Broadwood to some where 71km?

Broadwood to some where  71km?

After packing up camp I head down to the shop before getting on the road first up riding on tarseal roads until I get to a side road (gravel)  that heads up a hill with logging signs and tire tracks from logging trucks on the road with a side road/track at the top of the first hill?  being the main access point on to the road for the logging trucks - riding over more hills I get to a fork in the road with none of the names on the road sign making sense as I can find then on any map I have with me  - after looking at the landscape and the few maps I do have I think I know a)  where I am and b)  what road to take  ( left turn)  getting back to riding I keep a eye out for any people that I can ask to make sure I'm still on the right road - a few km down the road 3 women are walking down the road so after saying hi i ask then what road I was on - yep I'm still going the right way on the right road - getting to a 2th fork on the road I look at the ride notes and the map before heading to kohukohu getting in to town on a fun down hill - onice I get into town I deside to stop at a café (where after asking nicely the nice people at the café let me pug in my phone to charge up as I'm eating a early lunch) then a look around town before heading for the car ferry 4 km away - what I make with a few minutes to spare with the next ferry being around a hour away (there's one ferry a hour) onice on the other side  at rawene I get some more food and water (there is a (water) drinking fountain near the ferry)  leaving town I head along the road to the end to the road on to S.H. 12 then over some hills to the small towns of opononi and omapere then a longer climb up yet another hill then a fun down hill riding next to farm land passing through a small town before starting a climb up hill towards waipoua forest - just before the forest I started thinking where to stay the night - I head up one drive way to ask about nearby places to camp - as I get up to the house parts of my memory fall into place - I have been to this house before (on my last end to end road) and had forgotten about it (to many head injurys and to many years on the road) after a bit of a chat I end up staying the night in a sleep out (like last time)

90 mile beach to broadwood

90 mile beach to broadwood

Started the day packing up my tent trying to get rid of at less some of the sand that seems to get ever where (well I did spend the night camping on a sand dune : )  keeping a eye on what the tide is doing I wait a bit longer before starting the days ride - first up is a ok ride down the rest of 90 mile beach - at one point in time I spot some one walking with a pack on so I stop to say hi and find out where they are walking to - it turns out that they are walking to auckland along the te Araroa trail so we spend a bit of time chatting about the trail - as I'm doing this a rogue wave (a bigger then average wave that runs high up the beach) comes ashore getting me and the bike wet - hum I don't think that's going to be good for the bike bearings - o well it's about time the hubs needed looking at any way (im good at taking part and fixing bikes after so many years riding on the roads and trails all over nz much of the time a long way from any bike shop)

  after saying good bye to the person walking I keep riding down the beach with only the odd passing 4wd  - one did stop with the nice driver having a bit of a chat to me then about the bike ride I'm doing before give me some food . Then it's back to riding down the beach until I get to the road off the beach at ahipara where after cleaning much of the sand off the bike (the bike is well covered in sand from the beach from the wheels flicking up the sand also there is eastern wind?  Blowing even more sand on to the drive chain side of the bike) i do a bit of food shopping just as the rain starts coming down - riding in the rain is not that fun but on the up side the heavy rain is helping clean the rest of the sand off the bike and (waterproof) panner bags : )  as im leaving ahipara it takes a few mins to find the right road (foreshore Rd east then on to Roma Rd (Roma Rd is missing the road sign) 

Then it's time to start climbing up the first hill of the day - it's a hill I know we'll having walked up it on my north island te Araroa walk as well as being the main route south by bike for me over the years get the summit (where the te Araroa trail turns off and heads in to the bush I come to a slow stop as I look over the start of the down hill - there is on going road works (pachers of gravel) - it's still raining hard so deciding to go slowly around the bends in the road over the next few km I start on the down hill -

coming up to the first bend I pull on the brake leavers only to see then move all the way back to the bars with out slowing the bike down - at this point in time I'm all ready up to 30 km/h with the road only getting steeper - hum let's see I now have no working brakes on the bike  on a steep tarseal (and gravel in places)  road with tight bends in the rain - what to do?  I could try to ride it out but knowing the road and my own skills I'm not likely to make it down the road with out a high speed out of control crash so let's not try that - I could lay the bike down and hope for the best (as coming off at 30 km/h is some what less painful with the panner bags and bike taking a lot of the impact)  - not  the best ideas buts it's better then the first idea - in the end I go for plan c - first uncliping my right shoe from the peadel and start drugging the shoe (still attached to my foot) on the ground slowly putting more weight on it then as my speed slows I carefully unclip my left shoe (and foot) from the peadel and start dragging it also on the road - there is a risk that I might still crash but at less I'm in some what control as the bike slows then comes to a stop about 20 cm from going over a large bank - a quick look at my shoes would say that I'm going to to need new shoes sooner then planed (but then it's better the shoes are wearing out slower me down then the rest of the bike and my skin in a crash) 

