section along a trail that catches us out and we end up walking/pushing the bike. No trail is full proof!

It also had those dreaded barriers but thankfully they had two sorts – one that allowed you to duck underneath with the bike. While we were “ducking” we met this lovely lady who offered to take our photo. She commented on the barriers, as she was one of the instigators to get the new barriers, which you could go underneath, as when she was walking with her child in the pram, she couldn’t get through them either. So, the mother and pram community pressured the council!! Go MUMS!!

We arrived in Wellington where we had lunch on the foreshore – lovely day and not much wind!! It was great to see so many office workers out in their lunch walking, running and generally enjoying the beautiful waterfront.

We had a Warmshowers booked for tonight with Robin in Newtown – a very trendy fun area which reminded us of Melbourne a lot. Again, the Warmshowers hospitality amazes us. Thank you, Robin.

Day 38: Martinborough – Upper Hutt (64 km)

Tuesday 7th February 2023

We had a late start as we got talking to an UK gentleman, Nick who we hopefully may catch up again in Auckland before we leave.

Our day ride started along the backroads to the beginning of the Temuraki Rail Trail. This had its little challenges as well.

We got to the start, and we were warned that for the first kilometer it was a single rough track with difficulty -‘3’to get to the beginning of the rail trail. Thankfully we were warned as we would have turned back!!

Once we got to the rail trail there was a 5km incline (1 in 15) which took us awhile – lots of stops along the way – lookouts, 3 tunnels, a swing bridge to contend with and a strong wind!

We reached the summit where there was a welcoming party – they all couldn’t wait to meet this mad couple cycling up this trail fully laden and at their age………..

We met lovely Mike and Judy who have travelled extensively on their tandem around the world. They also have written a blog so we will get lots of ideas from reading it.

With all this chit chat we didn’t realise how late if was, so we scoffed our lunch down and headed down the hill to Upper Hutt where the camp site was. Everyone said it will be a gorgeous ride down, but they forgot about the strong, gusty headwind we had so we had to pedal harder downhill than up!!

We both commented on the beautiful scenery – the remoteness of the area was impressive.

We were late into camp 5.45pm – our latest arrival so far into camp. So it was tent up, shower, dinner and bed!

Day 37: Masterton – Martinborough (54 km)

Monday 6th February 2023

The rain stopped at midnight then the wind came which dried everything, so we woke to a dry tent!

We were on the back roads, undulating through the countryside with a tail wind then everything turned to custard.

First of all, we got a flat tyre. It was a tricky one as the new tube we put in was a dud which took us a little while to realise as we wondered why we couldn’t pump it up. An hour later with the help of ‘farmer Jo’ who brought his trusty pump with him to see if he could help us, we worked out it was the tube so we put another tube in and ‘voila’. We were back in business and back on the road!

The next two and a half hours were hard work as the wind picked up and we were riding into a nasty headwind with strong gusts.

But we did notice the countryside – full of dairy cows, Angus beef cattle, sheep, corn and then vineyards. Such a rich farming country. We were happy to see the vineyards as that meant we were getting close to Martinborough – a prime wine area and where we were going to camp the night.

We had a quick lunch in the square then headed to the Green Jersey Explorer Tours, bike shop to get a new tube. Mike was a Surly Fanatic, so Peter and Mike had a loooong chat about Surly’s!

We then headed to Palliser Estate to get a well-deserved glass of wine. It was an ideal way to end a not so nice day on the bike!

Made camp in a very cute campground and walked in to town to get Fish n’ Chips. And then the town siren went off. We were right in the middle of the action. It took 7 cars/7 people to arrive at the station, change into their emergency clothing, jump in the fire truck and exit the Fire Station in 3minutes 51 seconds. We were impressed and we had it all on video!

Day 36: Eketahuna – Masterton (47 km)

Sunday 5th February 2023

We headed to the Pukuha National Wildlife Centre – a restored forest and captive breeding site for endangered species, to see a real kiwi. The kiwi was in the nocturnal display which had 2 viewing areas. Of course, we went to the wrong one! It took us 5 minutes to realise that there was no kiwi in this display and as we were walking out of the nocturnal building, upset that we hadn’t seen a kiwi when, lo and behold there was another viewing section and there was the kiwi!! We did laugh!!

