A picture says a thousand words - Tour Aotearoa

Sunday 6 March
Another day, another Island, off to the Mainland.

The plan was to ride to Nelson via Queen Charlotte Sound.

So near, and yet so far away -- there was an emergency tracker on my bike, but with a badly broken wrist I couldn't get to it to set off the alarm.

Bad news. Fell down a bank in the Marlborough Sounds and broke my wrist. Got a nice ride in (and under) a helicopter, but no more riding for me....

Where it all happened -- the Pathway Link track leading into Havelock

Rescue on the way.

Being airlifted out of the bush.

The rescue people were absolutely awesome.

Inside the helicopter.

Ten broken bones.

In Nelson hospital, after the doctor had reset my broken wrist.

The Mountain must come to Mohammad - Tour Aotearoa

Saturday 5 March -- Day 12


We had a leisurely start, as Pete was going to join us in Masterton at mid-day, but then we got a text that Fern, his daughter, was sick and he couldn't come. It was still good having a late start, as we needed the rest.



My foot was still quite sore from standing on the tent-peg, and I had a big blood blister. I used my needle to puncture and drain it, which did help. I was no longer limping but it was still quite sore.


We rode back into town for the photo stop, and then bought breakfast from the four-square. I had a gigantic sausage, a muffin, a pie, and a container of Up&Go.



We left Eketahuna at around 9, and made good progress in a tail wind to Masterton. There were only a few rolling hills, and absolutely no traffic.



We arrived in Masterton at about 11, and ate a second breakfast at a cafe. I had two milkshakes and a burger.


Given our good progress and the favourable winds, I began to think that we might be able to make it to Wellington in one day. There was a long and relatively flat section though the Wairarapa, and then a harder section with about 400 metres of climbing on the Rimutaka Incline track to Upper Hutt, and then another 20 km of flat riding to Petone, where Pete lives.



We rode on, along smooth sealed roads and gentle hills, and made good progress at first. But then the winds shifted to a cross-wind and then a slight headwind, and our goal of reaching Wellington became less likely.



On a steep and fast downhill, I got stung by another wasp, this time on the neck. It hurt, but nowhere near as bad as when I'd got stung 20+ times at once. I'll just add it to my catalogue of aches and pains: my foot, my backside, my wrists and hands, and occasionally my back. The pain doesn't worry me though -- you learn to ignore it after a while.


The course had been heading mostly south, with the winds coming from the west. We now turned west, right into the wind. That slowed us down a bit.


We reached Martinborough at around 2:30, and discovered that they were having a big fair -- and that the TA course ran right through the middle of it!  So what else could we do? We bought some more food. Greg had the great idea of buying some rolls to eat later on the Rimutaka Incline, and we then carefully walked our bikes through the crowd.

On the other side, we had a long section on the main road, with tons of cars from the fair. That wasn't pleasant.



We finally turned off the main road, and followed some quiet back roads to Cross Creek, the start of the Rimutaka Railway Incline. The last part was on a dirt track beside a quiet road, which was s but disheartening as the trail was much slower.



At Cross Creek, we began to climb. It was about 4:30 as we entered the Rimutaka Incline Track. The trail was excellent, a constant 7% grade the whole way up. If it wasn't for the winds we would have had a fantastic ride. We were heading right into the teeth of a strong Westerly. It felt as though Wellington was a giant trying to blow us off the back of its hand so we couldn't come close.



I was blown off my bike three times -- no crashes, just having to quickly put my foot down and hang on until the wind gust died. One time I almost went over a bank and would have done if I hadn't stopped riding quickly.


We crossed the Siberian Gully, where a huge bridge used to be. We had to walk our bikes across a rocky stream there.


We then reached the first of the tunnels. My bike light was very handy there. The weird thing was that the wind suddenly picked up halfway through, chilling me.



We stopped and ate out rolls, as we were getting quite hungry again.


After more climbing and several tunnels, we finally reached a grassy campsite at the top. Someone had said there was drinkable water there, but we couldn't find it so we pushed on, down the hill.


It was still really windy and I was getting quite cold, so I had to stop and put on my jacket.


The trail climbed a bit more before finally descending to Te Maruia near Upper Hutt. It was about 7:30 by this time. Fortunately, the dairy was still open, so we had a pie and a milkshake. I made the mistake of ordering a thickshake, which was lovely but took forever to eat.



From there, we joined the Hutt River Trail, and made our way as quickly as we could down the Hutt River. We rode as quickly as we could in the half-light, finally reaching Pete's place at about 9 pm. We had done it!



Even better, we managed to get a booking for the 9 am ferry the next morning. Onwards to the South Island!


