Cycle Tours

Hawera to Whanganui

tomnzalice — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 06:49:00 GMT

We woke up with good intentions of making good progress and arriving in the afternoon as opposed to the late ones we had had recently. Food was running low so we went into the town centre to stock up, Alice was fine with PB sandwiches for breakfast but I wanted a fry up so we headed off to a cafe where I had a full fried and pancakes, resulting in me feeling ill for the first 3 hours of the ride.

We knew the ride was going to be a long slog, we have rode through most of the best scenery on our route on the north island and now it was a case of getting down to Wellington where we can have our much needed day off. We ate up the distance in the morning and stopped for lunch around 1.30, only about 55km left to go.

Obviously Alice and me being who we are we had way too long for our lunch break meaning when we got back on the bike we had lost all momentum and felt really stiff. We both agreed our legs were feeling the last few days and even the shorter hills were causing us to pour with sweat.

The afternoon went slowly, it was hot and sweaty cycling with not a lot of wind or any scenery to take our minds off the ride. I had been having some issues with my bike as well which just added to the experience, there's no lying when I say i was glad to finish the ride and have a beer just before getting to the campsite. We both know the next few days are probably going to be much of the same.

Te Wera to Hawera

tomnzalice — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 05:48:00 GMT

As we both 'forgot' to save an alarm, we, again, woke up later than planned. Once we were all packed up the incredibly nice, incredibly talkative owner chatted away to us for about an hour. He said he would be going over to Hawera at lunch time and said we should be arriving by 3ish.

The 36km ride to Stratford had 3 nice hills that certainly woke us up and at the top of one we met 3 English bikers who we again chatted away with for far too long. Members of the campervan club who we had met at Te Wera continuously drove past us hooting and waving, which made us chuckle. Our worse downfall was lunchtime. At first we deliberated whether to peddle a bit further to Manutahi, which we quickly decided against. We then sat eating at this cafe for 3 hours.

With 33km left to cycle and what we thought was going to be a flat terrain we weren't too fussed. However, the rest of the ride was up and down for most of the way and we were going against the strongest winds yet. Then the owner we had chatted to for ages drove past us cycling out of Stratford at half 4.....we were ashamed for him to see us with so little travelled.

With Mount Taranaki appearing occasionally out of the clouds we quickly snapped a photo of it with a great pose from Tom.

Once we arrived at the small campsite we quickly put a wash on and walked into town where we again ate some more alongside a couple of pints.

Aukopae to Te Wera

tomnzalice — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 05:05:00 GMT

We new we had a hard day and felt pretty rough when we woke up on the department of conservation campsite, had our PB (peanutbutter) rolls for breakfast and headed out at about 9.

Everything we heard about the Forgotten World Highway was spot on, the hills were mega steep and there were a lot of them, you spin your way up one hill and shoot down the other side so before you've had a lot of time to rest you're on an uphill again.

We had 95km to cover so we tried keeping the breaks to a minimum but with Alice and me that's always a hard one, a plan to stop for 5 mins and before we realise its been an hour. The sun was unbearably hot and you felt like you were about to melt on some of the more exposed hills so we had to go for a while before we found shade to sit and have lunch. We just had pasta and a bit of butter and we had almost run out of water, ( I thought it would be a good idea to drink the pasta water, definitely wasn't) and was starting to get a bit concerned because on these roads, as you don't see any shops or petrol stations to top up from.

Just as we were packing up lunch, a coach pulled up and asked if we were alright, a man called Terry who works at a local golf cart service on the train tracks , said he had cold water, juice, cakes, fruit and flapjack and asked if we wanted a lift for a little bit while we ate the food. To Alice's disappointment I jumped at the chance and soon we were in a air conditioned coach getting told about the local hills and stories about people who had died. He took us about 35k in the end which saved us a lot of time and when we got out (at the top of a massive hill) he couldn't give us enough food, he was throwing loads of bread, bunches of oranges, apples, bananas, 3 litres of fruit juice which I insisted on taking and filled all of our water bottles up.

Im not going to lie i felt like I had cheated big time but it had saved us hours of pain and thirst so I got over that pretty quick, now was just the main downhill and a couple of little hills to find the Te Wera valley lodge, where we got a cabin for the night with enough room to spread all of our stuff out for only £20, bargain in my opinion.

Motutere Bay to Aukopae

tomnzalice — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 20:07:00 GMT

Reluctantly leaving the idyllic campsite behind we set off on a long 102km ride in the pouring down with rain. As we rode past Tokannu, the place we were suppose to cycle to the previous day, we stopped for a quick coffee and chocolate from a little hut. Here, we got talking to the lovely couple who owned this popular little stop. They warned us of what was to come so after a lengthy rest and stretch we continued towards the hills...I prefer to say mountains. The two climbs turned out to be quite enjoyable and gradual, with passerbys motivating us to keep going.