Getting off the bike and walking to a safe place I start looking over the bike to work out what the cause of the brakes falling with no warning and it's still raining -looking over the disk brakes I see the rear pads are heavily wWearing - I do have spare pads so I deside to swap then over leaning about disk brakes along the way as well giving then a good clean and testing each part to work out why they failed doing the same with the front disk brakes (but keeping the same pads as they are still good)  Im more used to working  on v brakes (what's the type of brakes on my bike Friday) but after a lot of thought I do work out how the disk brakes should be working - looks like the sand from the beach had got in to the disk brakes and caused issues (easy fixed with a good clean and new pads in the rear as well as adjustment )   testing the brakes a few times before packing even thing back up and getting back on the road testing the brakes before the start of each down hill (better safe than sorry)

riding until I get to broadwood  (passing the site of where I got hit by a truck on the bike back in 2008)  at broadwood I stop for a break around 5:30 pm as I'm starting to get cold after riding in the rain for the last few hours - after some though I do a bit of asking around and find a safe place to put up the tent - at 91 km it's a bit short of what I would of like of done but risking getting sick because of the cold and wet weather is not ideal so it will have to do - life is what ever life is in that there is little point getting upset with what you can't change - as I'm setting up camp the rain stops (all ways seems to happen like that : )  after getting into dry clothes and into my nice warm sleeping bag I do a bit reading before heading off to sleep  for the night

Day 1 of my tour aotearoa route ride 61 km

Day 1 of my tour aotearoa route ride  61 km

Today's camp is at
Lat/long S 34°45.237 E 172°57.622

A early start to the day packing up before sunrise then on the road as soon as it's light - as I'm packing up some one comes over for a chat(asking why I'm up and packed so early - it's because of the tide that  I'm getting a early start - riding a bike down 90 mile beach is dependent on what's the tide is doing as for how far one gets down the beach before time runs out -turns out that it's some one who knows me from caving (see I can't seem to go any where where with out meeting some one who knows me or of me  : ) (it's a small world) the day's ride starts with a good climb back up the hill I came down to the camp ground on a gravel road (around 2.5 km?) then a 3? Km ride along SH1 to the end/start of SH1 (a round about leading to 2 carpark)  its misty weather so I can see about 100 m around me if that)  stopping to full up on water (there is a water tap(drinking water) next to the loos (though best not to reley on it to much as I'm not sure where it's from or how much water there is ) before heading down to the light house for some photos (in the mist) - there's no one else around (unlike the last time I was here when there was lots of people there) so I start riding up the path back to the carpark  (passing a few people in the mist) as I'm leaving the carpark some people in a van stop and ask me where the nearest cafe is (about 50 + km away) as I'm riding S.H.1 the mist starts to lift as I drop down a hill only to have to soon climb back up yet another hill (lots of hills in Northland : ) then back down hill until I get to the turn off to the gravel road that leads to the big sand dunes - 3 km latter I get to the carpark at the end of the road - from here my route heads in a stream 3 km out to 90 mile beach - in places there is quick sand so following the wheel tracks and spinning in low gear I make my way out to the beach (a lot faster than last time I was here) once I'm on the beach I start riding south with the dunes on the left and the sea on the right : )  easy navigation : )  riding along the beach at around 15 km/h I try to keep out of the incoming water - as the day wears on a few waves chach me out including a Rouge wave that that runs  high up the beach as I'm talking to someone who is walking the te araoa trail to Auckland - will be giving the bike a clean /check over onice I'm off the beach tomorrow - I keep riding until I run out of hard beach sand to ride on around 1:30 pm (though high tide is not until around 4 pm) so I head in the dunes to set up camp for the rest of the day/night  - plan for tomorrow is to get a early start so I can finish off the beach riding and get back on to the (some what : ) easier road riding

