John and Claud

Day 20: Winton to Bluff

John and Claud — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT

We leave Winton at a leisurely 9am, noticing the feature town statuary. We have, by chance, timed the final stage of our cycling epic for Waitangi Day, (New Zealand Day). So Invercargill is very quiet as we pass through, pausing to book in at the Tuatara Lodge YHA.

Claud carefully reads the sign welcoming us to Bluff. "WHAAAAT!???" he exclaims. "Don't worry, Claud, for us it's the end of our trip."

As I cycle the last few miles from Invercargill to Bluff, in conditions so grey and dull that I have my rear light on and the cars all have their headlights on, I reflect again on the trip. It has been truly amazing. There had been a little empty corner of my mind just waiting to be filled by those perfect mountain and lakeside scenes. But it was too immense, too beautiful, too everything to take it all in, no matter how long I stood gazing, goggle-eyed. Did I really cycle up Lindis Pass? sit by Lake Tekapo? look down on Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables? It already seems a somewhat dreamlike memory. So many amazing scenes, smells, stars, silences and friendly and helpful people along the way.

Still, there are more important things in life than looking at mountains. I miss my wife and family and friends back home. I wish I had had someone with me to share and, in future, reminisce with about these experiences. I am sure we will come back to New Zealand; there is so much more to see.

Bluff nestles below "The Bluff" hill itself. The "Welcome to Bluff" sign is about the only colourful thing about the town, which seems rather neglected, though the people I talk to are cheerful and friendly, as they have been everywhere in New Zealand.

As we glide to a stop at Stirling Point, the end of the road, the sun breaks through the clouds and the point itself suddenly looks very attractive in the sunshine.

I say to Claud: "Well, Claud, you are a legend!(in fact, a Claud Butler Legend) We've done it - Cape Reinga to Bluff in 20 days! At this moment, I feel almost as one with the astounding land of the long white cloud. I'm sad to finish, really. What about you, Claud? Tell me your inner thoughts?"

"Can you get off now, please?" replies Claud, not unreasonably, as he has had his saddle in total darkness for three weeks, embedded in my, by now, rather tautly rounded and tensile buttock cheeks.

But then Claud adds, perhaps more aptly for the occasion:

"A upane kaupane whiti te ra! Hi!"

THE END

PS By the way, you may wonder why you have never seen Claud's face on this blog. Well, that's only because, like his saddle, it has been covered all this time, by the bar bag. But the handsome visage of my faithful companion for the last three weeks can now be revealed.

Distance today: 62 Km, cumulative: 2313 Km, remaining: 0 Km

Day 19: Queenstown to Winton

John and Claud — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT

"OK, am I dreaming, or are the sheep turning pink?" asks Claud, as we near the metropolis of Winton, Southland. "No, you're correct there, Claud", I reply. The merino sheep, instead of hiding from the heat, as earlier, like little hot woolly mammoths, under the shade of the trees, are now frisking around in thin white-seamed pink pyjamas, glowing a rosy pink in the evening sun.

The explanation comes later, after we check into the Winton Hotel (est. 1889). I ask why everyone in town has a Scottish accent. "Och, it's because we're a' sheep shearers frae Scotland, over tae help the kiwis shear their sheep fur the season." replies my Winton Hotel guest interlocutor. Boy, do these Scots lads ever shear the sheep closely, though!

After five luges last night and an hour admiring stupendous views of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu, I meet up with Craig, from Swansea, and Beccy from Southampton (a teacher). They are on their nine-month honeymoon, travelling the world, having given up their jobs in Gosport.

In the morning, the cycle along the edge of Wakatipu, with morning misty clouds on the flanks of the Remarkables range, is another and, probably final, amazing Vista for my cycling adventure.

To my left, the sides of the mountains are so sheer that, in shadow, they appear to be rising above me like an immense, concave, jagged-toothed tidal wave, about to crash onto the valley below - very scary!

The mountains and lakeside finally give way to fairly flat (apart from the Devil's Staircase and Josephville Hill) farmland.

