- 08/02/2006 - 0.. kms Auckland, North Island (New Zealand) (plane from Melbourne to Auckland)
Well, I made two mistakes with getting to New Zealand... Had I booked the flights to New Zealand as part of my flight from Canada to Australia, my 50 kgs baggage allotment would have followed through and I wouldn't have been charged anything... Also, had I purchased my return from New Zealand at the same time as my flight to New Zealand, I would have paid only once for the extra weight... As it is, the baggage allotment was only 20 kg, so I paid A$250 (at A$10/kg) for the extra weight going to New Zealand, and I'll have to pay again for the extra weight coming back from New Zealand... I tried to be especially nice to the Air New Zealand personel to no avail... Live and Learn !
When I got to Auckland, Daniel, a long time friend, picked me up at the airport and showed me what New Zealand hospitality was all about...
I spent three days with his family (Noriko, his Japaneese wife, Nathalie and Dominic, his children)... We did some sightseeing around Auckland... pigged out... talked a lot... It was good to be amongst friends after 3 months on the road...
Reassembling Titus, I took the time for a little maintenance... The rear tire was substantially used up (bearing most of the weight, so I put the front tire on the back wheel (to finish using it up) and installed a new folding one on the front. The wire rimmed Panaracers don't seem to last as long as their kevlar folding ones (only did 4,000 kms on the rear while past experience showed that I could manage 6,000 with a kevlar folding Panaracer).
As I was looking for Nigel Rushton's "Pedaller's Paradise" (excellent books on cycling New Zealand), Daniel managed to get them for me at a substantial discount. From the local Automobile Association, I got a set of free road maps covering all of New Zealand.
I also decided to really try out the New Zealand lamb and cooked a roast crown of lamb... I even had to show the butcher how to prepare the racks into a crown... The meal turned out beautifully... The lamb in New Zealand apparently is butchered much younger and is much leaner... As such it doesn't carry the woolly taste as much as what I was used to in Canada... And the meat is much more tender and doesn't have to be cooked as much.
On the Saturday, we went to Bethells beach (a nice black sand beach, volcanic in origin) and then Daniel wanted to show off and took us bushwalking (they actually call this "tramping" in New Zealand) in the Waitoru Reserve near Waitakere... The trail didn't appear to have had much use and as such was pretty difficult to fallow... Sure enough, we lost the track in the jungle... But we managed to find farmland and made our way to a house were we asked for directions and learned that the track was basically unmaintained for the past 15 years or more... The people were very friendly and even drove us back to were the car had been parked... What an adventure... Noriko, Nathalie and Dominic even got stung by wasps...
And, this last evening in Auckland, we all went to Albert Park for the Chineese Lantern Festival... Very crowded, but also very interesting !
Anyways, tomorrow (Sunday) I get back on Titus ad start my tour of New Zealand... Tentatively I'll be going from north to south, east to west, cycling from one "Lord of the Rings" filming location to the next... As Noriko showed me an internet printout of the locations, it's as good a way to plan this tour as any other...
- 12/02/2006 - 104 kms Matamata
In the morning, I found Titus with a flat front wheel... Couldn't find a leak, so I just reinstalled everything and inflated it as is.
Daniel drove me 60 kms south of Auckland to the intersection of #1 highway with #2... So I started away from the Auckland traffic and the industrial area. I continued south on #2 towards Matamata, the filming location of Hobbiton.
The first half was hilly and hot, basically cycling across a range of hills, through grazing fields and corn fields. The last half was in a valley plain between a range of mountains to the east and the range of hills I had crossed to the west.
Overall, the cycling was easy. Though, as I got near Matamata I realized that my front wheel was very low in air pressure... Added more air and got to Matamata. There I checked with the tourist info about Hobbiton. It's on private property and the only way to see it is through a tour operator that costs NZ$50. Also, the film crew took averything away with them so all that is left are the holes with a concrete front with blank holes for the windows and doors... Not very much to see for 50 bucks, so I decided to pass on the tour and settled in for the night at a backpacker's accommodation.
Also, today was my turn to get stung by a bee. A bee must have got blown of it's course by a passing truck and landed hard in one of the slits of my cycling helmet. As I was trying to get it out, while cycling, it stung... Ouch !
- 13/02/2006 - 122 kms Taupo
In the morning, the front wheel was flat again... Upon closer inspection the air is probably leaking out front a patch covering an old puncture... I changed the tube for a new one.
Since the cycling yesterday was relatively easy, I decided to reach for Taupo this day... Approximately 120 kms. The morning was cool and very foggy... I like cycling in the fog !
The cycle was equally easy for the first 50 kms or so. Flat terrain similar to yesterday up to Tirau. Tirau calls itself the "corrugated capital of the world"... Lots of buildings are decorated with constructs (huge tree trunks, animals, and the like) of corrugated sheet metal in various forms. There's also a "Toy Castle, lots of shops... A bit touristy for my taste, but I spent a bit of time at the public library talking with the librarian who (though they didn't have internet) ended up giving me a book by a native New Zelander as a must read...
After Tirau it got increasingly hilly up to Tokoroa and as the fog cleared it got hot and humid. After Tokoroa, it was forests and mountains and lots of huge logging trucks. The scenery was pretty and scenic but quite a lot of work climbing up to 600 meters at Atiamuri. The last 20 kms from Atiamuri to Taupo were a welcome downhill.
When I got to Taupo, a fairly large town with a big commercial area, on the shore of Lake Taupo the YHA was fully booked and there was only one bunk left at one of the backpackers (fortunately). It's a busy town and I guess that tourist flock here because of the shopping, and the multitude of commercial tours operating out of here... A bit too busy for me. Anyways, I spent the night here cause it was too late to get elsewhere and I was tired. But in the morning, I'll cycle the short distance to Turangi, a smaller and quieter village nearer to Tongariro National Park (the location of other filming sites of the Lord of the Rings).
- 14/02/2006 - 52. kms Turangi
Got here easilly enough. The road wasn't too hilly and the distance was short cycling around Lake Taupo to its southern edge.
On the way, I met a New Zealander cyclist (Gil) and as we stopped to talk another cycling tourist came by (Simon, from Montreal, Canada.... small world !)
I ended up cycling the rest of the way to Turangi with Simon and we settled in at the YHA.
The next morning, I took the shuttle to the park at 7 AM (Simon would be taking the 7:30 one since it was the only one that could accommodate his bike and he was going to camp out in the park while I decided to spend the next night at the YHA... For the price, I appreciate the comfort rather than "roughing" it if I don't need to) and started on the Tongariro crossing.