Why I'm taking on the tour aotearoa route (&how to see how I'm getting on

The fact that some thing is impossible has never been a good reason not to try

Why I'm taking on the tour aotearoa route

On paper for  some one like me to be doing something like the tour aotearoa route in the time frame that I'm looking at (4-6 weeks - hopefully closer to 4 weeks) would  be impossible  (as more then a few people have told me lately )  yet that is just part of the fun - to try the impossible - if I fail so what?  I will just lean from it and try again - if I do in fact do it - then it will be a nice stepping stone to trying some thing else in my life

Doing a ride like the tour aotearoa route has been on my to do list for for a few years now - I don't have a wish list or a bucket list but a to do list as they are things that I plan on doing at a given point in time - I Set a goal - do it & move on to the next goal- some of the things on my list was doing the taupo bike ride - 1x,2,4,8x laps, riding the length of nz by bike on the road (2x) (done in 2014 & 2015) walking the te araoa trail - I have done the north Island (1500 + km of walking over 108 days) (south Island leg is on long term hold because of on going leg issues causing a lot of pain when I'm on my feet for more then a few hours partly caused by how I walk (because of my disabilitys)  - after around 8-10 years of living on the road by bike and on foot I have decided that it's time to at less try to do  the tour aotearoa route. My Mt bike skills are not the best though they are a lot better than what they was(many times on other Mt bike rides I have done in the past I have come off the bike due to balance issues with my dyspraxia - that is partly why my other bike is a bike friday folding bike with 20" wheels and low step over frame (I did look into taking the bike Friday on the ta route but had decided that the Mt bike would be better (having front shocks on the Mt bike and the rear derailleur is a lot higher off the ground so less chance of breaking it again - riding the Mt bike is a lot harder for me then my bike Friday though - so that will be part of the challenge for me on the up coming ride )  doing the tour aotearoa route for me means be able to travel off road (like in some ways like the tramping parts of the te araoa trail) with out the issues of the leg issues that I now have  when going tramping and still travel end to end of  nz (a bit like my other end to end rides but this time off road as much as possible then the mostly on road rides I have done for a fun change )

It this point in time I'm about 4-6 days away from starting my ta route ride

Unlike the others riders doing the tour aotearoa route a bit later in the year (who will be doing it as part of the tour aotearoa ride) I don't have a spot (GPS) tracker or any thing like that as I just don't have the money for such things (as nice as they are) so to see where I'm at /how I'm going I will be posting online (Facebook /twitter /Instagram) when I can (so it may be a few days between updates)

So here is ways to see where /what I'm up to : )

Twitter - @gypsyonabike

Instagram - gypsyonabike1

Blog - lifeonabikeinnz.blogspot.co.nz
Facebook - life on the road by bike and on foot  -  https://m.facebook.com/Life-on-the-road-by-bike-and-on-foot-487124424703197/

Some where to woodhill sands (horse place near helesville) 80 km

Some where to woodhill sands (horse place near helesville)  80 km 

After packing up camp I go to put the back panners on the bike only to find out that I got a flat tire on the rear  so after changing the tube and patching the inner tube (will be testing the pach in water before I will use that tube again) then after putting everything back together again I pack my gear on the bike having a bit of a play with some staps that I made up from pink tape and buckets that I pick up at a shop in Hamilton - I'm using pink tape so I can easily see it so I don't forget it so easily (also I like pink things : ) to keep the tent pack up small (one of the 2 compressing straps had ripped out and Macpack wanted $40 for a new tent bag so I decided to just make up some straps instead : ) 

then its time to get on the road after saying good bye to the nice women who let me camp on they back lawn - today im taking back roads north towards auckland  with the road I'm on being tarseal. At I few places I stop to check the map (the map on my phone as I had gone off the edge of the paper map that I have been using) on one of the roads as I came around a bend the road turned into a gravel road with washboard (bumpy) so i unlock the front shocks on the bike (one can lock out the front shocks on my bike with a little leaver on top of one of the fork legs) and keep riding at times riding next to the river other times over hills 

some where along the way the road turns back to tarseal . After a nice fun down hill the road cross's over the river one last time before passing through a few more small towns (at one place passing a moter racing track)   then it's into pukekohe to chach a train into Auckland  - ended up being 2 trains as I had to change to a different train at one point (some thing about using different types of train for different parts of the auckland rail network?) 

onice I get into the main train station I head past the ticket bars?  So I can full up on water as well as getting a ticket for the next  train that will get me out of auckland heading north - make sure you keep your paper train tickets until you are out of the station as they won't let go  out of the main station with out a ticket (or a hop? card) or paying $20-50 fine (not sure how much it was - did see a few people lined up to pay though) also there some times have people on the trains checking tickets /hop cards?  

