I'd been wanting to do another overnight bikepacking trip for a while, and this was the first opportunity I had. Rather than wing it, I planned the route out in advance and loaded it into my Garmin. That worked really well, as I could simply follow the path shown on my Garmin -- though it was a bit depressing when it said I had 13 hours riding to get to my destination!
I headed out along the Ngongotaha cycleway, which is great as long as you avoid the broken glass:
From there, I climbed up the roads at the back of the lake, and got my last view of Rotorua before heading out towards the coast:
Kaharoa Road is a favourite of the road cyclists, though we always turn left at the end of Penny Road. This time, I turned right. After winding through farmland for a while, the road became a gravel track. This stretch was wonderful riding, and I got quite excited that I'd found another major bikepacking route out of Rotorua:
Unfortunately, the road ended in a gate, and beyond that was a PF Olsen forest that's being actively worked. My route through this forest was only about 3 km, and I managed to sneak through without seeing anyone, but it's not a route I'd do again...there's clearly a lot of traffic, and the area is being actively felled:
I ended up on Maungarangi Road, which is a nice rolling road that became sealed about halfway along. This took me out to State Highway 33, just before Paengaroa.
My route then took me along Old Coach Road, following the back-roads out towards the coast. Almost immediately, I discovered the problem with this route: while the main highway heads straight out to the coast and is quite flat, Old Coach Road goes up and down, up and down, up and down, constantly, for a very long way. I started to curse the idiot who chose the route, and then realised that idiot was me -- I'd selected this road to avoid the traffic on the main highway.
By the time I reached the coast, I was getting seriously tired from all the unexpected climbing. It was a beautiful section of country, but the road just seemed to go on forever:
Finally, I could see the sea!
My route soon joined State Highway 2 at Otamarakau. This was a busy road, though the scenery made it worthwhile:
Unfortunately, the road also headed straight into a brisk easterly wind, which made the riding more challenging. By the time I stopped at the Pikowai campground for lunch, it was almost 2 o'clock, and I was starving!
The view was certainly stunning:
And of course they had the obligatory shoe fence:
From there, I rode on towards Matata, riding under the railway bridge just as a train crossed overhead:
I then followed State Highway 2 inland through flat farmland:
As always seems to happen, the wind followed me, and I seemed to spend the whole afternoon riding into a headwind. I also got caught in passing rain-shower. Finally, I made it to Te Teko, where I stopped for the ultimate bikepacker's pick-me-up: a mince-and-cheese pie and a container of chocolate milk.
From Te Teko I followed a quiet country road south through farmland, which soon turned into forest. I felt like I was riding out into the middle of nowhere -- traffic was non-existent, though the hills were relentless:
I finally reached the point where I'd decided to camp at around 5:30 PM. I'd been riding for over seven hours, and covered over 132km. My plan had been to camp down by Lake Matahina so I could get water, but the reality was a little different:
This forestry road headed down a muddy gully, and when I realised I couldn't easily get to the lake I decided just to camp on the side of the track:
I must have been tired, because for about five minutes I couldn't find the bag with my matches in it! I thought I must have left it at home (oh no, no dinner!), but it was just sitting under my stove bag.
Dinner was couscous with parmesan and sundried tomatoes, with left-over chocolate milk for dessert. It was delicious, but then anything is when you've been on the bike all day.
I slept really well, and woke a bit later than usual. In the morning, I decided to try finding my way down to the lake for water. The lower I got, the more overgrown the gully became, until I just couldn't go any further and I had to give up:
That serves me right for not looking at the contour lines when choosing a campsite!
Defeated, I checked how much water I had left, and decided I had just about enough for breakfast and a bit left over. So I ate, broke camp, and went on my way, intending to get water from a stream somewhere along the way. Back at the road, I got a beautiful view back down towards where I'd camped for the night:
It did feel a bit chilly first thing, but not all that bad, so I was really surprised to see patches of frost on a bank not far down the road:
After about 10 km I reached the start of Ngamotu Road:
I had worried that this might be an unofficial forestry road, but it was signposted as a main (unsealed) route to Rerewhakaaitu. It was completely deserted, and looks like a fantastic bikepacking route back towards Rotorua:
Ngamotu Road heads through some very desolate country, right through the heart of the forest, though there's a railway line along one side for some of the way:
The road surface was great, almost smooth enough in places for a road bike:
I kept looking out for streams to get water, but all I could find were muddy puddles. It wasn't too hot, and my quarter-bottle of water lasted me -- I decided I wasn't desperate enough to risk clogging my water filter on muddy water.
Apart from the lack of water, I think this road is everything a bikepacker could ask for: empty roads, beautiful scenery, a strong feeling of being "out there" in the middle of nowhere. There is a lot of climbing, but then it's a long road:
After crossing over McKee Road (the "million dollar highway" that runs to Kawarau), Ngamotu Road becomes sealed, and I saw the occasional car. One car was travelling quite slowly, with two dogs on the bonnet! The guy looked like a hunter heading off for the day.
At one point, I could see the Urewera ranges in the distance:
Ngamotu Road just seemed to go on forever, and there were lots of hills to climb up:
Where there wasn't a hill, it seemed I was riding into a headwind again. As the day wore on, the wind got stronger and stronger.
At long last I reached the end of the forest, and could see Mt Tarawera:
It was good to see that I was nearly on familiar ground again. The road soon turned south (directly into the gathering headwind), and by now I was completely out of water, but it was only about 5 km to the Rerewhakaaitu School, where I stopped for a lunch-and-water stop. They even had a swing seat for me to relax in:
From Rerewhakaaitu, I was on familiar ground again, passing by Rainbow Mountain:
I then reached the Te Ara Ahi cycleway, and at long last turned so the wind was at my back. The first section, past Waimangu, was a decent climb:
I always love riding past this weird-looking field:
From the top, it was easy going at last, mostly downhill back to Rotorua:
I was tired, and unfortunately had developed a nasty saddle sore, but overall this was an amazing trip. The route was tough going, with 2,400 metres of climbing in just over 215 km. I won't do this exact same loop again, but I do think that the stretch from Te Teko to Rerewhakaaitu has got to be one of my favourite ways into or out of Rotorua. I'll definitely include it in future long rides.