The shuttle got me up to 900 meters, then the trail rose to 1,900 meters at the "red crater", coming back down to 400 meters for the shuttle back... all in all, 17 kms.
Though crowded, it was a spectacular walk... Two volcanoes, multiple old craters, apparent old lava flows, emerald coloured lakes, sulphur hot streams, water falls... Beautiful ! This was the site of Mt Doom (Mount Ngauruhoe), Mordor and many other sights of The Lord of the Rings.
Simon caught up with me at the site of the cooled lava flow, past red crater, and we finished the walk together... then parting as I returned to the YHA and he to his camp.
- 16/02/2006 - 98. kms Taihape
I had a bad surprise in the morning as I was ready to leave the hostel... I had left Titus secured to a porch post in front of my room at the YHA and someone had stolen the tools from Titus' saddle bag... I didn't even have a tire lever left so would have been in a bind had I gotten a flat in the middle of nowhere... Fortunately there was a bicycle repairman in the village (he was also the kitchen appliance repairman) and he let me have a multitool and a set of tube patches at apretty good price...
Right out of Turangui, #1 road started to climb... And it climbed for the next 45 kms up to some 800 meters or so... Then a plateau of sorts with undulating hills was reached and then levelled at Waiouru... The last bit to Taihape was mostly downhill.
This section of the #1 is called the "Desert Road"... The scenery is pretty barren from a perspective, but I found it otherwise... You could see, in the west, the cluster of mountains I had walked through yesterday as well as another cluster around Mount Ruapehu (the highest in the area at 2,797 meters)... On the plateau, the scenery was of alpine shrubs, flowers, mosses and lichen... Far from barren and quite pretty from my perspective. The only tarnish, was a couple of huge power lines following the road across the plateau.
Got to Taihape past the closing time for the tourist info center and enquired about a backpacker's accommodation from passersby... They told me that the backpacker in town was pretty shabby and I would be better at the local pub... So I took a private room at the pub, with en-suite (bath... no shower) for only NZ$20... and had dinner at a nearby all-you-can-eat chineese restaurant for NZ$10... Pretty good !
- 17/02/2006 - 104 kms Palmerston North
Another beautiful day... I left Taihape and the road (#1) started off with one long hill. The road south seemed to be going against the grain of the hills so that rather than following a valley, the road climb a hill, then down a valley, then back up a hill... ad nauseum ! But it wasn't that strenuous as the grades were half-decent.
None of the villages were interesting, so I just zipped by... At Vinegar Hill, the road forked... #1 continued southwest and #54 was going southeast... My map showed bith roads eventually getting to Palmerston North... As the traffic on #1 was getting increasingly heavy I opted for the #54.
Well, the first 15 kms were hilly as hell ! Steep and long climbs, but short drops... Then one long steep climb to "Stormy Point"... That was a lot of work (I don't think I've experienced hills that steep since Mediterranean Spain)... The reward was the view at Stormy Point !
After that, it was basically downhill to Cheltenham where I stopped for a cool Coke (rasberry flavoured !) and ended up talking for an hour with a 65 year old local who seemed to have done it all (trekking all over the world in his days). He was certainly an interesting fellow.
The rest of the way to Palmerston was fairly level. I settled in a quiet little YHA and will stick around for an extra day since my legs are a bit sore from the trek followed by a couple of days of hard cycling. There are a few galleries here as well as a large bike store with a huge collection of vintage bicycles...
So the next day, I went to the Palmerston Art Gallery where they had a pretty large exhibit of contemporary art by NZ natives... and then I went to the Museum where I took the opportunity to learn a bit more about the history of the local natives... It appears that the natives sure know how to make "faces"... Tongue out and all... Even their carvings of their gods show the gods with their tongue out... I have to find out a bit more about this as the museum staff wasn't too knowledgeable on the subject... Though they did tell me that its nice they don't grimace so much anymore in daily life...
- 19/02/2006 - 71. kms Otaki
Another beautiful day and the cycling went very well... The road (#56) was level through farmland with a mountain range at my left in the east... When the #56 joined the #57 it got a bit hillier, closer to the mountains, but still very pleasant... I stopped at Shannon and browsed a used bookstore while I sipped a Coke and then talked a bit with the owner who was amazed with my set-up...
When the #57 joined the #1, I was basically cycling along the coast and though you couldn't see the ocean, you could smell it...
I missed the Waitarere Forest which was used as the filming location for Osgiliath Wood and Trollshaw Forest in Lord of the Rings. I got on the coast too far south and didn't feel like going back north... Well I'll try and catch it on my way back to Auckland... I already decided to do Upper and Lower Hutt on the way back as well (theese locations were used extensively in the film).
Wellington was a bit far for a day's cycling (and I was being told that as I approached Wellington it would be disallowed to continue cycling on the highway)... so I decided to break it in two and spend the night in Otaki... This would give me the chance to verify possible routes into Wellington as well as check out the countryside around here, which was used as the east road out of Hobbiton.
The scenery around is mostly small, peaceful farmland with gentle little hills on the ocean side (black sand) and old rounded green mountains on the eastern side... The only negatives are the beach crowds and the traffic on the highway... Ah well !
- 20/02/2006 - 78. kms Wellington
From the Otaki visitor info center I got a set of maps which show the cycling routes into Wellington. Too easy !
The cycle went well to Paraparaumu, it was cloudy and cool. THe scenery was much the same as at Otaki. At Paraparaumu I stopped at the train station and investigated the fares (NZ$6 for an adult plus NZ$4 for Titus). Though even the "Pedaller's Paradise advised taking the train to Wellington, I decided to cycle on.
From there, the road reached the coast and follows the ocean down to Pukurua. The cycle path is on a sidewalk on the ocean side of the road, so the view was very good... All lava rocks and black sand beaches. From Pukurua, the road heads inland, accross the montains to reach the eastern coast of the peninsula. The cycle path follows but sometimes further away from the road, so at times you're really away from the traffic and the views are great in the hills... Lots of wildflowers and scrawny bushes. The vegetation is semi-alpine because there is always so much wind here. Then you follow the road through the suburbs and when the path reaches the eastern coast, it's Wellington.
I got to Wellington early in the afternoon and settled at the YHA. On wednesday, I'll be taking the ferry to Picton, in the South Island... This gives me a full day to explore Wellington a bit... It's a big city (the Capital of NZ)
So the next morning after taking a quiet walk in the early hours of the morning (not much people on the streets, which allowed me to take pictures before the place got crowded), I went to the Te Papa Museum and the Wellington Art Gallery. The muweum was huge and one could spend a day or more inside... I learned about the geology, ecology past and present and anthropology of New Zealand... There was also a good retrospective of New Zealand art... And then, at the Art Gallery, more on conteporary New Zealand art... It was a good day !