 On the train north out of the city I fall asleep (opps) waking up just as the train is coming in to the last station.  It's time to get back to riding the bike : )  I ride on back roads much of the way (stopping to check the phone from time to time to make sure I'm going the right way )  then it's on to S.H.16  riding over the "mostly flat" (according to Google maps that is - who put the hills here?) road until I get to a horse place (one of the many places that I help at helping at horse events all over nz for the last 12+ years) where after a quick phone call (from the side of the road earlier ) I set up camp for the night : )

Cambridge camp ground to some where 77 km

Cambridge camp ground to some where 77 km

A late start to the days riding as I deal with working on a few issues with gear/bike suff before leaving the camp ground around 9:45 am  heading into Cambridge riding across the old (100? Year old?) high level bridge and stoping at a bike shop to get the extra inner front brake cable cut (had it in a loop taped to the front panner rack) also went to the post shop to send off 5 kg of extra grar/clothing that I had decided I no longer needed to have with me back to my mums place

  then it was time to leave town along the old main road (there is a new just opened bypass that takes much of the cars and trucks around Cambridge instead of thought it) riding past the cycle center I see there is a min road course set up (for teaching road safety on bikes) next to the velodrome - there's even a café there - I might stop by for a good look some time : )  once I got on the new bypass there is a nice wide shoulder to ride along also in places there are off road bike paths leading on to less used roads.

Onice I get into Hamilton I stop in at a super market for food to get me up to auckland before dropping in at a friends out door shop to say hi then went and got a back up battery for my phone /tablet?  (handy things to have in the middle of nowhere to recharge the phone since there ant any power points in the bush and I just don't have the money for a solar or hub power set up ) also went to a out door/bike  shop for a few things like spare disk brake pads (i have different disk brakes on the front and back as I had upgrade the rear disk brakes a few months ago (just before I broke the derailleur and derailleur hanger so I had the bike not riding - only got the Mt bike back together about a week and 1/2 ago?

 Then it was some nice riding along the river trail out of Hamilton then on to the old main road (i was being to lazy to take back roads) traffic was ok (im well use to traffic) passing through a few small towns including Huntly (where I pick up something for dinner)  at Huntly I crossed over the rail/foot bridge over the river and headed north until it was getting dark so time to knock on a farmers door to ask about near by placings to set up a tent for the night (something that I do much of the time on the road)  well the first few houses had no one home then tried one house and got told to ask across the road where a nice women told me I could set up my little tent any where and showed me where things was before I set up camp for the night : )

Some where to the camp ground at Cambridge

Some where to the   camp ground at Cambridge

After a bit of a sleep in this morning I get pack up and back on the trail first crossing the 80 m swing bridge large foot bridge over the small Valley and mangawera stream - looking over the side it's long way down  then there's more up and down riding (when I'm not having to push the bike up a few of the climbs that is)  then next to a rock place the trail climbs a lot (a 200 m climb in 2 km or something) using many switch backs where I end up walking some of it (on the up side I'm getting better at working out the best way to push the bike up hills on tight single track : )  at the top of the climb the river trail head on to  tarseal roads for much of the way to arapuni dam  there is still a few bits of off road riding like at Jim Barnett reserve - first up is a down hill ride then a mix of rolling hills and a few flatter bits - the trail is more or less well marked on the road bits - there's a bit of river trail from Jones landing to arapuni dam that's remend that people riding take a road detour to bypass this bit of the trail (unless you are a very good Mt bike rider) at arapuni I went café hunting - the café was closed but across the street was a food trailer selling ice cream (so I got a nice ice cream as it's hot work riding the trails)  after filling up my water bottles at a drinking fonting I headed down a track to cross the large arapuni swing bridge across the gorge that was built in 1925 so workers working on the power house had site access) - next to the bridge is a old tubane runner from the power house also a sign with photos talking about how and why the power house was camouflage during ww2 ( incase it became a target to eamey planes)   onice I got across the swinbridge I headed up power house road (passing a gate across the road (with a sign saying that the road was closed to the public?)  from arapuni I headed on more back roads over a few more hills until I got to a cycle/walking path near the karapiroi dam - from there I took the path into Cambridge where I headed for the camp ground for the night - after I set up camp I headed into town to get a bit of dinner before heading back to the camp ground : )