Distance today: 159 Km, Cumulative: 2251, Remaining: 60 Km

Day 18: Cromwell to Queenstown

John and Claud — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT

My shortest distance on this trip - a nice little cycle over from Cromwell to Queenstown. Very pretty ride through the Kawarau River gorge, where I visit the world's first commercial bungy-jumping site, founded by AJ Hackett, who gained his initial fame by bungy jumping from the Eiffel Tower. I watched the jumpers, but did not partake (chicken!)

The other highlight was "Roaring Meg" the power station on the river - see photos. Of course, Nigel would already know to lookout for roaring Meg!

Queenstown looks very touristy and commercialised, but is on a very pretty spot by Lake Wakatipu. I'm off now to catch the gondola and maybe one of the daring sports tried out by the Smug Adventurers last year - after all, what have I got to luge?

Distance today: 63 Km, cumulative: 2093 Km, remaining: 219 Km

Day 17: Twizel to Cromwell

John and Claud — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Palaentologists assert that triceratops had two brains: one in its head and one lower down, which controlled its huge and powerful back legs. Well, I think perhaps I am developing similar separate and rudimentary ganglia of synapses (that's ganglia, not danglia, ladies!), which control my back legs, separate from conscious thought. This morning, I just sort of dialled in the appropriate cadence and the nether regions took over, propelling me over the fearsome Lindis Pass and on to Cromwell! There was neither stop nor refreshment for 110 Km, so not much option but to press on.

All along the road from Twizel and through past Cromwell, cars are outnumbered by large capacity motorcycles. Many of the riders are early Dennis Hopper look-alikes. And no wonder, this is easy-rider country - vast skies, huge open country, crystal clear air with visibility forever to distant horizons. The sun beats down mercilessly. Cycling is OK, but you wouldn't want to be out here walking!

To be serious and honest for a second, coming down from Lindis Pass, through vast landscapes, I had goosebumps, a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. You just don't see this sort of thing everyday and it has been the most amazing cycle ride yet on this trip. Wow!

Covered today: 149 Km, cumulative: 2028, remaining: 287

Day 16: Fairlie to Twizel

John and Claud — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT

"In the heat of summer, the high altitude, sun-baked MacKenzie Basin can make for harsh cycling. Even the cans by the roadside are roasted back to bare aluminium." I decide to plug Claud's ears with a spare pair of socks, so that he cannot hear me read this particular passage from the guidebook, about our next stage. Claud reclines, oblivious to this danger, his red and black decals resplendent on the clear-lacquered aluminium tubing of his athletic frame.

Leaving Fairlie, the morning is spent scaling Burke's Pass, at which point the scenery changes to much more wide open vistas and dry tussock grass with brilliant lupins all along the road up to Lake Tekapo.

At Lake Tekapo, there is a statue in honour of the loyal, smart and hardy border collie dogs which used to be left at the perimeters of huge early sheep stations, before these were fenced. These amazing dogs would stay on their own for days on end, watching for, and turning back, any stray sheep.

"Yes, and there is also a statue to the brave and hardy bicycles who have carried their fat-arsed riders up and over Burke's Pass over the decades!" says Claud. "Oh no, there isn't, Claud", I retort. "That's not a statue, it's just a picture of you posing on some rocks!" "Well, there should be one, anyway!" grumbles Claud.

Lake Tekapo is mind-numbingly beautiful - just look at the view they have from the window of the little church.

We press on along the enormous hydro canal to Lake Pukaki and eventually stop in the town of Twizel. I stay in a shared Lodge on a holiday park and have a nice evening in the company of Gerald, a lawyer on a fishing trip from Tauranga. I also meet CJ and Simon, who are travelling the world for 9 months. They hail from Ayr in Scotland.

Distance today: 101 Km, cumulative: 1879 Km, remaining: 405 Km

Day 15: Ashburton to Fairlie

John and Claud — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT

At last, we leave the horrible Highway 1 and head into the foothills of the alps, through the pretty town of Geraldine and on to Fairlie.

Claud and I contemplate the hills ahead. There are some pretty testing climbs and, combined with headwinds, they make for tough cycling into and out of the aptly-named Beautiful Valley.

Fairlie is not really a tourist place and I have a very quiet night in a cabin in a deserted camper van site, watching a beautiful sunset over the distant mountains. Time for laundry again.