- 22/02/2006 - 0.. kms Picton, South Island (ferry from Wellington to Picton)
Spent the morning basically preparing my stuff to take the ferry and got to the terminal around noon. The crossing took nearly 5 hours and was pretty much uneventful. The day was beautiful and the views coming out of Wellington and coming into the South Island sounds were nice as well.
There were lots of cyclists (at least a dozen) on the ferry... Most of them were heading for the west coast of the south island... I was still unsure, but being a bit of a contrarian I was thinking that it might be better to e\head down the east coast and avoid the rush... The Pedaller's Paradise does advise going down the east coast... Ah well ! I'll be spending the night in Picton and will make up my mind in the morning.
- 23/02/2006 - 36. kms Blenheim (flat front wheel, scrapped knee and broken rib)
In the morning, I decided to head down the East Coast... It certainly helped my decision that there were strong westerly winds. I started out early as I targetted Raikoura for the night and that's something like 160 kms sout of Picton.
Right out of Picton the road started climbing, but nothing dramatic.. In fact they say that the south island is a lot less hilly than the north island... Less mountains to climb but more mountains to look at...
Anyways, all was going well until, 13 kms south of Picton, I hit a patch of road being resurfaced where the gravel is not well incrusted in the tar... I was going fast and for whatever reason I wiped out when I hit the loose gravel. Titus slipped from under me and I flew... Good thing no cars were coming in behind me...!
I hit the road pretty hard... Scapped a knee and knocked the wind out of me... I got up and took Titus to the side of the road and caught my breath... The handlebars were out of alignment so I re-aligned them... My chest was hurting when I was straining... Cleaned up my knee a bit and started thinking that I might have cracked a rib or something... Anyways I decided to try and cycle the rest of the way (about 15 kms) to Blenheim and see what happens... As I got on the bike, I now noticed that the front wheel was flat... So I fixed the flat and while I was pumping air the right side of my chest was hurting more... If the rib's cracked or broken, there's little that can be done... So I wanted to see whether I'd still be able to cycle, so off I went, very carefully, to Blenheim.
At Blenheim, I went to the hospital... They're very efficient (nothing like in Canada)... Within an hour, I was admitted at the emergency, vital signs taken, x-rayed, knee properly cleaned and sent off again... All for free even if I'm a foreigner because it was an accident (so they say)...
Well, the 6th rib is fractured on my right side (actually cleanly broken, the x-ray even showed a gap between the two pieces). It hurts if I take a deep breath, or if I cough or laugh... but there's little that can be done. It will fix itself in 4 to 6 weeks... The doctor doesn't mind if I continue to cycle "...if you can stand the pain..." he says. He offered me painkillers but I declined... Might as well get used to the pain if it's to last 4 weeks...
So, I settled at a backpacker's in Blenheim as I wasn't about to go very much further... Out of Blenheim, there's a long uphill and if I start panting I wouldn't even be able to take deep breaths... And if I need to push Titus up, it's going to hurt...
The night wasn't much fun either. Lying down the internal organs tend to push up the ribcage and spread the break, so it wasn't much comfortable. Can't get on either side, have to stay on my back... So I didn't sleep to well.
In the morning, the pain was worse... Any injury usually hurts more the day after... So I just sat around reading for most of the day.
The next day was better, but not much... I tried cycling a bit (Titus unloaded) and it was OK on level smooth ground... But as soon as I hit a good bump, there would be pain... And I still can't take deep breaths... So I checked out for a rental car.
Blenheim's pretty and is fine for a day's rest... But aside from shopping and walking along the river there isn't much to do... I could visit the surrounding wineries but that'll only fill a day... If I can't ride for a week or two, I'll be bored out of my mind... Bussing with Titus from day to day isn't much of an option either, too much hastles... So I rented a car and will be back on the road, mobile, tomorrow.
- 26/02/2006 - 0.. kms Kaikoura (car rental)
Driving to Kairoura was easy... Winery country till you hit the hills, then grassy (yellow) hills till you reach teh coast and after mountains on the west side and the Pacific Ocean with turquoise water and lots of waves on the east side.
A bit before Kaikoura, at a rest area/vantage point named Ohau Point, I saw a colony of seals... About a dozen of them lying on the rocks taking in the sun... And we thing that we are more evolved....
Kaikoura sits on a peninsula, creating a bay with the mountains as a backdrop. The view was very nice and I decided to spend the night at the youth hostel there.
- 27/02/2006 - 0.. kms Christchurch
In the morning as I was leaving the hostel, I noticed a seal resting on the breakwater right across the road from the hostel... I guess they're common on this stretch of coast. So I sat not too far on the breakwater and admired the early morning view of the mountains across the bay while the seal was barking at me for invading his space !... After a while, I left.
The car's a lot faster, but I keep wanting to stop to admire the views and there isn't enough room by the side of the road to stop safely... Faster isn't always better... Also, I keep passing cyclists and find myself envying them... Ah well, I should be back on Titus in a week or two.
Chirstchurch is a pretty city... I arrived just before lunch, settled at the YHA and after eating a bit, I spent the afternoon at the Museum and the Art Gallery... I thought I'd walk the Botanical Gardens after dinner, but instead I just kept yacking with other travellers... I can always do the Gardens tomorrow...
- 28/02/2006 - 0.. kms Methven
In the morning, when I went to extend my stay at the YHA for an extra day, they told me they were fully booked for the following night... So rather than going around town looking for a place, I decided to leave town... Cities are not my preferred places anyways...
So I headed for the mountains... Mt. Sunday was the site of "Edoras" in the "Lord of the Rings" film... Methven was the closest village with a youth hostel... So there I went !
Not much to say about Methven... It's pretty small... So after settling in, I left driving into the mountains... The last 20 kms or so to Mt. Sunday were on a bad gravel road... Good thing I was driving, 'cause I wouldn't have gotten there on Titus... Walking would have been easier than pedalling...
Mt. Sunday is really a little rocky hill in a flat area surrounded by tall and rugged mountains... I'll have to view the film again to compare... There was still some daylight time when I came back, so I went for a short walk to a waterfall... It wasn't spectacular, but the walk was nice...
- 01/03/2006 - 0.. kms Lake Tekapo
I could've stayed longer at Methven. There were quite a few walks to do in the surrounding mountains... But I decided to leave and go deeper into the Southern Alps... Towards Mt. Cook, the highest peak of New Zealand at 3,753 meters.