We also saw the Kokako, Kaka and Whio, all endangered bird species.

We hit the road and had a small incline up to Mt Bruce, then a beautiful downhill run into Masterton. We rode 30 km in record time. We both thought we were on e-bikes again.

We set up camp and the forecast was for more rain. So, we had an early dinner and then headed to the local for a night cap.

The heavens opened once again!

Day 35: Palmerston North – Eketahuna (73 km)

Saturday 4th February 2023

We are off and no rain. Yippee!!

We left “Palmy” (that is what the locals call Palmerston North) at 8.30 am. We both were excited to be back on the bikes! Also we were happy to leave as the annual Superstock Teams Championship, National Speedway Event was on at the main arena for the long weekend, and we were staying across the road from it. All the ‘petrol heads’ had moved in so we were very happy to move out.

It was a 54 km ride but we seemed to have missed the turnoff, so our 54 km ride ended up being a 73 km!!!

The beginning of the ride we had a 600 metre climb and then after that we had gorgeous downhill which continued on the flats where we were travelling at 30-50km per hour. We both commented that this is what riding an e-bike would be like!

But all good things must come to an end where we had more climbing to do.

We had lunch at Paihiatua where we realised our mistake and had another 30 km to go.

It took us into town passing the sign saying, “Kiwi Country”. We got very excited as we thought we may see our first kiwi. We only found a sculpture of one and a painting of another!! We were advised by the locals that there are no living kiwis to be seen around here. The only place is at the Pukuha Wildlife Centre 15km down the road. We both thought it would be worth a visit tomorrow.

Made camp and had an early “tea”. We then walked the ‘Cliff Walk’. It was opened in 1911 to commemorate the Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary.

Day 32/33/34: Palmerston North

Wednesday 1st, Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd February 2023

Not a lot of riding happening at the moment!!!

We could get out for a ride one morning, then caught up with Yana and Paul, the couple who we met on the Timber Trail and even went to the Rugby Museum.

*Paul Dibble’s bronze sculpture references one of New Zealand’s great creation stories: the legend of Maui fishing up the North Island. Whilst sending in his wake in the South Island, he landed a gargantuan fish, which today we know it as the North Island.

We were surprised by the in-depth and well-presented history of Rugby. Unfortunately, due to lack of understanding of the sport we both felt a little out of our depth! We did learn one thing – if Richie McCaw (former Captain of the All Blacks) ran for Prime Minister he would probably win!

The Haka, was traditionally performed by the Maori people to display a tribe’s pride, strength and unity. It is also commonly known as a war dance used to fire up warriors on the battlefield, but it is also use as a way to celebrate, entertain, welcome and challenge visiting tribes.

The tradition to perform the Haka prior to a rugby match originated with the 1888-89 New Zealand native football team toured.

AND THEN CAME THE RAIN………

There is one more down pour to come tonight and then hopefully we will be off tomorrow……..??

Day 31: Turangi – Palmerston North (11 km + Bus trip!)

Tuesday 31st January

Jane and Peter went back to Auckland – ready to tackle another huge down pour. We were given the option to go back to base camp (Jane and Peter’s) but we decided to continue on. After they left we went to the coffee shop to look our options. The weather radar did not look good for where we were planning to go and since we were going into isolated areas, we thought we might get stranded. So, we took the option of catching a bus South to Palmerston North. They were expecting rain as well but at least we could get accommodation in a bigger town to sit it out – hence 4 nights booked.

Day 28/29/30: Turangi

Saturday/Sunday/Monday 28th/29th/30th January 2023

It rained all night and is still raining. We plan to meet Jane and Peter at the Creel Cafe for lunch and then we have booked accommodation for 3 nights – lots of outdoor activities are planned but I think we are now planning indoor activities!!

Day 27: Turangi – Rest Day

Friday 27th January 2023

RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN AND MORE RAIN. We found a cottage and hid all day!! Did not go out to play.

Day 26: Taumanurui to Turangi (64 km)

Thursday 26th January 2023

We had 2 hours of continuous climbing!!! We reached the top exhausted. We then thought we would go to the lookout for lunch, but little did we know it was all uphill, too steep to ride so we had lunch halfway up then walked (without the bikes) the remainder of the way to the lookout.

