Finally we got traction on being able to get to Whakahoro and the start of the Kaiwhakauka Track. This was all off road and the first 15 km's or so on farm track then single track. Although it has been several days since there has been any rain the track this time round in places was quite muddy and this is thick, gooey, sticky, mud so this meant in quite a few places we had to hop off and push the bikes through. There is really only one major hill to climb and that was a bit over 400 metres over 5 kms with no respite. The first half is single track that the track builders have and are still spending a lot of effort improving and then from there on for a considerable chunk it is a 4x4 access track that leads on to the Bridge to Nowhere and past the abaonded rehab settlement farms that just could not make a go of it 100 years ago. Now all that remains is the odd clearing with inrtroduced pasture grasses, pine and macrocarpra trees along with hydranges and one or two chimney remanents of where once were houses.
We met a young American couple at the Owhango Adventure HQ where we stayed last night and chatted away to them for some time - they are here for a couple of weeks and today were off to canoe down the Whanganui River. In the shuttle bus that took us out to the start of the ride there were another five young couples who were also all heading off on a three day two night Whanganu RIver Caonoe trip. With these young UK people especially that I meet in this situation I seem to have a knack of picking their profession and so it was again today when I said/asked are you health professionals? "Yes, I;m a Doctor" she said. "How did you know that"? "Well" I said - "It strikes me when I see young people like yourselves in our outdoors doing this sort of stuff with English or Scottish accents 9 times out of 10 you are Doctors or the like". They are relatively new arrivals and said they want to come here for our outdoor lifestyle. In fact the couple today really wanted to come to Christchurch however she told me that's the only place in NZ where it's difficult to get a job. She said they may look towards heading to Nelson and I said good choice given their interests.
Back to the ride which after the big uphill there was mostly a great downhill run although towards the end we had six swing bridges to cross and this means taking the front carry box off the handlebars, tipping the bike up on to its rear wheel and walking it across the swing bridge then going back for the front box. Of course the design of these bridges is such that they are a few centermeteres too narrow at the start and finish which means the bike and bags just squeezes through with a good shove which is oakay mostly except for the bridges that have steps leading up to the start!
We had our ride out down the River booked with the jetboat pickup at 3:30 and with all the mud and stopping and starting we had to do as a result meant unfortunately there was no time to take in the history along the way. I had been in touch with the jetboat people and shared with them my Garmin live tracking feature and this meant that they were abe to watch our progress throughout the day and were there waiting for us when we rolled up 6 minutes behind schedule.
There were 10 other riders on the boat trip down the river, another couple that did the same as ourselves and the others who came in half way along on the Mangapuroa track.
The jetboat trip down the river is always great fun and fantastic way to finish the ride.
Once at Pipirki we hop on the bike and ride up a few hudred metres to the old school where the Jetboat people have created a lovely small camping ground - Hot showers, great hamburger and salad along with fresh peaches and cups of tea finished another great day on the trail.
No internet access yesterday so a day late getting this posted.
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