The road basically followed the edge of the mountains up to Geraldine. Then it went into the mountains. The views were pretty, but not spectacular... By lunchtime I was at Lake Tekapo and decided to settle there rather than spend the day in the car. The village isn't much to write about, but it sits on the shore of a beautiful turquoise lake surrounded by mountains.
In the afternoon I went up Mt. John... At 1,031 meters it isn't very high and the walk was easy, but the view was great ! Hey ! a big return on a small investment !
- 02/03/2006 - 0.. kms Mt. Cook
In the morning, I drove the 100 kms or so to Mt. Cook admiring Lake Pukaki and the Ben Ohau Range as the road followed the lake and then the range. I think that the great battle scenes from the Lord of the Rings was filmed at the foot of this range...
When I got to Mt. Cook, it was very windy, cold, grey and drizzling... Nevertheless, after checking in at the YHA I went exploring the Tasman Glacier.
When I got back to the hostel for dinner, the place was packed with older people just sitting around lounging in the dining area... to the point were it was difficult to find a spot to eat... All the younger people were in the TV room watching tv... Why did these people come here !!! It would've been cheaper for them to stay home !
The next day was beautiful, so I booked another night and went tramping up Mt Ollivier. At 1,933 meters it isn't as high as Mt. Cook (3,753) but at least it's do-able in a day... Virtually no one on the trail... I didn't see a dozen people all day... And the view was superb at the top !
I can't cycle right now, but I sure can walk !
- 04/03/2006 - 0.. kms Wanaka
Couldn't secure another night at Mt. Cook (fully booked with people who lounge the hostel or watch tv...) so I left towards Wanaka.
At the Lindis Pass the view was pretty good, and after the pass I looked for the "Plains of Rohan" apparently filmed near Tarras but didn't remember enough about the film to be sure of the location... Anyways, it's flat grasslands and little forests surrounded by mountains.
Got to Wanaka, settled at the YHA, and since the weather was cloudy and hazy I just walked around the village rather than going up Roy's Peak and not having a good view... Too bad though since in the late afternoon the weather cleared up nicely and the view would have been superb... Can't win them all !
- 05/03/2006 - 0.. kms Queestown
In the morning, the weather was fine... So since there wasn't much milleage to do to get to Queestown I decided to go into the Mount Aspiring National Park to see whether I could get a better view of Mount Aspiring (the second highest peak in NZ).
The park is 50 kms or so from the village... 35 or so which are gravel and the last 15 very bad... On the way, I got some views of the mountain, but when I got to the end of the road couldn't see Mt. Aspiring... Talking with a couple about to go on the "Rob Roy track" I decided to do it as well... Apparently there would be nice views of the Bonner Glacier as well as Mt. Aspiring.
The walk started through a sub-alpine rainforest following a cascade of melted glacier water down a gully... Very pretty with a background sound of running water and wind rustling through the trees... Once up on a saddle, there were superb views of the glacier but a slope seemed to be hiding Mt. Aspiring, so I followed what weemed to be a track around the slope. After an hour or so, climbing a few more hundred meters I lost the track and decided to turn back. Mt. Aspiring continued to remain hidden as there was always another slope forward seeming to hide it. The time was getting late, I had turned 4 hours return trek into a 6 hour walk... But that's OK.
It was near dinner time when I started for Queenstown. I chose a shortcut route through the mountains rather than around them... At Cardrona, I was surprised by the view of thousands of bras hung on a stretch of fence... Apparently some five years ago a woman hung her bra on the fence (presumably following the experience of a parachute jump since such an outfit operates on the other side of the fence) and from there on women have just been adding bras to the fence...
Up and up went the road... The views improving with every kms... At the top, a marker indicated that this was the Crown Range Summit Pass, the highest sealed road in New Zealand, and the view was superb, the road spectacular (and I thought the Lindis Pass was beautiful)... One of the most scenic roads I've followed so far in the world. Coming down from the pass, the view on the valley where Queenstown sat was breathtaking... Just wait for the pictures !
I stopped at Arrowtown, a historic village on the way from the pass to Queenstown... It was packed with tourists and I couldn't find a parking spot... Anyways, the village appeared to be mostly shops, so I headed back out.
I had booked 2 nights at the Queenstown YHA, expecting to climb up Mount Ben Lomond the next day... Too bad... In the morning, It was cloudy, cold and drizzling, so I went for a walk around town... By lunchtime it cleared a bit and gave me a chance to photograph the "Remarkables" from across the lake... It soon started raining again and drizzled all afternoon... I could probably have put on my rain gear and went up the mountain anyways... Let's say I was a bit lazy !
- 07/03/2006 - 0.. kms Te Anau
The weather was still lousy in the morning so I left towards Te Anau and hope that it would clear so that I could have a good view of Milford Sound in the afternoon...
The drive to Te Anau was uneventful except for a stop due to a herd of sheep crossing the road... When I got to Te Anau, I checked into the YHA, ate a bit and then headed out towards Milford Sound.
The weather hadn't improved very much and my expectation was for all the clouds to be stacking up on the west side of the pass... It rained all the way through the mountains but though cloudy at Milford Sound at least it wasn't raining... So I took a few pictures (not as nice as if there was a blue sky) and came back to the hostel.
They say here that the road from Te Anau to Milford Sound is one of the most scenic in the world... The road is classified as World Heritage by Unesco... I couldn't really judge since I was driving through clouds and rain all the way... The west coast of NZ is very wet... With an average of 800 cm of rain per year. Clouds from the ocean are carried by the prevailing westerly winds and stack up against the west coast mountains... I just wasn't lucky, and didn't feel like sitting a few days waiting for nicer weather...
- 08/03/2006 - 0.. kms Milton
In the morning, the weather still hadn't improved... (I probably would've felt compelled to drive back to Milford Sound had the weather been nice and sunny)... It was still raining, so I decided to drive along the Southern Scenic Road and take in the sights along NZ's South Coast...
It cleared a bit mid-morning and gave me a chance for a few photographs... At Clifden I chanced upon an outing of the "Antique Bicycle Club of Christchurch" taking a ride on penny-farthings and other antiques... I tried to stop at Invercargill, but couldn't find a place to park and got turned off the city... I continued on, made a few other stops of which the nicest was at Curio Bay. There's a fossilized forest there, but it wasn't much to see... The scenery was much more interesting.
Though the drive would've been scenic, the road twisting and turning around the coastal hills and through coastal forests, but it was a bit spoiled with the almost constant rain... At the end of the afternoon, I decided to stop for the night at a backpackers in Milton (avoiding Dunedin after my experience with Invercargill). The owner is a german swiss who after a few years of cycle (and motorcycle) touring decided to settle down in New Zealand. And two of the four guests (excluding me) are cycle tourers... How I wish I was back on Titus !