The rain continued to pour down, making the rest of the day proving to be a testing one. About 20km out of our campsite we decided to sit in and eat a large pizza each, which, at the time, was amazing. However, the final 20km was a slow one. We then arrived to a very basic campsite which simply had a loo, leaving us to wash ourselves with babywipes.

Taupo to Motutere Bay

tomnzalice — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 19:49:00 GMT

We started the day very slowly, as we knew we only had to cover 56k to get to the next stop so wasn't a massive rush. Checked out of the room, the hostel was nice enough to let us stay around and use the kitchen till whenever so we just sat writing the blog until about 2 in the afternoon, neither of us felt ready to go back to cycling knowing it was going to be another 7 days before we were back in a hostel.

Eventually we dragged our stuff together packed it up and left about at about 3 head town to Taupo to get one last look of the lake before we set off. Now about 4 we had to get ourselves into gear and get a shift on or else we weren't going to make it while it was still light.

We cycled round the lake on a cycle/walking path, it was a nice sunny day so there were a lot of families with prams and people out running making the going a bit slower. Once finally on the highway we didn't have much more success, the road was full of corners which curved round the base of cliff faces, leaving no hard shoulder or room for cyclists. It was trying to time going round the bends whilst not meeting a logging truck half way round.

Out the corners, it was about 1930 and we passed a beautiful lakeside campsite and got a lakefront tent pitch for £24, set up and soon we were in our sleeping bags getting frustrated with the sound of the waves, regretting how much cycling we had left ourselves for the day after having only covered 32k today.

Rest day taupo

tomnzalice — Thu, 7 Jan 2016 11:35:00 GMT

We enjoyed a nice late morning wake up at the very homely hostel of berkenhoff. As we had some breaky we read the messages on the walls written by previous guests, spotting that one had stayed here 480nights!

We spent most of the day chilling by the lake front in the shade resting our heavy legs. After I took yet more photos of my favourite view so far we want to the big PAC N SAVE to buy a load of supplies for the 7 days of cycling we have coming up.

In the evening we showed off our culinary cooking skills in front of a small crowd of other guests. As others produced some worthy feasts our stir fry looked.......different to what we had hoped, which made us chuckle away. As as we took our flapjacks out of the oven a loud beeping noise then proceeded took over the kitchen. All eyes then turned to us as we tried to flap a kitchen towel at what we believed was the smoke detector and then the owner appeared and tried to figure out how to stop the alarm. I then realised my phone was lit up......the timer I had set for the flapjacks was the source of the noise. I then reached over and turned it off...everyone could then continue eating their feasts in peace. Good one Tom and Alice.

After our performance in the kitchen we double checked we had accommodation sorted for the next day and then hit the hay.

Rotorua to Taupo

tomnzalice — Thu, 7 Jan 2016 10:34:00 GMT

We gave ourselves a later start, allowing us time to explore the 'best city' in New Zealand a little more and go down and walk on the beaches of the sulphur lake. The lake itself was like nothing I had seen before with patches of boiling water bubbling up in the middle and great clouds of sulphur steam billowing up into the sky. Having had enough of the smell we both agreed it was time go get some breaky and head off to the local Pak n' Save to stock up on sweets and suncream, as we were both suffering from pretty bad sunburn.

With our pantry filled we aimed to head out of town, only to find the town was built like a maze, we found ourselves in locked compounds having to ask passers by with keycards to let us out. Once free of the industrial estate we swung an immediate right and headed up a dirt trail deep into the hills surrounded by other cyclists, all sporting brand new downhill bikes. I felt confident even with panniers negotiating my way through some rocks and roots in the dirt Alice however.. Not so much.

After an hour or two in the woods we were free of the Red Woods of Rotorua and back on state highway 5 although this time there was a cycle path and wasn't for too long.

Not too bothered with how long it took us we just plodded through the 85km ride, looking out at some amazing scenery and appreciating really for the first time where we were. That wore off fairly quickly when you ride 34k on a single flat road with 4 corners and no shade over the whole distance. Once at the end we were relieved to be heading down towards lake Taupo and agreed that it had been the best day of cycling so far despite the relentless sun. Alice had suffered worse in the heat and was struggling for the last few km, so a well earned meal out a few drinks was on the cards for tonight. Both very happy we had a lie in and a day out of the saddle to follow.

Matamata to Rotorua

tomnzalice — Thu, 7 Jan 2016 10:08:00 GMT

After a good nights sleep and Bevan insisting we had a selfie together, we cycled to a nearby cafe and loaded on the calories wtih a big breakfast. Our arms were already looking pretty red and with the temperature feeling toastie, we piled on the factor 50 and began the 78k route.