O to some where on the river trail 110 km

O to some where on the river trail 110 km

A bit of a early start to the days riding being all packed up and ready to get on the road by 7:30 am heading more or less north on back roads it one point passing the side road that leds to the doc  camp ground at piropiro- it's at the 40 km point of the timber trail (that I spent new years eve at) riding over rolling hills - some of the hills being a bit larger that others - on the last big hill before I turned on to S. H. 30? I was looking for the near by rail line so I would have a better idea where I was on the map - after spending a few minutes thinking where the rail line might be I relased that it was underground in a some what long tunnel and saw  enough  I passed by one end of the rail tunnel on the way down the hill then it was back on to S.H.30 a few km north west?  Of benneydale - for there i keep riding (i did stop at benneydale for bit of a break to decide what roads I would take north)  down the road I passed the turn off to the timber trail and a bit latter on a road side walk way to a large tree (about a 20 min walk maybe? )

  riding until I get to one of the access points of the Waikato river trails at the maraetai dam access Rd (ended up looking up the roads on google maps (including satellite view) to make sure i was taking the right road-once I got on the trail (a mix of single track and old bush roads)  i passed the site of some flying fox?  Used to get suff to the dam site during construction of the dam and power houses (there are 2 power houses( power stations) at maraetai)  there are also remains of the mixing plant used in the construction of the dam/power houses just down the trail - from maraetai I head down river with the trail heading up and down in places so at times I have to push the bike up hill (not enough grip with the tires I have on the bike) also in different places along the Trail is steel bars with a small gap between then (to try and stop motorbikes from using the trails (ie only bicycles and walkers on the river trails) -  some times the bars cause a few issues with the hight of my rear panners / the 2 bags on top of the rear rack (tent bag and sleeping bag( in a dry bag)  caching on the bars 

with some of the track being single track and other parts old bush roads? There is a few places where there's a bit of windfall across the track (at one place 2 big pine trees had come down next to each other so had a bit of us fun?  Getting the bike over (ended up taking off the panner bags as lifting 15 kg of bike (+the 8 kg of gear still on the bike (tent, sleeping bag, hande bar bag & full water bottles) a  good M in the air to get over the falling trees was hard enough with my suffed shoulders (from when I got hit by the truck back in 2008 - I have issues lifting things higher then my shoulder hight)  at the bottom of a down hill into a side Valley?  I stopped at a small Creek to filler some drinking water into my water containers (limited places to get water on the trail)  - just before the water stop I got past by a rider with a bike packing set up so we got chating a bit - I think they will be doing the same end to end route in February as part of a event.? as what I'm looking at doing - they got a lot less gear then me though (i will be cutting down on what I'm taking on my own end to end bike ride sending the extra gear back to my mums place) . After riding more up and downs-some steep (well it is rated at advanced) I get to the end of this part of the trail (waipapa section)

  at waipapa dam  when the trail cross's the dam and heads down a 4wd track then single track for the next part of the trail to arapuni dam (arapuni section) at one point there is sets of steps to climb up (with some wood side bits on the side of the steps to roll bikes along)  - it's not the easiest thing for me to get up party as the wood for the wheels swaps sides at times (and getting on or off the bike or just getting my leg over the bike frame is hard for me (partly why the other bike I ride has a very low step over is it's a lot easier for me to get on/off) After finally getting to the top of the sets of steps the trail heads up and down a bit before dropping on a forest road (where I get up to around 50 km/h down the hill  happy that I do have front shocks on the bike as there is money then a few potholes on the road at one point there's a sharp bend in the trail (that I almost miss) when the trail heads off the forest road on to single track though some Pine trees - riding until about 15 mins before dark I find a place for the tent next to a large foot bridge (that crosses a small Valley) where I set up camp for the night (a small place next to the trail - even has a tablet next to it before heading for bed for the night