- 09/03/2006 - 0.. kms Haast
In the morning it was still raining. I left early determined to get back in the mountains... So much more scenic.
The more west I was going, the clearer the weather. By the time I got to Wanaka it was warm and sunny so I continued on heading for the Haast Pass and the west coast.
The Haast Pass was nice but not earth-shattering... After the few hikes I had done in the Southern Alps, I was expecting more... Nevertheless, the fine weather stayed with me almost all the way through the mountains and the drive was enjoyable... However, 30 kms or so from the west coast it started raining from a bunch of clouds stuck in the mountains... But when I reached Haast on the west coast, there was some sunshine... But it was cold and humid and made my rib hurt !
- 10/03/2006 - 0.. kms Franz Josef
In the morning, it was raining pretty solid. I left Haast heading north. I stopped at most turn-outs to take in the views, disregarding the rain. This is rain-forest after all ! Apparently the west coast road wasn't finished until 1965 or so because of difficulties due to the impenetrable rain-forest (it's really a jungle), heavy rains and frequent floods... So might as well experience it in its natural splendor... Under the rain !
They call this section of road the "Glacier Road" because from the western side of the Southern Alps a few glaciers drop almost to the Tasman Sea... They say it's the only area in the world where glaciers and rain-forest interact so closely.
Going north, the first glacier I encountered was the Fox Glacier... I turned off the highway onto the Glacier View Road to the end... And then started walking on what I thought would be a 5 minute walk... Without a raincoat and naked feet in sandals I walked, and walked... until I got to a suspension bridge that took me to another road and an apparent couple more kilometers to walk before getting to the glacier...
I was getting cold, especially my feet... but you know when you've done a certain distance and say to yourself "rather than turning around, I'll just go on, it can't be that much further." Well, I got as close as I could to the glacier, took a few pictures and came back to toast my toes with the car's heather !
The next one was the Franz Josef glacier... And the rain was really pouring, so I put on a raincoat but kept my sandals. This time it was really only a short walk... But I couldn't see much because the clouds were so low and the rain was hazing the whole scenery.
Anyways, I decided to stay the night at the Franz Josef township and hope that the morrow would bring better weather.
- 11/03/2006 - 0.. kms Arthur's Pass
In the morning, the weather was fine though very cold, so I went back to the Franz Josef Glacier to have a good look then I continued on up the coast. There wasn't much of interest so I zipped by. At Hokitika there was a fair, an annual thing, so the traffic got pretty bad, apparently some 30,000 people from surrounding areas were converging here... It was something of a zoo !... So I turned inland and decided I'd spend the weekend in the mountains at Arthur's Pass.
The pass is not all that high... about 750 meters... but all compressed in a small distance. The rental car had trouble going up the grade, it would've been a lot of work going up by bicycle. There's even a spot were an overhang was built to divert a waterfall above the road... Pretty neat ! The mountains are real rugged, very scenic.
By the time I arrived, found a place to settle (at the local YHA, no tv, no phone, so very quiet) it was too late to start a descent walk in the mountains, so I spent the rest of the afternoon talking with other guest and reading.
When I got up in the morning, it was raining hard, so I thought I'd go back to the coast and continue northwards. However, by the time I was ready to leave, the clouds had dispersed, the top of the mountains were showing some sunlight and it promised to be a fine day, but so very cold... So I booked another night and started walking into the mountains.
I chose the Avalanche Peak, two trails led to the peak so I could take on track up and the other down as it would be more interesting not to have to retrace my steps. The Avalanche Peak reaches 1,833 meters, so the climb is somewhat more than a thousand meters, not that high but I was told the view of the surrounding mountains and particularly Mt Rolleston and the Crow glacier on its southern side is spectacular.
And spectacular it was !... I didn't complete the last 50 meters or so to the peak 'cause I didn't feel comfortable on the last stretch of the ridge, which was very narrow and steep, with my camera equipment, but the view was good enough for me.
Came back down and treated myself to a cold beer sitting in front of the "foyer" and warming myself up. It was a good day !
- 13/03/2006 - 0.. kms Punakaiki
It was still very cold in the morning, but fine weather. I left Arthur's Pass, back towards the west coast but took a different route after the pass along Lake Bunner towards Greymouth. At Greymouth, I stopped for groceries since I was told that there wouldn't be much available at my next stop at Punakaiki.
Between Greymouth and Punakaiki the road was very scenic... The mountains falling directly into the sea, the road twisting and turning, up and down along the slopes of the mountains hugging the sea... Not a rugged look though, back into coastal forests, the slopes were all green and thick with vegetation.
There's not much to Punakaiki... A couple dozen buildings or so, mostly accommodations and caf?. I went for a walk on a little cove pebble beach nestled between rocky outcrops, took pictures and met with Julie (a vietnamese woman from California). We then went for a good 4 hour walk in the coastal rain forest. On our way back, we stopped to look at the "Pancake Rocks", the local tourist attraction, interesting rock layers carved by the surf, but nothing spectacular...
- 14/03/2006 - 0.. kms Nelson
I had spent the night in a little cabin in the rainforest (the local Youth Hostel). It was very pretty, with little gardens, ponds and bridges... But very damp and cold... And in the morning, the shower was but a trickle and not very hot... Roughing it in the jungle, eh ! So I was glad to get in the car and crank up the heather...
I continued on up the west coast and at Westport decided to continue on north even though I'd have to retrace my steps for 100 kms or so... I wanted ot see what was up there (a luxury I could afford with a car and probably wouldn't have done on Titus...)
The road continued twisting and turning around the coastal mountains, but there wasn't much new to see... Just more rainforest, but somewhat wilder, there being hardly any population in this area... Anyways, I then came back down to Westport and headed for Nelson... It was a long day of driving and when I arrived at Nelson it was well past sunset... So I didn't get to see much.
- 15/03/2006 - 0.. kms Takaka
In the morning, I left towards Abel Tasman Park... The most visited park in the Southern Island... I decided to settle at Takaka on the Golden Bay. This would be practical both to tramp a bit in the Tasman Park as well as checking out the northernmost peninsula of the southern island...
After settling in at the youth hostel, I went to check out the northwestern point, "Farewell Spit" as it's called... The northwestern peninsula is basically a few rocky hills, pastures for sheep and a huge and long bar of sand dunes... I spent most of the afternoon just walking around the dunes, even got to play a bit with a lonely seal !...