It was great cycling down. We covered 10 km in what seemed 10 minutes! Google Maps said the rest of the way was flat, ‘hmm’ don’t know what the minor hills were doing out there? Google maps is tricking us again!

We had a Warmshowers with Kerry tonight. Such an amazing host and he allowed us to take over the place. We had all our gear out on the lawn/clothesline to dry! Had a BBQ and a great night discussing cycling adventures.

Day 25: Taumanurui – Rest Day

Wednesday 25th January 2023

It was a rainy and wet night and still raining in the morning, so Prue was not going anywhere as she was very dry and cosy in the tent. Finally, the rain stopped, the sun came out and Prue eventually came out of the tent!! After drying out the tent we went to the Taumanurui Library to update the blog.

Prue sent Peter out to get lunch and he came back with delicious treats. The cafe (Weigh by the Gram Cafe) was suggested by the Librarians. It pays to ask the locals!

Day 24: Bennett Road Camp Site – Taumanurui (28km)

Tuesday 24th January 2023

Little did we realise we camped next to the bull paddock! Only one bull but it took us awhile to settle last night as the bull was a bit restless. He was running up and down the fence line, stamping his hooves, snorting and making mating noises to his friends down the road. Peter said it was to do with the ‘Tiger Balm’ ointment Prue used on her aching shoulders. He thought the smell was upsetting the bull??!

Eventually the bull settled and so did we.

We had a short ride into Taumanurui. We were going to follow the TA route (an alternate route to the bitumen) which took us down a very gravelly road. After about 0.5 km down the road we thought it was too hard going so we turned around and went down the bitumen road to Taumanurui. We wanted an easy ride after two days of hard riding. We followed Google Maps, and it said mostly flat……….

We were excited to be back in civilisation and the town was pumping due to the opening of the New World supermarket.

Day 23: Piropiro Camp Site – Bennett Road Camp Site (49km)

Monday 23rd January 2023

We could go no further so it was Bennett Road Camp Site (end of trail) for the night – we were planning to go 2km further down the road to camp!

Today was meant to be an easier ride but we both found it much harder than yesterday.

It started with a climb to the Maramataha Suspension Bridge, which was quite steep in places, then from there we were told it was a gradual climb of 3km after the bridge – nothing gradual about it!

We met a lovely couple, Jana and Paul, who live in Palmerston North and very kindly asked us to stay. They were doing the track in style, without children, no load on their bikes and had lovely 5-star accommodation at the Timber Trail Lodge. I said while they were ‘slumming’ it up on the hill we were in the camp site below!!

The track was extremely rough, and Peter’s right front pannier kept coming off – something not quite right but we couldn’t fix it. So, we had lots of stops along the way!!

The track gave us an amazing insight of the early life of the loggers and milling. And what an extraordinary feat of building the Eliis and Burnard Tramway through sheer rock and building large span suspension bridges over deep gorges.

We had our fourth night out and both commented on how much we were enjoying the routine and simplicity of camping in the bush.

Day 22: Nga Herenga Camp Site to Piropiro Camp Site (43km)

Sunday 22nd January 2023

Today was the start of the Timber Trail – a purpose-built cycling/tramping trail through the Pureora Forest Park which has one of the last remaining podocarp forests in the world. It is a total of 85 km and you can do it in one or two days. We decided to take 2 and we were not even sure if we could do it fully laden!

We were out on the track by 8.30 am and we were pleasantly surprised how lovely and not so hard it was. It was uphill for 14 km(last 3 km were a little challenging). We had lunch at the 16 km mark then downhill after that with a few steep uphills that were testing.

One of the riders we met was Juan, from Colombia, who is living in Brisbane. His sleeping bag fell off the back of his bike so as we were following behind we picked it up. He was very grateful and we also gave him our spare octopus strap so he could securely attached it to his bike!

It was different riding to what we are used to. As it is like a mountain bike track, twisty, undulating and with different surfaces so you have to concentrate and plan your route. Sometimes not accordingly to plan as we did run into a few obstacles!

We were very pleased to reach our campsite (DOC) and under average time. (Average time was 5 hours).

We did have some rain during the day but fortunately by the time we set up camp it had stopped. Also, we were lucky as we could use a shelter shed in the camp site.

Day 21: Whakamaru Domain Camp Site – Nga Herenga Camp Site (28km)

Saturday 21st January 2023

We woke and both commented on what a good night we had considering how close we were to the road.