Distance today: 100Km, cumulative: 1778 Km, remaining: 503 Km

Day 14: Waipara to Ashburton

John and Claud — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

"Well, this is the junction with Manchester Street, Claud, so do we turn right here?" Claud shakes his head. "Oh, so we turn left?" Claud shakes his head even more vigorously. "OK, so it is straight on, then?" Claud shakes his head madly and begins nodding his head, too, in the most alarming way. "Oh, my god, Claud, what's wrong with you?!". Claud clanks a few times and throws a wobbler. "I think my head is about to fall off", he squeaks.

We judder to a wobbly stop. Then, believe it or not, I look up and see Penny Sport Cycles' shop, right in front of us. Claud has broken down literally at the street junction in Christchurch which is the site of New Zealand's biggest bicycle shop! We have not actually passed a bicycle shop since we unpacked Claud in Whangerei two weeks ago. What kind of luck is that? I do not carry the large spanners needed to adjust the headset, so anywhere out in the country and this would have been a stopper, as Claud has suddenly become unrideable.

The mechanic in Penny's tightens Claud's headset - he now has his head screwed on properly and we are off again through pleasant Hagley Park and heading South down a boring stretch of Highway 1, reaching Ashburton at 7pm, our latest stopping time.

Another touring cyclist, Ray, arrives and we both jump across the barbed wire fence and the railway line, to Robbie's bistro, to have dinner and a few handles together, swapping cycling stories. Ray has a collossal load on his bike, maybe a hundred pounds. He even has a two-man tent and a folding solar panel! It all seems most odd, until he explains that he is from Calif-ornia - ahah, say no more! I show him my modest 28 pounds of equipment. "You only have one cycling shirt?!" he exclaims, "how do you manage?" "Well, I wash it each evening and it dries in about 30 mins, I explain. Ray shakes his head at this bewildering news, while anxiously fingering his portable satellite navigation console for comfort.

Ray tells me proudly that he averages ten hours cycling per day, and has once covered 100Km in a day, stopping at 10pm. He walks up nearly every hill.

No photos today, as the route is very flat and dull, except for the following one, of a very weird rainbow effect around the moon. People were standing outside their houses at 11pm, all gazing and gasping at this unique sight. Unfortunately, the picture does not capture the colours - you had to be there, I am afraid.

Distance today: 153 Km, cumulative: 1678 Km, remaining: 603 Km

Day 13: Kaikoura to Waipara

John and Claud — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The pretty young blonde girl turns her head towards me and, from her pillow, murmurs, sleepily: "Good morning - did you sleep well?"

OK, I had better explain and recap last night.....

You see, the Chinese (or Korean?) manager of the Lazy Shag backpackers, who is a bit of a joker, put me in a shared room with three girls and two boys last night. This is despite there being many other "more mature" guests. I ask if this is a good idea, but she replies, by way of explanation and reassurance: "You rook smirey person - all smirey people in room 3 - you be fine!".

So off I go to introduce myself to the two young girls who are already in occupation of room 3. "I am afraid you drew the short straw, girls, and have to share with the old guy!". "Oh, that's alright!", says the blonde one, as she exchanges a quick look with her companion, that seems to say "Did you remember to pack the pepper spray?" "Don't worry, just imagine that you are sharing a room with your dad!", I add, brightly. It doesn't seem to help. However, I find out that they and another girl are doing a gap year along more or less the same itinerary as the Smug Adventurers, so that breaks the ice and I then quickly repair to the Kaikoura Hotel, where I debate the merits of Dave Gilmour and Roger Waters (who played a storming concert last night in Christchurch, apparently), with a guy from British Columbia and then the merits of Liverpool FC with a fan from Melbourne, who is a BMW salesman on a sales junket in NZ; a reward for selling the fifth highest number of BMWs that year.

I have seen only one other touring cyclist on this trip - going the other way. However, I often have the eerie sensation that I am being shadowed!!

From Kaikoura, we are climbing yet again, up and into, then up and out of Greta Valley. These are some of the biggest climbs for a few days and the right knee is beginning to creak again. But the last 30 miles from Cheviot onto Waipara are mainly downhill and I glide into Waipara Sleepers, the backpackers hostel, at 4:30pm.