Taumarunui to ongarue? 46 km

Well today's ride did not got quite to plan - was raining last night and was still raining this morning as I packed up - I did notice that there was more room in one of my panner bags as I was putting then on the bike but did not think much of it (yep if there's unplanned space in your bag you may have forgotten something - as I was to find out latter) then into taumarunui to get food for the next 2-3 days before heading back towards the (south) start/end of the timber trail on a partly gravel road to ongarue and on to ongarue waimiha Rd - as I'm having a break at around 38 km in to the days ride I got to get the tablet out of my panner bags - only to find its it not where it should be and after taking everything out of my bags still can't find it - it's around this point in time that I remember about the "extra" space in one of pannier bags - Looks like i might of lost/misplace it some where - some nice people in a passing car offer to call the Campground where I stayed the last 2 nights when they get back in cellphone coverage 8 km away down the road before driving back to me with the good news that my tablet is in deed still back at the camp ground (I have no idea how I ended up forgetting it though) so now all I have to do to go and get it what's a bit harder then it seems - end up back tracking 8 km to ongarue then leaving the bike and gear at one of the timber trail shuttle service places then walked the 3 km to the main road to thumb a lift back to taumarunui (and the camp ground) what ended up taking a few hours to get a lift to the camp ground (about 25 km away) heading in to the camp ground the nice people there hand the tablet over to me - they had even recharge it up for me with out asking : ) then its time to start thumbing a lift back to ongarue (back to my gear and bike)  - well after turning one  ride down I got a ride to the other side of taumarunui where I then spend the next 3 + hours trying to get a lift north with no luck at all - time for a new plan as it will be dark soon and I got no gear with me - I ended up calling my mum to get a phone number for a uncle that lives in taumarunui to see if they could give me a lift back to my bike and gear - I was not planning to have to call the uncle as I was not sure how things would go with the new things in my life (Tg suff) and if the person I was calling knew about it so how they would react to to me - some of my family is OK with me being Tg others not so much - with some being very nasty to me - in the end it went ok with the uncle picking up up about a hour?  Before dark and giving me a lift to where my bike and gear was - I pick up my bike and rest of my gear before heading a bit down the road to set up camp for the night

Doc camp site to taumarunui 76 km

Doc camp site to taumarunui 76 km

After packing up camp I chat with a few people before heading back on to the timber trail - with the trail being a mix of single track and gravel roads. A few km into the trail it's starts climbing on mostly single track up to a very large bridge (one of 7 such bridges on the trail)  as im spending a bit of time taking photos 2 other riders pass - the riders are for Wellington (i think?)  as the two other women are riding around the same speed as me we end up riding more or less together to the end of the trail stopping every so often for a break. From the end of the old bush  tramline at the  terminus  the trail tends down hill. With it being very bumpy in places. At one point I feel (and hear) my front brake cable break - the trail is not to steep so I keep riding until it's time for a lunch stop where I get out my spare inner brake cable and swap it over waping the extra cable a round a  loop a few times before taping it to the front rack. At the lunch stop (camp 11) there is a hut and the remains of a turntable (to help turn the geger? Around)  and a few other bits and pieces from the old bush tramline. Then it's back on the trail for more down hill riding passing over the last big bridge (where as you look down to the river you the see some remains of the old tramline bridge)  riding though more cuttings (from the tramline days) we get to the ongarue spiral where the tramline (and the timber trail) goes round a loop crossing over a bridge (over a cutting) before heading into a cutting and a short but very dark tunnel (so bring a light : ) before heading out though the same cutting that the trail pass over with the bridge  - the spiral was built so the logging trains could make the grade of the climb up the valley . From the spiral the trail heads down the valley at places heading though pine trees then farm land before the carpark about 2km from ongarue where the other 2 women that I had been riding with are getting picked up by one of the shuttles that run people to each end of the trail so after saying good bye to the people I had been riding with for part of the day it's time to start some road riding to taumarunui (about 30? Km away on back roads next to the river - there's a few km of tarseal road then it's gravel (with bad washboard in places - more bumps to ride over) as i pass next to & under a few rail bridges it looks like there is a lot of work being done to fix /rebuild parts of the rail line from te kuiti to taumarunui (part of the main trunk rail from auckland to wellington)  about 10 km?  From taumarunui there is a fork in the road with one road crossing the river on a double decker bridge (rail on top with single Lane road deck under on 2 leavel)  the rail part of the bridge is not in use any more as the that rail line is no longer used for trains - there is a place that runs tours on goft cart like things that run on the rails (rail carts?)   the other road keeps heading towards taumarunui so I take that road into town. In town I stop for a bit of food before heading out to the camp ground a few km out of town next to a river  (on the south end of town) where I set up camp for the night