We waited for the tent to dry and then headed off after that.

It was a relatively easy ride to the camp site – the beginning of the Timber Trail. Again, we took the road rather than the trail – the easiest option as some sections were Grade 3 (moderately technical with steep inclines!) Google maps said the road was mostly flat where Prue would have described the ride as moderate hills but at least doable!

On the way we stopped at Pouakani Totora Tree. The world’s largest totara. What’s that you say?

Day 20: Mangakino – Whakamaru Domain Camp Site (10 km)

Friday 20th January 2023

We had a leisurely morning and then went to the library to catch up on blogging. On the way we passed on of the many Marae scattered throughout New Zealand.

We left the library at 4pm, then went to the supermarket to stock up on 4 days of stores. We planned to be out in the bush for 4 nights, which included the Timber Trail. The panniers were bulging!

While stocking up, Jacob from UK rode in – very hot and exhausted. Jacob did the trail (Bulmar’s Landing – Mangakino) that we decided not to do and did the road which we thought was hard enough. Jacob said it was very hard so Peter and Prue both looked at each other and were very thankful we didn’t do it!

We rode out to camp site – wanting to get a quiet place to camp. We ended up tucked away behind a toilet block trying to minimise the road noise. It did say camp site but we were not so sure about it!

Day 19: Bulmars Landing – Mangakino (57 km)

Thursday 19th January 2023

From Bulmars landing we were on quiet roads with a moderate climb. A farmer stopped and he said, ‘That we were 2 km from the top and then it is all downhill.’ Peter joked and said, ‘To Wellington?’. We actually thought it was to Mangakino but to our nasty surprise we had a magnificent downhill to the Arapuni Dam and then we headed up and up and up ………. and then the road became undulating all the way in to Magakino.

We went to the shops to get refreshments and caught up with Ali and Tim who were stocking up on stores for the next few days.

We checked the camping sites out and came across Lake Maraetai Lodge – guess where we stayed??

We unpacked, popped the bathers on and headed straight to the Lake where we had a swim. We planned to go to the club – only place where we could get a meal that night.

Day 18: Matamata – Bulmars Landing (56 km)

Wednesday 18th January 2023

We headed out along quiet country roads and passed Hobbitville. We continued on the highway for a short distance to the start of the Waikato River Cycle Trail. It was a gorgeous entrance to the trail and we both got excited by riding alongside the river and then the trail turned and we were cycling alongside the road – what happened to our nice cycle trail???

We got to Weipa Reserve, where we caught up with Ali and Tim. They are from Switzerland, and we met them at the Opal Hot Springs Campground. We planned to camp at Weipa Reserve but since we got there early, we thought we would continue onto the next campsite.

Day 17: Rest Day (0 km)

Tuesday 17th January 2023

We made use of the pools – swam, read and rested!

Day 16: Paeroa – Matamata (70 km)

Monday 16th January 2023

Up early and on the road by 8.30am, a great start, even with Peter doing a puncture repair on his bike!

Our first stop was in Te Aroha for coffee.

Then we had lunch at Firth Tower. The Tower was constructed by Josiah C Firth in 1881/2 as a lookout and status symbol.

We continued onto Matamata and checked out the Hobbit Visitors Centre.

Peter also checked out the ice cream , to see if it was just as good in Matamata. We then got some stores and made our way to Opal Hot Springs Campground. They had 3 pools one at 39ºC, one at 37ºC and one at 28ºC. We went straight for the hot pool and it was divine.

Day 15: Paeroa – Waihi – Paeroa (36 Km)

Sunday 15th January 2023

Another interesting night in the red wagon! The emergency siren went off at 2 am – this is the second one we have heard and have been told it is quite common in small rural towns!! Then we heard the milkman at 5am – we felt very much at home in suburbia!!

We planned to ride to Waihi and back. Our first stop was the Karangahake gorge.

We wanted to do the Windows Walk, but this was closed for maintenance, so we continued on the gorge walk, which took us past the fast-flowing rapids and we were pleased we were not rafting down through them!

Next stop was the Owharoa Falls, then we carried on to Waihi along side the river – very picturesque with the Te Aroha mountain range in the background and the country side so green!