The next morning, I was a bit lazy and waited for the sun to be well up (having chased the dampness of the night) before heading for the Abel Tasman Park. I did a couple of short walks between bays since I was limited by the bays which I couldn't cross or circle around without waiting for low tide... There isn't all that much to this park... Hills, coastal rainforest and the sea... Probably the most distinctive feature is the few "orange" beaches... And I was very surprised at how "orange" the sand is. And the contrast with the clear turquoise sea is stunning... It's probably why the "coastal track" is so popular... and they call this area Golden Bay !
- 17/03/2006 - 0.. kms Blenheim (car rental return, 4,226 kms)
The weather was fine again this morning with some passing clouds... I left early for the last stretch, to Blenheim to return the rental car.
I took a good break at Pelarus Bridge and walked along the shore of the Pelarus River and Flats. Very nice area ! Havelock was also a pretty little town, but I didn't stop for very long. I got to Blenheim in the early afternoon, unpacked the car at a local backpackers and returned it. I'll spend the rest of the afternoon re-assembling Titus and re-packing the panniers properly and tomorrow I'm off to Picton on Titus... Hope it goes well !
In the evening, I played a couple of games of chess with a young German guy (Manu) at the hostel and lost both games... He played very well. It was fun !
I was surprised at the milleage on the rental car for 20 days... That's like an average of 200 kms per day... It would have been practically impossible with Titus in the same timeframe, allowing for days off to do "tramps" and enjoy the scenery. But I had a good look at the South Island and enjoyed particularly the "Southern Alps"...
- 18/03/2006 - 38. kms Wellington, North Island (ferry from Picton to Wellington)
I was a bit apprehensive as I left Blenheim with Titus... But the cycling went surprisingly well... And at the spot were I had wiped out, the gravel was now well fixed in tar.
At Picton I decided to take the ferry right away and head to Wellington. The crossing of the Cook Straights was quicker going north than it had been heading south and 3 hours later I was in Wellington where I settled at the youth hostel.
I'm not too sure where I'll head next... Up the West Coast to Mount Egmont ?... or up the East Coast towards Napier...? One certainty is that Wellington is as windy as it was when I was last here... and the cycle north up the mountains is going to be tough with the climb and against the winds... Well... that's for tomorrow...
- 19/03/2006 - 81. kms Masterton (20 kms in a horse truck between Kaitoki Hill and Featherston)
It was very windy in the morning, coming from the North West... I'll have a head wind wichever way I go. I still was unsure of the direction so I checked the weather forecasts and it was raining on the west coast, so I decided to head northeast up the Hut Valley where fine weather was forecasted.
Although cycling against the wind, it was relatively level up to Upper Hut... Then it started really climbing, the Kaitoki Hill, and I had to push Titus a couple of hundred meters uphill on a section where the road was loose gravel being resurfaced... At the top of the hill, I took a break, panting and a truck stopped in front of me, a lady got out and asked whether I wanted a lift through the next pass ? "I can't refuse such an offer" I answered... The truck was being used to carry horses and even had a ramp, so getting Titus on it fully loaded was a cinch ! Though it smelled badly of horse manure...
So the truck took me up the Rimutaka Hill Pass and back down to Featherston, a pretty little village... From there, the road was relatively level. The next villages, Greytown and Carleton where pretty as well, but when I got to Masterton I was disappointed... It's bigger, a small town, but shabby looking, a bit depressing... I found a backpackers but it was depressing as well... Expensive at NZ$30 per night (but at least I was alone in the room) and the toilets, showers and kitchen were filthy... Ah well, it's only for one night !
This is sheep country and Masterton is renowned for it's sheep shearing... Of the other two guests at the hostel, one was a shearer and he tells me that he can shear the wool off a sheep in 25 seconds (best time) and on average in 45 seconds... Pretty fast !
- 20/03/2006 - 111 kms Palmerston North
In the morning the sky was grey and it looked like rain... I left anyways since the place was depressing.
I decided to head for Woodsville along the SH2 rather than going closer to the coast on SH52... Woodsville would preserve my option of heading west towards Mount Egmont... The only interesting bit on SH52 was a place with the longest name in the world, a 305 meter hill named : "Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamatea(turipukakapimaungahoronuku)pokaiwhenuakitanatahu ". Which means apparently : "The place where Tamatea, (the man with the big knees, who slid climbed and swallowed mountains) who travelled over the land, played his flute to his loved one ". Pretty neat, but I preferred my option of heading west.
The road was a gentle climb up to Mount Bruce (only about 300 meters, but seemed worse with the headwind) through sheep and cattle country. At the top of the pass, there was a Wildlife Center and I stopped to check it out and take a break.
The cost was NZ$8 and I would get to see kiwis !, amongst other endangered NZ species. The center was actually a National outfit specializing in breeding endangered species... I did see a couple of kiwis, foraging for insects in the ground... The kiwis were in a "kiwi house" where the cycle of night and day was reversed. I could see them under red light, but it was way too dim for a picture... Too bad ! Still I was happy since I hadn't seen any yet, not even as roadkill !
I ended up spending a couple of hours at the Wildlife Center. From there, the road was downhill to Eketahuna, a nice little village and I took a lunch break there (a coke with some trail mix and chocolate !). The next village, Pahiatua was nice as well, and the home of the Tui Brewery. Then at Woodsville, I made up my mind to head towards Mount Egmont and the west coast... After a bit of reasoning (you get a lot of time for that on the road while pedalling), taking in the view from the top of Mt. Egmont (the Fuji of the south hemisphere) was more appealing than looking at Napier's art-deco architecture... So I decided to push for Palmerston North and its YHA for the night as I had found it quite comfortable when I stayed there on my way southward. It would help me forget the previous night !
Between Woodsville and Palmerston, the road winds through a tight gorge in the mountains and that 8 kms stretch is pretty scenic. The rest of the way was basically downhill and easy, though I got to Palmerston late (after 6 pm) and tired from fighting the wind most of the day... So after a quick shower I went searching for a restaurant and settled for Thai. A treat !
A pretty good day averall... and it didn't rain !
- 21/03/2006 - 77. kms Wanganui
When I left Palmerston it was sunny with passing clouds... Though I was fighting a headwind the cycle was pleasant... By the time I got to Sanson the sky was solid grey... And at Bulls, it was raining. I tried hiding from the rain and waiting, but it was pretty steady, so I put on my rain jacket and continued on...
I got soaked... At Turakina I took a break at a dairy (convinience store) but it just kept on raining harder... At least the headwind had mostly died out ! I only had to contend with rain and hills.