Unfortunately, we had to spend 31km on a highway with limited shade. Here, we cycled our first hill of the trip, which proved to be tough in the heat. It was made more enjoyable and passing cars hooted, waved and jeered. Although there was still a fair few looks of, what are these idiots doing. As we got to the final brow of the hill (too many brows for one hill) we realised we had run out of water so we ensured we didn't take the next 10km down the hill too slowly. As we got closer to Rotorua we started to get the occasional whiff off the lovely sulphur. Once in town we shot off to eat some very reasonable sushi, a can of coke and some much needed for water. At the till, a woman mentioned she had seen us earlier going up the hill and thought we were crazy for planning to go all the way to Queenstown but we got 'game'.

Our total elevations was 860m and we both agreed we were ready for more! We ended our day with a pint in town and an early night in our tent, breathing in pockets of smelly sulphur.... or that could have just been Tom.

Huntly to Matamata

tomnzalice — Thu, 7 Jan 2016 09:12:00 GMT

The weather seemed a lot fairer today than the day before, it was raining on and off, but the wind had picked up a little bit. We thought it was a good idea after how close some of the traffic got yesterday to purchase some high vis jackets to wear over our clothes, so the first stop in Huntly was to get that and some food for the day.

Having looked at the map the day before we knew we didn't have too far to go and there wasn't really any hills between Huntly and Matamata that we would cross so we allowed ourselves a 10am start aiming to get there mid afternoon. We only had to cover 70k and about 220m of elevation so it was going to be a short day.

The route was not too bad, good for slightly tired legs after the shock they received the day previous although the wind picked up on the long straight roads making life a bit harder, but we still found time to get a few action shots as modelled by myself. We lunched early on cheese and chorizo sandwiches and cracked on with the rural riding.

We had been unsure of what we were going to come across in this areodrome campsite as our last had washing machines and good hot showers so we didn't want to get our hopes up. We knocked on the 'office' door and we were welcomed by a kiwi man with bleech blonde hair, two diamontaaays, pink t shirt and a pair of very clingey pink jogging bottoms. 5 minutes later we had been persuaded to stay in his spare room for the night for a reduced price, a meal and beers.

We were more than a little cautious not really knowing what we had got ourselves into. It was clear the owner, Bevan, probably only had eyes for me, which was made even funnier for Alice when once I had stripped down to my Lycra Bevan appeared at the door to "show me how the shower works."

Once all clean we sat down chatted, had a few bottles and a meal and thought nothing more of our worries, settling into bed at a very early hour.

Auckland to Huntly

tomnzalice — Thu, 7 Jan 2016 08:50:00 GMT

Even though it was pouring down with rain, we were excited to be hopping on to the saddle and begin our adventure. Travellers we had met so far thought we were bonkers for cycling that far, but this just made us more determined. Spirits high we were peddling out of Auckland up a fairly steel hill and then a drunk lady stumbled in the road, looking like she was just crossing and then suddenly turned to me with a stern look and I thought EHOH and thud she punched me on the shoulder. Luckily her drunk friends pulled her back and apologised and so we peddled off. Of all the scenarios I thought may occur on this trip, that was not one of them.

It continued to rain throughout the day and the wind was against us for the 112km we covered. We plodded along the flat terrain, shaking off the equal amount of cobwebs on each of our bikes. Due it being very cloudy and the majority of the surroundings being residential only a selfie was taken that day.

We arrived at the Huntly, lake Hakanoa, campsite absolutely drenched, but a good hot shower and some homemade pizza from a fellow camper sorted us out. Everyone we met at this campsite were intrigued of our route, asking are we going here or there with both Tom and I responding with blank expressions and sticking with a nod or yeh I think so.

Auckland

tomnzalice — Thu, 7 Jan 2016 07:55:00 GMT

After landing at Auckland international on the 30 Dec 2015, we immediately got some weird looks from people while collecting our luggage, hauling round a bike box and panniers trying to liase with bus drivers to get us into Auckland city centre with to where we had booked accommodation for the first few nights. He could only do us so good and we got dropped about 2 blocks out from the Attic backpackers hostel, which wasn't ideal, with 2 bike boxes and 4 loose panniers between the two of us. People offered to help us as we comically tried negotiating the main Street with a map and our luggage, tripping over each others feet every few steps.

The hostel itself was nice, we dumped our luggage in a room and tried to sleep off our jetlag for this first night. Once awake and feeling fresh we tried the tourist thing, a bit of sightseeing and to stretch are legs out from the flight still. Alice found a walking route around town which checked off many of the sightseeing bits so we cracked on with that for the majority of the day. When we returned we had 4 new room buddies, some large german people who stank the room out, slept all day and scoffed dunkin' donuts.

New years eve came along and we went on a bar crawl organised by the hostel, wasnt bad for $20 each but was a bit busy. It wasn't long before we left the large crawl to go to a restaurant to sober up and eat garlic bread. We then managed to catch the fireworks off the skytower not that either of us can remember them too well.

New years day was spent recovering and preparing, purchasing the last supplies we needed for the trip ahead and catch up on sleep. An early night then we would be up at 6 ready and raring to go.

Photos: New Zealand

tomnzalice — Wed, 6 Jan 2016 09:14:00 GMT

Photos from our trip