"Sleepers" is an unusual backpackers, where the facilities room and dorm rooms are in an old station house and old railway guards vans, respectively. These have been retreived, along with lots of memoribilia, from the old glory days of New Zealand steam railways. New Zealand now has a very minimal rail system.

But Waipara is otherwise another truckstop/bend in the road sort of place, so I wander around, take a photo of the backdrop of hills and get an early night.

Distance today: 126 Km, cumulative: 1525, remaining: 759

Day 12: Seddon to Kaikoura

John and Claud — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

"Oh my god!!" I gasp, involuntarily, as I catch sight of my naked torso in the mirror in the morning. There are lumps all down the side of my chest. I was stung on the chest yesterday by a wasp-like insect that flew down the front of my cycling shirt. Could it really have had this effect? However, the moment's panic is over as I realise what the lumps are: they are my ribs! Last seen in 1983, or thereabouts, I just didn't recognise them at first. Despite the 8,000 calory per day intake, I seem to be losing weight.

The tough climb out of Seddon takes us through more dry rolling hills. There are views of distant mountains. This is vineyard country still. But after 20 miles or so, we spy the sea and start a delightful run along the rocky North-East costline of South Island, towards Kaikoura. It really is achingly beautiful and, with a light tail wind and sunny weather, the most enjoyable stage so far. I stop frequently to watch the seals; playing, splashing or just blobbing out on the rocks a few feet away. There are thousands of them all along this coast.

Claud and I stop to enjoy a refreshing fruit juice. I would have had a crayfish, but they only sold whole ones, (and they were rather large, as you can see!),so it wasn't really practical. A KitKat was an acceptable substitute!

Kaikoura was originally the main whaling station and now the centre for whale watching and many outdoor adventure pursuits. So I have trouble getting a room anywhere.

Eventually, I accept a bed in a shared room in "The Lazy Shag" backpackers in Kaikoura. It is a new place and very smart and well equipped with a view of the Kaikoura alpine range behind.

Distance today: 105 Km, cumulative: 1399 Km

Day 11: Paraparaumu Beach to Seddon

John and Claud — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

North Island? Been there, done it! Farewell, and see you again in two weeks!

With a hangover, I stagger away from Paraparaumu Beach back onto Highway 1. I had hoped to get on the 2pm ferry, but in fact I reach the Interislander port in Wellington at 10:20, to find that there is a ferry leaving at 10:35. Just manage to get on in time - boy have I ever been lucky with ferries, despite absolutely no planning!

The ferry takes three hours and, after a brief tour of the viewing deck and sights of disappearing North Island, I stretch out and sleep off my hangover for two hours - perfect!!

I am the very first person off the ferry and on my way. After a stiff climb out of Picton, the countryside to Seddon is rolling. So different to the green lushness of my North Island route, here the ground is yellow dry and more rolling, with faint glimpses of bigger mountains afar.

I stay in a cabin in "Stoneyacres". It pours with rain all evening, so it's another laundry evening, chatting with some of the other residents (except the Thai group, who cannot speak English). Everyone staying there is working in the vineyards. It sounds like backbreaking work, I have to say - almost as hard as cycling up these darned hills!

Distance today: 99 Km, cumulative 1294 Km

Day 10: Wanganui to Paraparaumu Beach

John and Claud — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

No breakfast again, as I am away early from Wanganui. After some long hills in the cold and damp air, I reach the town of Bulls. Here I eschew and pass the "Rats' Hole" cafe, which is empty, and stop instead in the thriving "Bullseye Cafe", (there is something in this brand naming lark!), where scrambled eggs on toast and rice crispies revive my spirits.

Later, Claud and I share a delicious banana smoothie in Otaki. Claud is very generous when he shares these treats with me!

Today is a pretty, if unspectacular, ride down the coast, basically with my mind on getting as close to Wellington as I can. I reach Levin for lunch and the information centre books me into "Barnacles", a backpackers in Paraparaumu Beach, which is a bit off the main route, but proves to be a very pretty beach resort and I have rather too many beers with Bruce and Lesley in the Beachcomber karaoke bar (don't ask!). We all determine to go out at the appropriate time (9:45) to see the comet, as it is a nice clear night. At about 11pm, we all realise that we forgot. Ah well, a good run today nonetheless.