Got to Wanganui and checked in the YHA. Took a hot shower and since the rain had abated a bit I went for a walk... Everything is closed (it's about 5:15 PM) but it's still a pretty little city. I had a taste for pizza and decided to have dinner at Pizza Hut with their all-you-can-eat pizza... For NZ$15 it certainly filled me up, but it wasn't great... They put a lot of sticky brown sauce on their pizzas and it's not too apetizing... They did have a "breakfast" pizza which I taught was pretty neat (pizza dough with eggs, bacon, cheese).
- 22/03/2006 - 91. kms Hawera
When I got up it was cloudy but not raining, and the forecast was for sunny with clouds and occasional rain... Well, by the time I was up the hill out of Wanganui, it was raining. In any case, my shoes and socks were still wet from the day before. It wasn't windy, so I blessed my good luck and decided to continue on.
By Maxwell, it had stopped raining and I caught a glimpse of the see between the hills. The sun was shining there, too bad the clouds were over the land... Anyways, apart for an occasional drizzle it didn't rain hard anymore and I got to Howera relatively dry (shoes still wet though).
At Howera I took a room at the local pub and had dinner of hamburgers (similar to the Australian hamburgers with the lot). A couple of those filled me up real good !
I had some nice scenery today. A little lake just out of Wanganui, up the hill, with beautiful expensive houses on its shore... The hills were nice and green through cattle country. A couple of nice little villages (Waverly and Patea) to rest at. If it had been sunny it would've been perfect !
- 23/03/2006 - 78. kms New Plymouth
When I got up I walked all around the pub's balcony trying to catch a glimpse of Mt. Egmont... Nothing doing, it was buried in the clouds... Nevertheless I got ready and left towards Stratford hoping that the weather would clear up...
The climbs weren't difficult, the slopes gentle, but the occasional drizzle was unnerving. I took a break at Eltham and at Stratford I checked with the visitor center and more of the same weather was forecast for the next four days... So I guess I might as well forget the climbing of Mt. Egmont...
Just past Inglewood, at Egmont village, I stopped to admire a fence where hundreds of old beat-up bicycles were leaning on... Made me think of the fence full of brassieres at Cardrona near Queenstown... Behind the fence was a backpackers owned and operated by a "retired" cycle tourist (an accident mangled up one of his legs) and we talked for a while... He had leaned a few old bicycles on his fence, a newspaper article talked about it and all kinds of people started leaving their old bicycles there...
Anyways, I was heading for New Plymouth and continued on. It's a nice little city, not too big, and I'll spend a day here taking in the art gallery and museum... I also need to see and fix what's seizing up my rear brake and maybe change the pads which aren't very effective when the wheels' are wet...
Still couldn't see Mt. Egmont with all the clouds, and it's raining right now in New Plymouth.
- 25/03/2006 - 85. kms Mokau
The day off in New Plymouth was good... though it was mostly raining, I changed my rear brake cable which was creating the seizing problem (too much rust on the cable). Couldn't find any good wet weather pads though so I just kept the same ones... The art gallery had a good retrospective of contemporary New Zealand art (some pretty weird stuff actually) and the museum was distracting... especially the section on the relatively recent oil discoveries in the region... which is stimulating the growth of New Plymouth.
The next morning was cool and humid, but the sun was out though it was very windy... I was tempted to stay another day and attempt the summit of Mt. Egmont, but upon reflection it would be difficult with all the wind at high altitude... And in any case, the north side of the mountain (where the trail to the summit is) was still cloudy. So I finally decided to take advantage of the sunny day to make my way north.
The wind was brisk, southeasterly and gusty. The first 30 kms or so were a lot of work going east against the wind. At Erenui the road turned northeast and the cycling became easier. The next 30 kms or so were very scenic through rural landscape and hills... twisting and turning in a gorge around the hills... relatively flat until the 200 meter climb of Mt. Messenger. After that, it was the coast with deserted black sand beaches.
I stopped at Mokau where there was a backpackers'... Small coastal village... no grocery store though... They don't lock their doors here and I'm the only one at the hostel. I managed to get a can of baked beans, a bit of sliced ham and bread at a nearby camp store and settled for the night.
- 26/03/2006 - 110 kms Otorohanga
When I got up, it was grey and cold and smelled like rain, but since it wasn't raining yet, I left (there not even being a grocery store here). 2.5 kms out, I realized that I had forgotten my towel at the hostel, so I had to go back...
The road followed the coast till Awakino, then turned inland following the Awakino river through a gorge in the hills. The cycling through the gorge was just beautiful for the next 20 kms. Quite a few people where fishing the river, and they all seemed succesful. After that, the gorge widened and it wasn't as pretty. As well, the road started climbing, and the wind which wasn't apparent in the tight gorge, made things more difficult as the gorge widened. The wind had changed from yesterday's southeasterly to northeasterly... a direct headwind !
At Piopio it started drizzling but I figured it wouldn't be so bad, only another 23 kms to Te Kuiti. But the hills where steeper, and the traffic got heavier... I was happy when arriving at Te Kuiti especially since the rain was heavier.
After looking around at places to spend the night, I wasn't so enchanted with Te Kuiti... There was a backpacker's but it was out of my way, up in the hills away from town... The pub accommodations here were expensive and the cabins at the camping as well... So since the rain had let go a bit while I was checking out the town I decided to push for Otorohanga.
The rain didn't stop for long and most of the cycle to Otorohanga was wet. But the village was more quieter while having all services and the backpacker's here was very homely. So I settled for the night.
The next morning, the rain was steady. This day, the tail end of cyclone Wati was passing near New Zealand's North Island and it didn't seem like a good day to cycle so I just spent a lazy day reading and watching the rain fall. There was a short period where the sun actually shone around lunchtime but the result was just hot and muggy and it soon began raining again (must have been when the center of the cyclone was passing nearby.
- 28/03/2006 - 62. kms Hamilton
When I got up the following day, it was grey and drizzling but by the time I got ready the drizzle had stopped, so I figured that the clouds would clear up and left.
After a few kms a patch of blue sky appeared over me and I figured that I'd rush towards Hamilton while that patch was open... There wasn't much to see, some hills through mostly rural dairy country with some corn fields. I wasn't fast enough and some black rainy clouds caught up with me and I had to take cover from the rain some 15 kms away from Hamilton... The whole cycle was sweaty as hell from all the humidity, so I was happy when I got to Hamilton. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be better.
- 29/03/2006 - 114 kms Thames
I got up to a beautiful blue sky and much of the humidity had cleared... THis would be a nice cycling day.
The first 10 kms or so were hilly on SH26, then it levelled out... This is still dairy country with a few corn fields here and there. I stopped at Morrinsville for a break. THere are two huge dairy plants in the area and Morrinsville looks as it's prospering.
