Catch a Ferry - Tour Aotearoa

Woke at 5:30am, packed up in the dark and headed out, hoping to make the 6pm o'clock ferry at Pouto. We started riding in the dark, a big climb but not too steep. Beautiful and eerie in the half light.

Turned off onto a gravel road just as the sun came up. Couldn't see a thing with the dust and grime on my glasses. Lots of off-camber corners and very loose gravel. Slipped over at one point but just managed to put my foot down in time so I didn't crash in the gravel.

Passed the Trounsen Kauri park, then back on the main road. A few km further down the road was a petrol station, where we stopped for food. I had a kumera and steak pie, a chocolate whammy muffin (which I eventually ate at Pouto), and a bottle of chocolate milk. Yum!

Lots more riding on gravel, with quite a bit of climbing, and then we eventually reached Dargaville. Stopped at a bakery for more food, then went to the supermarket for supplies. We saw about 8 other riders in Dargaville, so we pressed on, hoping to get to the ferry early enough to get into the first 30 people waiting for the ferry, as apparently that's all it can take.

We passed New Zealand's smallest church (which looked like an oversized doll's house), stopped at another shop at Te Kopuru to get water. I thought I had one and a half bottles left, so I only filled up one...a decision I would regret a couple of hours later.

 After Te Kopuru, the road began to climb once more. The seal disappeared after about 90 km, and we rode the rest of the way on the gravel through a forest. There were several logging trucks rushing past. At about 100 km I discovered that I only had half a bottle of water left, and tried to conserve water which took its toll on my body. At about 110 km I saw a sign saying water was available, and rode in to someone's house. They weren't there, but a sign said to help yourself so I filled up two water bottles and drank another one right away. Bliss.

The hills were relentless. After the forestry, we reached some farms and a school before finally reaching the landing at Pouto. I was quite worn out...we had ridden 125 km and climbed 1,600 metres. Another solid day.

When we arrived, I discovered that the bag of oatmeal I had strapped to my rear bag had fallen off somewhere. Oh well...there are worse things I could lose.

The ferry is coming

That's the Ferry?

We were numbers 24 and 25 for the Ferry -- we'd made it!

It was surprising who was there with us on the boat. There were several people I thought would be well ahead by now. Bryan Pestridge, Jessie Rawcliff, Kevin the tour guide, Kelly Neville from Virginia, and Richard Harding were all on our boat too.

They had the boat well organised, with a wooden ramp you could wheel your bike up, and another ramp tied to the side of the boat you could use to get your bike to the back. They put most of the bikes on the back, and about 16 on the roof. In the end, they took 46 people on the boat ... They claim to be able to fit 30, but they squeezed us all in somehow.

Ferry Line by Richard Sidey

The boat trip was fun, though we were all quite tired. They gave us watermelon and coffee and tea. It got dark on the boat, giving us plenty of chances to take great photos.

They also took orders for dinner, and phoned them through to a local Parakai fish-and-chip shop.

We arrived at Parakai at about 9:30pm, and set off trying to find the fish-and-chip shop.

My bottom was quite beaten up and sore from three days of hard riding, but Greg charged ahead. I was trying to find the shop but was so busy chasing Greg that we both missed it and rode into Helensville. After searching for a bit we headed back the way we had come, and finally found the place. Perfect -- big servings, delicious and hot. After dinner we went to the Kaipara Cruising Club, where I had a shower and we set our tents on the back lawn, while about 30 people slept on the floor inside.


As I was getting ready for bed I discovered that I had lost my electronics bag. It only had my Garmin charging cable and some spare batteries for the Spot tracker, but it's still annoying. The worst bit is that I couldn't charge the Garmin, which I need to use for route-finding tomorrow. I'll have to find a replacement cable in Auckland.  I must have left it on the grass at Pouto, or maybe back at the campsite at Waipoua. Grrrr...it must have been the day for losing things. At least I can easily buy replacements.

I'm really happy to be here, because I've already ridden this next section and I'm heading in to familiar ground. I just hope my derrière is up to the task...