We passed the halfway point today. Twelve days to get here = 24 days to finish. That's a very respectable time for the whole 3,000 km course. Let's see what we can do.


We're camping on Pete's lawn tonight after enjoying a huge meal of Thai takeaways.

The adventure continues...

Shopping and Repairs - Tour Aotearoa

Friday 4 March, Day 11


We woke at 5:30, and prepared to leave. For breakfast, I had a huge pot of porridge with a container of Up&Go poured in, as well as some sweetened condensed milk and nuts and raisins. At least it'll keep me going for a couple of hours, unlike the cooked breakfast I had yesterday.



The ride was hilly, following along the side of the Manawatu river valley. Greg stopped at one point to take a picture of a flock of sheep. How clichéd.



We finally reached Ashurst after 36 km. We had already climbed 700 metres. We stopped at a cafe where I bought a huge breakfast of pancakes and bacon, as well as a gigantic scone and three (!) milkshakes (the milkshakes weren't very big).



From Ashurst we rode on into Palmerston North, detouring off-route to go into the central city. We had s shopping list: fuel for Greg's stove, a new pot handle, a charger and battery pack for me, a new memory card for my GoPro, some groceries, and Greg wanted to get his bike checked out because it was skipping gears again.



I also decided to mail my old saddle home rather than throw it away; I needed a saddle for my commuter bike and this one would be fine for that. So I went to the post shop and in a few minutes my bike was lighter by one saddle.



We got all our purchases sorted out, and left our bikes at the shop while we went off for something to eat. I had a big bowl of Vietnamese beef and noodle soup. Delicious.


When we returned to the bike shop, they said my bike was fine, but Greg's had some major problems. His rear cassette was very loose, because his rear hub was worn and in the process of failing. The only solution would be to rebuild the wheel, which would take hours. An alternative would be to just buy a whole new wheel -- which is exactly what Greg did. An hour later, we were on our way.



Back on the course, we immediately began to climb, up and over the Tararua Ranges. I was feeling quite flat by this stage, and just took my time. After zipping down the other side, the course left the main road and headed along yet another gravel road. This time it was slightly downhill, and lots of fun, though it was still a bit tricky because of the off-camber gravel.



About 5 km from Pahiatua,  I felt myself wake up. It was like a switch had been pressed and I suddenly felt awake again.



We finally reached the town of Pahiatua, where we ate a Chinese buffet. Not great food, but filling enough.



After eating, we pressed on to Eketahuna. As we were riding along we met Dave. He said the campground at Eketahuna closed at 7:30, so we raced to get there on time.



At first we made good progress, and it seemed that we would make it on time. But then we reached another long climb, which slowed is down. we finally reached Eketahuna about 10 minutes late, but we still got in fine.



I set up my tent, blew up my air mattress and lay down to check the pressure -- and immediately fell asleep! I'm very tired from the exercise and the lack of sleep.




When I got up, I promptly stood on a tent peg. Ouch! My foot is sore now...I hope it won't stop me pedalling tomorrow.

We have ridden a total of 150 km, and climbed over 1,500 metres today.  A good solid day on the Tour Aotearoa.

Eating and Drinking - Tour Aotearoa

Day 10 Thursday 3 March

I woke at 5:30, and got my new saddle set up properly. It felt good, almost exactly the same as my old one. Just in case, though, I strapped my old saddle to my front harness so I can go back if I need to.

We then packed up and went out for breakfast. I had the "master breakfast", the biggest meal on the menu, as well as a hot chocolate. The meal had bacon, eggs, bread, a cooked tomato, a sausage filled with cheese and a hash brown. Urgh...not what I'd normally eat. I felt like the fat was dripping down my throat afterwards.


We had decided to stay a bit longer in Wanganui and see if we couldn't get the things we needed, including visiting a Spark store to hopefully sort out Greg's phone.


After breakfast we went back to the bike shop we had been in the previous evening.  Luckily my front light was there, so I got it back. Yay!


I also bought a new pocket knife cum multi tool and a stuff sack to replace the ones I'd lost. The multi tool is pretty useless, but Ruth is sending me a new one to collect in Wellington so it only has to last until then.




Greg's phone couldn't be fixed, so he bought a new one with a new number. We then headed back to the backpackers and got ready to leave.

We left at about 10:30, having had breakfast about three hours earlier, and I was already hungry again.








Our trip started with a ride up the Drury Hill elevator. It was fun riding down the tunnel. The elevator itself was antique, and had someone running it, collecting our $2 and discussing the history of the elevator. It was fun, and the easiest 100 metre climb I've ever done on the bike.