My next stop was at Te Ahora. A spa resort village but much less touristy than Rotorua. I spent a little time here around the village, checkint out the hot water springs... The road remained relatively flat to Paeroa where it got hilly till Purin and levelled out again.
Thames is a big village, the gateway to the Coromandel peninsula, playground to Auckland's population. I'm told the tramp to the Pinnacles summit is beautiful so I settled at the YHA here.
The next morning was grey but it didn't look as though it would rain and it wouldn't matter much anyways in the rainforest. So I left for the tramp with a young German couple that were also intent on this walk.
The trail was through lush, thick and green rainforest along a stream flowing down a gully. This used to be a "kauri" forest. Very large straight trees with a hard wood that resists rot and thus were prized for boatbuilding... As such these forests were extensively logged and the area was pretty much clearcut in the past. The forest, I'm told, is now recuperating but it is far from the majesty it must have been.
This area used to be volcanic... The volcanoes have since all eroded away leaving the "plug" of hard solidified rock (that plugged the crater)... Hence the "pinnacles". The summit was relatively low at 750 odd meters, but still offered a beautiful green panorama from where the east coast of the Coromandel peninsula could be seen. Walking back down along the Billy Goat Falls track was pleasant as well... All and all, a nice day tramp with good company from the German couple.
- 31/03/2006 - 54. kms Coromandel Town
After yesterday's tramp I was enthused with the peninsula and decided to cycle around it... The morning was fine and I left north along the west coast for Coromandel town.
The first 32 kms were flat along the coast... The cliff on the east side with overhanging trees and the sea with small beach coves on the west side reminded me much of the mediterranean coast of Spain.... After that, the climb of Kurita hill was very steep and you end up climbing the 200 meters almost three times...
At the top of the second climb, while I was taking a breather and admiring the view, a middle-aged kiwi stopped to talk with me... He is the owner of a backpacker's hostel in Raglan (the surfing heaven of New Zealand) and was coming to Coromandel for a little peace and quiet. He was an interesting fellow and we ended up talking for nearly a couple of hours... By the time we parted, I had lost the will to cycle much more that day and going up the third climb was very difficult, so as I came back down into Coromandel Town I decided to settle there for the night.
Coromandel Town is a pretty little village and at a small bucher shop I found some locally made mussel sausages that were particularly nice, so I made them into my dinner for that evening...
- 01/04/2006 - 47. kms Whitianga
Another beautiful morning. The road continuing up the peninsula was all gravel, so I turned inland on the sealed road towards Whitianga...
The road started climbing as soon as I was out of the village.... ANd a steep 400 meter climb it was.... The summit was only 5 kms away, but it took me 45 minutes of cycling (one and a half hours including rests), almost a liter and a half of water and lots of sweat... But the view from the top of the Wangapoua hill was satisfying.
Coming back down through farming landscape and bare hills from clear-cutting there followed two more smaller hills and a steeper 100 meter hill and then a short level stretch along the eastern coast of the peninsula to finish with a steep 200 meter climb and drop into Whitianga.
I was pooped ! and only 47 kms travelled... So I had an ice cream cone (passion fruit flavored), walked around and settled for the night.
When I got up at 5 AM in the morning it was raining hard... It continued to rain steadily till 3 in the afternoon.... By that time I had already decided that this would be a day's rest.
- 03/04/2006 - 75. kms (estimated) Thames (ferry across Whitianga Bay inlet) (broken odometer sensor)
The following morning was fine but they were forecasting rain again for the afternoon, so I set out quickly and hoped I could get back to Thames before the rain...
Rather than follow the SH25 around the bay I decided to take the little ferry across the bay and continue cycling along the east coast... I had a little trouble lifting Titus (loaded) onto the ferry so the operator tried to give me a hand. Unfortunately as he grabed the front fork he broke my odometer sensor... No worries, as they say... However it did feel weird cycling without an odometer as you're always wondering how far you are... and since I was trying to get to Thames quickly before the rain started I was a bit restless not knowing how close I was getting.
Nevertheless, the cycling was enjoyable and the scenery interesting. The forest here was in better shape than inland between Coromandel and Whitianga and though I had to climb back up to 420 meters to get to the west coast, the slope was much gentler than between Coromandel and Whitianga.
As I reached Kopu on the west coast of the peninsula it started raining, but I had only 6 kms more to do to get to Thames so it wasn't too bad.
The circuit I just completed around the Coromandel peninsula traces basically the circuit of the K2 Cycling Race branded as New Zealand's toughest one day cycle race and probably the southern hemisphere's toughest one day race... The race is 193 kms and accumulates 2,300 meters of vertical climbing... The best time recorded in its 4 years of history so far was 5 hours and 37 minutes... Aside from the short-cut I took away from SH25 between Whitianga and Whenuakite I followed the same circuit but it took me some 14 hours to cycle through... I wonder how I would've done without 25 kilos of baggage...?
- 04/04/2006 - 110 kms (estimated) Auckland (suburban train from Papakura to Newmarket)
It was grey again in the morning but it wasn't raining. THe wind was strong and gusty for the northwest though so the day's cycling would be a hard one as I set out towards Auckland.
The first 30 kms were basically flat, so I just had to fight the wind... Then near the junction of the SH25 and the SH2 it started raining and I had to take cover for nearly an hour... Then the SH2, though rolling, was basically climbing until it reached the SH1.
It's not permitted to cycle on the SH1 north of Bombay to Auckland. Though there is a bike route, it is very badly indicated and I quickly lost it and ended up south in Pokeno... To boot, it started raining and while I took cover at a gas station in Pokeno it became evident that I wouldn't make it cycling all the way to Auckland with this intermittent rain while fighting a headwind and trying to keep with the bike route... The gas station attendant told me that I could catch the suburban train to Auckland at Pukekohe, so I headed west cycling the 20 kms or so to Pukekohe... By the time I arrived it was 15:35 hrs and I was told that the last train of the day to Auckland had already left at 15:30 hrs but that if I cycled the 20 kms or so to Papakura there would be more trains leaving for Auckland....
I was really tired by the time I got to Papakura. I boarded the suburban hasstle free with Titus at 17:30 and got to Newmarket at 18:15... It was raining hard, so I waited a bit at the train station. Then I tried to find my way in the dark to Daniel's place in Auckland.
It was a long hard day cycling and I was happy to get to a familiar place with smiling friends.
I'll be staying with Daniel's family until friday when I catch a plane back to Australia bound for Perth on the west coast. So you can continue reading this travelogue here.
