Oscar has a new toy!

I can't believe Oscar has outgrown his red bike already.  He certainly is riding longer distances now on the MTB tracks. I wont be able to keep up with him soon.

Ride the Runway 2017

The rain came, and there was water everywhere. The event got postponed to the next day.

 Oscar and I got there early, and I managed to get number 53, the same number for three year!

The boring bit. Waiting for everyone else. At least the sun was shining.

To make things interesting, and to pass the time waiting, there was a "Slow Bike Race". Oscar did really well,  and was the fourth to last to cross the line.  The winner is the last one across the line.

 Finally, the runway was clear of aeroplanes, so the cyclists could Ride the Runway.

Yes, it is a Pennyfarthing

 Lots of different bikes, and many cyclists dressed up, including Wallace...

 Oscar found the headwind quite difficult, but really enjoyed the tailwind.

 The rain didn't dampen the fun, and there were unusual forms of wheels about.

I managed to be one of the last on the Runway, just me and my bike.  It was Awesome!

To the top of the Island - Cape Reinga

The place where the spirits depart Aotearoa.

It was very breezy walking down to the lighthouse, and the furtherest point of Aotearoa.

 There is an ancient pohutukawa on the point, that the spirits await the wind, and then leap off to their journey in the spirit world.

 Luckily the signpost was there, for us to hang onto when the breeze picked up.

Oscar and Erik

Quinn and Tighe

Erik and Ruth hanging on

 The Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean met at this point.

 A steep walk back up the hill, in the wind.  Tough walk but the view was fantastic.

 All the urchins before the wind blew them away.

 Off on our next adventure, exploring the sandhills at Te Paki

Wanderings

 

The urchins and I had 6 hours in-between dropping Erik off at Karapiro, and picking him up in Kopu.  He was going to cycle part of the Tour Aotearoa route. The Route  We were going exploring.

 Oscar kept calling the Te Aroha tower, the Eiffel Tower.  Not much traffic on our roads today.

 A picnic lunch at the Karangahake Gorge, and then exploration of the old gold mining tunnnel.

Can you see the light at the end of the tunnel?

It's a one km walk through the tunnel. The track is shared with cyclists.

There is lighting, we didn't have a torch.  Anneke found the glow worms.  About every 200m there was a hollow in the tunnel.  I guess that is from when the train used to go through, there was a place for the work men to be safe.

Oscar in the safe place.

 There is water dripping through the walls, and makes interesting patterns, washing away the soot.

 The tunnel was refreshingly cool, after being in the hot summer sun.

 Nearly there, and the air temperature has warmed up too.

 Oscar wanted to be first, so he ran ahead, and then waited for us.

Oscar also discoved the soot liked to stay on his face and hands.

 The urchins got their feet wet in the river.  We saw an eel, and some tiny fish.

After a while of enjoying the riverside, the urchins decided to walk back through the tunnel, instead of braving the heat in the gorge.

 Oscar decided to run the whole way back.

Can you see the other end of the tunnel?

Next stop,  Paeroa for refreshments after the walk.

 The urchins got to check out the famous bottle.

 I needed to see how we were going to spend the next few hours.  Luckily there was a playground close by, and lots of shady trees, so while I planned the trip for the rest of today and tomorrow, the urchins played.

An extra bonus was seeing Erik.  The cycle path was next to the playground.  He thought he had 15kms to go, but my map said 26km by road, and he was going by rail trail, so I guessed it would be about 20km for him.

Finally managed to get the urchins in the car, and on our way to Kopu, visited the site of Captain Cook landing on the Waihou River on 21 November 1769.  The six-ton ship's anchor was donated by the Navy.

Picked Erik up in Kopu just after 6pm, (yep, he did have an extra 5 km to ride) and drove to Auckland, as Erik is riding the Parakai to Clevedon route on the morrow.