Distance today: 149 Km, cumulative 1195 Km

Day 9: Ohakune to Wanganui

John and Claud — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

"We think you are very brave!", call out the picnicking couple at the side of HW4, as I toil past. This is the hardest day's cycling I have ever done. I have deviated from the guide book, so I do not have a route elevation profile. As the altitude falls about 700metres from Ohakune to the coast, I had thought it would also be a picnic for me too- how wrong!

The route follows the river Mangawhero, but it does so by traversing about 20 precipitous river gorges on the way. The whole day consists of a series of two minute, 40+ mph freewheels, followed by half hour energy sapping climbs.

As I pause at one river gorge bridge, I am thinking how close I can get to the edge, (with a barrier between me and the drop, of course!), how far down it is and how little traffic there is. A strange thought occurs: one could fairly discreetly take a wee off the side of this bridge! It would be rather juvenile, but fun, and you would be finished before the first drops hit the river. Well, all I'm saying is that's the thought that popped into my head.

Despite the knees aching, I have to say that the scenery is, well, no other word: gorgeous! Much as I had imagined New Zealand landscapes. But it is a relief to finally finish fighting the headwind on the last few miles into the attractive setting of Wanganui, where I again "share" a dorm room with no other guests.

I leave you with some of the scenery:

Distance today: 100 Km, cumulative 1046 Km

Day 8: Taupo to Ohakune

John and Claud — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Poured with rain most of the day, so only one brief photo before I leave the shores of Lake Taupo. Last night, I was warned that the stretch of SHW 1 along the lake is highly dangerous as it winds around headlands, with blind corners where the large trucks cannot see cyclists. As it turns out, the stretch from Taupo to Turangi is closed, due to a fatal accident. The traffic cops let me through and say I can try to get past the accident site. This works and I am the only one on the road that morning. I pass the scene of the accident, at which point the road has been closed for four hours.

Nothing to do but press on today and I check into my first shared dorm room in Ohakune. However, it is quiet and I have the dorm to myself. Catch up with laundry and drying.

Distance today: 142 Km, cumulative 946 Km

Day 7: Putaruru to Taupo

John and Claud — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The saddle sores start bleeding again after an hour or so. The worst of this is not the pain of riding on bleeding sores, so much as the anticipation of taking the shorts off at the end of the day, by which time the inner seams will have embedded themselves in, and slightly fused with, the broken flesh! Yes, I made the mistake on yesterday's long ride, of forgetting to apply the vasaline - big mistake!!

Also, it is another grey day and the rain gets steadier. Legs are very weary, so I stop in Taupo at 1:30 and simply cannot face starting again. So I check into the "Go Global" backpackers. Taupo is grey and rather commercialised and seedy - maybe I did not catch it on a good day, or it me! Either way, the only highlight was my first New Zealand fish and chips: $9.50, including a free beer - delicious! Managed one photo of the terrain, during a brief break in the rain.

Distance today: 91 Km, cumulative: 804 Km

Day 6: Pukakohe to Putaruru

John and Claud — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

"You can go up the hill and through Bombay, or you could just join the Expressway here!", said the lady at the BP garage. "Bombay is a nice little place that........". But her words tailed off, as she realised that the strange English cyclist had already gone, his chubby little white legs pumping away down the Expressway in the direction of Hamilton, with a blessed tail wind behind him!

Not fantastic scenery today and rather grey and misty, but I covered 55 miles in 3 hours cycling, by quarter to 12:00. After a long stop in Hamilton, I then cover another 40 miles in three hours, reaching the small town of Putaruru. Check into a huge old rambling and characterful hotel, the Putaruru Hotel.

I am shown around by the hotel's cook, Arthur, and later join him and some of his pals, including Pogo and Lido, for a really nice time in the bar. When I mention that I need to eat, Arthur escorts me to the kitchen and insists that I have his own dinner!! He assures me that, now he has started drinking for the evening, the dinner will otherwise go uneaten. Whatever, I woolfed down Arthur's pie, peas and mash with relish! Thank you Arthur. And thanks Pogo and Lido, too, for advice on the route! it was a pleasure to meet you all and I hope to see you on the way back! (Would you believe that New Zealand won that match in the end!!).