Further along the trail was the Victoria Battery Site. The Battery was constructed by the Waihi Gold Mining Company to crush ore from the the Martha Mine. The Battery became the largest crushing plant for gold extraction in Australasia.

We had lunch at Waihi by a lake where the ‘Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race” was on ……model sailing boats – very serious and no-one was under 80 years of age!

From Waihi we caught the vintage train with open carriages for the bikes to Waikino (halfway of the return leg) due to lack of sleep the night before!! Then rode the rest of the way back to Paeroa

On the way home we rode past the L&P monument. Lemon and Paeroa (L&P) is New Zealand’s national soft-drink which had its beginnings near Paeroa due to the discovery of an underground spring of mineral water. The first bottling of the water was in 1907.

Day 14: Thames – Paeroa (40 km)

Saturday 14th January 2023

After a great night’s sleep in our tent beside the babbling stream, we set off from Dickson Campground into Thames where a morning market was in full swing.

After walking the bikes amongst the crowd in the streets, we hit the Hauraki Rail Trail again, crossing the Waihou River bridge to Kopu. Lunch stop was at the Matatoki Cheese Barn followed later by an ice cream at the Hikutaia “The Convenient Cow”.

The remainder of the trail to Paeroa was straight and flat and we crossed 25 bridges!

We had an Air BnB in a restored red rail carriage for two nights. Could not beat this on the rail trail.

Day 13: Miranda Hot Springs – Thames (38 km)

Friday 13th January 2023

We had an easy days ride into Thames. Unfortunately the Rail Trail was closed from Miranda Hot Springs to Kapu so we had to ride on the road. The road was busy as it is the main thoroughfare from Auckland to the Coromandel but most of the road had a decent shoulder.

We had coffee at the ‘Bugger Cafe’. It is decorated with memorabilia with anything and everything to do with “bugger”. We did get a few laughs.

We had lunch at Thames and browsed the shops before riding to Dickson Holiday camp. Lovely spot overlooking the Tararu stream.

Along the cycle trail there were numerous sculptures and one to the was the jandal, by Ricks Terstappen.

We got in early so Peter oiled the bikes and had a nap and Prue went for a walk. It was a walk to a waterfall but she took the wrong track and ended up climbing a mountain. Some places very steep and slippery, especially since the recent rain so Prue carefully walked up and slid down!! Magnificent views over the Firth of Thames.

Forgot to mention that it didn’t rain today!!

Day 12: Orere Point – Miranda Hot Springs (38 km)

Thursday 12th January 2023

We woke to a dry but still very overcast morning so we thought the weather forecast got it wrong as it predicted rain from 1am this morning to 1pm today.

So we set off expecting light showers only. 5 km down the road a light drizzle started which then turned into rain which then turned into heavy rain with a strong head wind.

We took refuge at the Pink Cafe in Kaiaua, where we had coffee to wait out the rain, that was falling at right angles! An hour later the owner came up to us and said it has set in for the rest of the day. Peter and I looked at each other, we knew we only had 11 kms to reach our destination, so we decided to go for it. Prior to leaving we made sure we could get a cabin as we were not going to camp in the rain. Thankfully, we were in luck.

Not a nice ride and we both said it was the wettest we have ridden in. Thankfully we could dry out in our room and they had a thermal pool – temperature 39ºC. So we lounged around in the pool to warm up.

DAY 11: Auckland – Orere Point (Car + 30 km)

Wednesday 11th January 2023

Where did those days go???

We went back to Auckland because the weather was so bad. We had 5 days off continual rain and wind – not seeing too many windows of opportunity to leave the comforts of Jane and Peter’s home. We both thought we are getting too soft so we decided to leave today, even though the weather forecast was not looking good.

Jane and Peter kindly dropped us off at Clevedon, to get us out of Auckland, to start our trip. We had a coffee before they went back to Auckland and we all had a smile as we even saw some blue sky! Yay, we thought, it is not going to be too bad at all!!

We had a pleasant ride to Kawakawa Bay – only had to take shelter for one heavy downfall. We even got lunch in the park.

From Kawakawa Bay we turned inland and had a small climb up a hill , then the rest of the ride was down hill into Orere Point where we had booked a hut for the night.

DAY 8/9/10: Auckland – Rest Days

With more rain but slowly the rain becoming less.