Pureora forest doc camp ground to doc camp site at 40 km into the timber Trail

Pureora forest doc camp ground to doc camp site at 40 km into the timber Trail

A bit of a latter start then planed so I get on the trail around 9 am after packing up camp - the trail is a fun mix of single track going though bush with a 5 min side track to a old bulldozer then it's back on the trail - after crossing over a stream I decide to stop and filter some water in to my camel back and drink bottles -(with it being summer it's hard to know what streams have water in also many of the streams can be a bit hard to get to the water so I full up all my water contanes) - in some places the trail is out in the open (where the bush? had been cut down) at times getting past by a group of riders from up north land and a few other riders - other times I get to pass them - a bit like a game of tag - some times chatting with the other riders - at the bush edge there's a sigh warming about being perpeard for alpine conditions with the track going from a grade 2 to a grade 3 - with the track being a bit steeper as it heads up the side of Mt pureora climbing by switch backs up to a high point around the 15 km mark - I see that a few riders look like they over shot a few of the bends in the track : )  in two places there is side tracks (tramping not cycle) leading up to the summit of Mt pureora (part of the ta trail) in a few places there's is views looking out towards Lake Taupo (and even some cell phone reception - I did look at the phone but decide that any messages can wait a few days : )  and keep using my phone camera to take photos with : )  after the 15 km mark (there are little sign posts each km on the trail saying how far to the end of the trail) the trail tends down hill with the trail a mix of single track, some old logging roads a bit of gravel roads - even a bit of old tramline - in a few places a steep down hill (some times follow with a bit of up hill riding).  a long the trail is different sign boards with different information on the history of the area passing the turn off to bog Inn hut (tramping track (not part of the cycle way  and part of the ta trail)    I keep riding taking a few breaks to look at the landscape or to read the trail signs until I get to to turn off to the doc camp site around the 38 km mark where I turn off the timber trail to head to  the camp site for the night getting in to the camp site around 3:30 pm first getting some more water (decided to give my water filter a clean as it was getting harder to pump - after the clean the filter worked a lot better  : ) before setting up camp for the night and then spend some time going over the bike - swapping over one of the bots that holds the rear panner rack on also took out a few links of chain so the bike would shift better (i had put a new chain, rear derailleur and derailleur hanger in te kuiti so was not sure of the right chain size - first checking to make sure i was not making the chain to short before I took the extra links out)  - after finishing the bike fixing I spend the rest of the day chating to a few of the groups of riders that I passed (or got past by : ) who happen to be staying the night at the camp ground in the middle of the trail. Even though it's new year eve most people are in bed by dark (or sitting around a fire)  Im in my tent by 9:30 pm and asleep soon after : ) - I do wake up about 1/2 an hour before midnight /the new year - I hear a few yells/happy new years before I head back to sleep

Te Kuiti to pureora camp ground 64? Km

Te Kuiti to pureora camp ground 64? Km

After finishing the last of my packing and saying good bye to my mum (at who's place I been staying at for the last week) i get on the road heading into te kuiti - around 5 km away. Getting into te kuiti my first stop is the supermarket to get food for the next few days then the wherehouse for some battery's - I end up getting a pack of a battery charger and 4 aa rechargeable battery (got sick of buying one use battery's) as well as two battery's for my wireless bike computer also a pack of cable ties (one can never have too many cable ties : )  - saw a ta (te Araroa trail)  walker out side the wherehouse so ended up chating to them for a bit then it's time to head out of town for a 55? Road ride to pureora forest and the start of the timber trail cycle trail - a 84 km cycle trail that uses a mix of old logging roads, old bush tramline, gravel roads and some new trails - heading though farm land up and down some hills - it's a hot day getting up to 35c (that's what the bike computer says - well it's hot enough to melt the tarseal on the road)  at benneydale I stop for a drink at the shop (was going to get a powerade from the little shop but had to backtrack to the café to get a bottle of powerade as there was none in the shop) i got chatting to some people in a car that was parked out side the little store - maybe I should get a t-shirt with a FAQ of the top 5-10 questions I get asked all the time like how many km I ride each day (any where between 5 km to 190 km depending on how I feel  : )  then its back on the road to I get to the turn off to pureora forest and down maraeroa Rd for a few km to the doc camp ground - stopping in at a place for tourists and got chating to another ta walker then it was off to the camping ground to set up camp for the night chating to a few people at the camp ground before heading off to bed for the night