Distance today: 153Km, cumulative: 713 Km

Day 5: Orewa to Pukakohe

John and Claud — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Today was not a great day! I felt very tired after yesterday's long run. The first part was driving into Northern suburbs of Auckland. I got lost in Albany and had to backtrack up a giant hill (very bad news psychologically).

When I stopped to ask for directions to the Devonport ferry, my sunglasses fell into the gutter and bounced down a storm drain hole!! The lady shopper I was talking to exclaimed "Oh dear, that drain goes all the way to the beach!"

I could see a little ledge down the hole, so I reached my arm down, getting it completely black with oil and muck, I rustled around in the leaves on the ledge, until I fancied that there was something else rustling about there too, so I quickly withdrew and went to buy a replacement pair of sunglasses!

The ferry was fun, crossing into Auckland. Amazingly, I was the last person to board again! The ferry had a bike rack and Claud got to hobnob with some of the local ATBs.

The run South from Auckland was then a nightmare of traffic lights and suburban and industrial squalor, through mangy Manuka, poxy Papakanu and dreary Drury.

Eventually I got lost from the HW1 route and found myself in Pukakohe, where I booked into a motel for the night. To pronounce Pukakohe correctly, you have to use very short vowels: pu-ka-ko-he. But the ladies at the information centre say the locals call it "pookakoey", or even "pookie".

Distance today: 104 Km, cumulative: 560 Km

Day 4: Ruawai to Orewa

John and Claud — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I leave Ruawai early and head down to Brynderwyn to join SHW1. There is nowhere for breakfast in Ruawai (beacuse it is Sunday morning), so I stop after 20 miles at a dairy, where breakfast consists of a 6-pack of "Le Snack" biscuits and cream cheese, two white peaches, and a banana.

Hilly roads continue but I get a tail wind and make good progress to Wellsford, where some scrambled eggs and toast strengthen the legs for the afternoon's ride. Just as well, as after Wellsford, there is "The Dome" a brute of a hill.

This road has fast and heavy traffic, but there is reassurance at the roadside. Getting closer to the North of Auckand, I encounter huge hills on the coast road, up over giant headlands. So, after 136Kms, I call it a day and book into a cabin at the "Top Ten" beachside campsite.

Claud takes a candid photo of me as I check out the next day's route, while reclining in my silk sleeping bag inner.

Distance today: 136 Km, cumulative: 456 Km

Day 3: Omapere to Ruawai

John and Claud — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

"Don't go South tomorrow!", Joe, a local Mauri guy (who turned out to be Sue's gardener)advised last night in the bar in Omapere. "The hills are terrible - head North instead." Joe is somewhat of a philosopher in the "live in the moment" sort of way. I try to explain my Southerly intentions, by showing him my guidebook map. "Throw that away for a start, man", says Joe. "That was written by white men!"

Well, Joe was right about the hills; the three big 'uns out of Omapere are tough and made worse by the fact that you can see them snaking upwards into the mountain mists ahead. But it is worth the effort for the views back to Hokianga Harbour and then the Waipoua Forest, where I visit Tane Mahuta, the biggest Kauri tree of them all. Photos cannot covey the scale, as it is so wide, but Tane Mahuta is awe-inspiring - about 50 feet around its trunk!

The haka chanted by the All Blacks goes:

Ka Mate! Ka Mate! Ka Ora! Ka Ora!
Ka Mate! Ka Mate! Ka Ora! Ka Ora!
Tenei te tangata puhuru huru
Nana nei i tiki ra
Whakawhiti te ra
A upane ka upane!
A upane kaupane whiti te ra! Hi!

This translates roughly as:

I die! I die! I live! I live!
I die! I die! I live! I live!
Behold the hairy man
Who fetched the sun
And caused it to shine again
One upward step! Another upward step!
An upward step, another....the sun shines!