DAY 7: Russell – Auckland (Car)

DAY 4/5/6: Russell – Rest days

Thursday 5th/ Friday 6th and Saturday 7th January 2023

Rain, rain, and more rain, with ‘some’ wind!!

DAY 3: Horeke – Russell (lift with tour company)

Wednesday 4th January 2023

Prue and Peter were enjoying their last bit of comfort before continuing their ride when Jane rings Prue at 0700 and says she has just listened to the news and that there is a cyclone off the east coast of NZ causing strong winds and heavy rain for the next few days and that campgrounds are closing in the Northern area and all tourists have been advised to leave. This was all confirmed by the Manager of the Hotel, where we were staying, who said the same thing at breakfast. So fortunately, Jane and Peter were getting a lift back to Opua so Peter and Prue thought that sounded like a good idea. So we went back to base camp (Jane and Peter’s).

Little did we know that another cyclone was coming a week later so it is now Tuesday 10th January and we are still at base camp. We are not sure what happened to Summer. Hopefully tomorrow we will set off.

DAY 2: KAIKOHE TO HOREKE (43km)

Tuesday 3rd January 2023

The weather forecast was the same as yesterday – overcast with showers and sunny patches.

Jane and Peter headed off before us and we all met at Okaihau for coffee. This town was well prepared for the cyclists as it had 4 coffee shops for a population of 1200!

From Okaihau to Horeke was the prettiest and easiest part of the trail even though it was graded 2 and grade 3??!!

We had a huge downhill ride with switchbacks and then followed the Utakura River through the valley. We planned to have lunch at Snow’sFarm picnic tables next to the river. We were pleasantly surprised to find a little kiosk there, where a lady was selling her home made produce. Jane bought some pickles and we all had coffee and cake. What a treat!

From Snow’s Farm we had 14 km to go to get to Horeke Well the boys took off and were nowhere to be seen. Jane and Prue had a gentle ride in stopping half way as arranged and then enjoyed the last 8km into Horeke.

We had booked accommodation at Horeke Hotel. Lovely rooms over looking Hokianga Harbour with ensuites with huge baths. Both Jane and Prue couldn’t wait to have a bath.

Day 1: Russell to Kaikohe (54 Km)

Monday 2nd January 2023

After celebrating Christmas and New Year in Russell (Bay Of Islands) with Prue’s sister Jane and brother in-law, Peter, we set off on our bikes to cycle the North Island from Russell to Wellington.

Our ride started with the ‘Twin Coast Cycle Trail’ from Opua (8km from Russell) to Horeke. A total of 87 km. Jane and Peter joined us on electric bikes.

The first part of the trail was graded 1(easy). “….you will be alongside the train tracks and you will have an easy flat ride into KawaKawa.” Well they forgot to tell us that the tunnel was closed so we had to go over the hill. This turned our grade 1 trail into a grade 4 trail(difficult) and for experienced riders only!!! Peter and Prue thought they were back on the Mawson Trail as again we needed two people to push our fully laden bikes up over the hill.

Once we got down the other side we rode a short distance and we were then stopped by a big gate. The rail trail no longer existed as the vintage train from Kaikohe now comes all the way out to the gate and there is no trail for walkers or bikes. So we had to put our bikes on the train for 3 km, where the rail trail resumes.

We rode into Kawakawa and had a coffee while waiting for the rain to stop. It was on and off rain all day and then the sun came out which dried us out. Fortunately it wasn’t cold and overall the weather didn’t interfere too much with the day.

The whole trail has barriers to prevent motorcycles coming onto the track. These were not suitable for fully laden bikes. There were a few that we could push the bikes through but because they were a different heights we had to take the panniers (side bags) off or some just had a wooden pole in the middle so in some cases all 4 panniers had to come off. Peter had a sense of humour failure when it was the sixth time in 20 minutes!

It was a gently climb to all the way to Kaikohe where we had accommodation booked at the Left Bank. A lovely old building (1910) that use to be a bank and now is a boutique accommodation house. Unfortunately it has not recovered from COVID and they had to close the restaurant down so we had to find a meal in town. We were planning on a sit down meal at the local Chinese (we had a choice of Chinese, Chinese or Pizza) but we ended up getting takeaway as none had dine in!! Prue felt a bit silly when she rang and asked to book a table!!