Apparently, this verse was penned by warrior chief Te Rauparaha, who hid from a chasing band of Ngati Te Hou tribesmen, after he had, rather ungraciously, eaten some of their number in an earlier raid. The words relate to Te Rauparaha being uncovered, after he had hidden in a kumara pit to avoid his pursuers! His first sight is of the hairy legs of the friendly chief who hid him, and then the sunshine.

I press on for the easiest bit of cycling so far down past Dargaville, along the banks of the Waipoua River, finally arriving in Ruawai, where I stay in "Bea's" backpacker lodge.

Distance covered today: 112 Km, cumulative: 320 Km

Day 2: Kaitaia to Omapere

John and Claud — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

After a large hot pie of uncertain content from the bakery, followed by muesli and pancakes at the Gecko cafe, I set off for Mangamuka. The first 18Kms pass through pleasant rolling countryside. I notice the high volume of roadkill.

If anyone paid less attention, in school road safety lessons, than the young hedgehog children, then it was young Peter and Pauline possum! Despite the relatively light traffic, those poor creatures are spread everwhere, and in so many poses! I even pass one very bushy intact tail - just a tail!

Mangamuka is a 400m continuous climb, for 5Km. Not the big deal of the century, but if you want a workout, try cycling for 5Kms, non-stop, up a 8-10% gradient, with a fully-loaded touring bike!

Turning off SHW1, thus avoiding the growing number of thundering logging trucks, I follow the picturesque HW12 towards Hokianga Harbour, where I just make the ferry as last man aboard - yes!

Later on, I learn that I was fortunate indeed as, a few days before, the ferry crew turned up in the morning morning in Rawene to find that their ferry was missing!! I have heard of misplacing your car, but your ferry!? Apparently, some local wags had slipped the mooring the previous night and Kohu Ra Tuarua drifted off to beach on some mud banks.

After some more punishing hills, I coast into the beach settlements of Opononi and Omapere, nestling on the banks of Hokianga Harbour.

I check into GlobeTrekkers - my first "backpackers", which is run by Sue, an English nurse, who bought the place in 2002, as an alternative to living on her meagre nurses pension. Property prices have since tripled in New Zealand, apparently.

I spend a pleasant evening over a few "handles" of DB with Chris, a Dutch carpenter who is 54 and weighs 68KG. He is a marathon runner and we swap stories about "hitting the wall" and dietary measures to avoid this. I advise that New Zealand pies are the way to go - did the trick for me today, at least. Sue kindly includes my laundry in her family wash and I am off to sleep at ten. The stars are amazing here!

Distance today: 91 Km, cumulative, 208 Km

Day 1: Waitiki Landing to Kaitaia

John and Claud — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I present myself in the morning to Joyce, the proprietor of Waitiki Landing. Her eyes travel slowly down from my face to the tight cycling shirt-encased torso, linger on the clingfilm-tight lycra shorts and then on down....
"STREWTH!! You'll have to get those pins tanned up a bit!", exclaims Joyce, aghast at the sight of my very white legs. I explain to Joyce that I was issued with albino legs at birth and that those babies are going to remain lathered in factor 55 for the duration, so will arrive in Bluff untanned. "Well, just don't go cycling at night!", advises Joyce, "or you will dazzle the oncoming traffic!".

Waitiki Landing to Kaitaia is a pleasant first short stage and an introduction to New Zealand hills. The only technique for getting up these monsters is to slip the chain onto the "granny ring" and settle down to half an hour to an hour of grinding, with the feeling that the old ticker might burst through the ribcage, in a John Hurt/ Alien-esque way, at any moment.

I cover the 96 Km by 2pm and consider going further. But tomorrow's stage will be over Mangamuka Summit, with no settlement for some 25 miles. So I decide on an early first day's break and repair to the Mussel Bar for refreshments.

Kaitaia is the most northerly town in Northland and I check into the Kaitaia Historic Hotel, for the princely sum of $25, about 10 pounds. Claud is allowed in to share my room. I have a few drinks with Patrick, one of the locals, who was a guardsman in the UK and moved to New Zealand in 1968, when the Irish "troubles" started, thinking that being an Irishman in the English Guards might not be too clever at that time. He advises me on possible routes and adds "Whatever you do, don't travel alone, it is too dangerous!"

Distance today: 96 Km, cumulative 117 Km