From there, we headed out of town, leaving (as Greg so eloquently put it) the "armpit of the north island".  The roads were hilly almost right from the start, and never let up.


After about 15 km we reached Fordel, where there was a shop. Great, I thought, a chance for a second breakfast, but when we went inside they only had candy and soft drinks, so we pressed on, hoping to find another shop somewhere along the way.

It was 63 km from Wanganui to Hunterville via the TA course, and it was getting hot. I began to get really hungry, and a little light headed. I ate two muesli bars to keep me going, but I just felt like I was running on empty -- the cooked breakfast hadn't done anything for me at all.


 As I was riding past a patch of bush, a voice called out Hello. It was a cycle tourist from Napier; he had just been eating lunch in the shade. I rode with him into Hunterville, thinking of food and milkshakes all the while.

We finally reached Hunterville at about 2:30, and I immediately ordered two milkshakes, a burger and a huge custard square. The two milkshakes didn't last long, and I was still thirsty so I bought a bottle of iced coffee. That finally satisfied me.

Greg and I then headed off again. The course followed SH 1 for about 5 km, before nipping off onto some quiet country roads again.  After a few km the road became unsealed and we had a hilly stretch of about 20 km on the gravel.




From there, the road undulated before climbing some more. I saw a kingfisher up close for the first time in my life: it flew just a couple of metres away, and stayed with me for a few seconds before turning and flying away. I say it's amazing blue-green back, and didn't recognise it as a kingfisher until it turned and I could see its beak. It was a beautiful bird.


Greg and I then headed off again. The course followed SH 1 for about 5 km, before nipping off onto some quiet country roads again.  After a few km the road became unsealed and we had a hilly stretch of about 20 km on the gravel.


From there, the road undulated before climbing some more. I saw a kingfisher up close for the first time in my life: it flew just a couple of metres away, and stayed with me for a few seconds before turning and flying away. I say it's amazing blue-green back, and didn't recognise it as a kingfisher until it turned and I could see its beak. It was a beautiful bird.


The road climbed and climbed, then crossed about 3-4 huge river valleys where the road fell and then climbed about 200 metres each time. Finally it began to descend, and we made good time on the final few km into Apiti.


The pub in Apiti had shut down, and there weren't any other shops, but as we arrived a woman said they had a few treats we could buy. She had just bought the old petrol station and she and her partner were in the process of renovating it. They had chippies, bars, and drinks, and we bought plenty of each.

We camped in a paddock behind the hall just 100 metres off the course. Two other riders were also there.  We had dinner of flavoured rice (two different packets), salami, carrot and onion (Greg had carried these last two all day). It was hilariously difficult cutting onion and carrot with a cheap knife with a 2 cm blade. Dave Ryan, one of the other riders, took pity on me and lent my a big knife. We gave him some of our cooked meal in exchange, then finished it off with a carton of coconut water and a packet of chippies.


Once I was in the tent, I discovered that my battery pack wasn't there. Then I realised I'd left it, along with my USB charger, back at the backpackers in Wanganui. Damn -- so much for having my gear finally organised!


As I typed up my blog, I got peckish again so I nibbled at a Snickers bar I had purchased down the road. Incredibly sweet, but yummy. How decadent: eating chocolate in my tiny tent typing up my notes for the day.


Unfortunately, without my battery I have no way of charging my Garmin. But the cue sheets have been so good that I can just follow them and guess the distances. I'll buy a new charger and battery pack in Palmerston North, and get the old one sent home.


It was a fantastic day's riding. We had covered 126 km and climbed over 1,800 metres through some amazingly beautiful country. Even better, my new saddle felt really comfortable, no problems other than the usual aches and pains of being on a bike seat for ten hours a day. No new hot spots or saddle sores, which is fantastic.

Sleeping on the Job - Tour Aotearoa

Wednesday 2 March -- day 9

We woke at 5:30am, packed up our damp gear and set off as soon as it was light enough to ride. We had some amazing views from the top, and could even see Mount Egmont in the distance.

The track down the hill was 23 km long, and still very muddy. We wanted to get to the Mangapurua Landing in time to catch the first jet boat at 9:30am.

There were several sections where the track went along a steep bluff and we had to get off and walk, as well as far too many swing bridges where the sides were too close together for my handlebars to fit -- Greg and Katie could just wheel their bikes across, while I had to lift mine up onto the rear wheel and wheel it across.

That's tough going with a fully-loaded bike, and my upper arms were hurting by the time we reached the end.

There were many historic signposts indicating where the settlers had used to live. Apparently the government gave each soldier returning from World War One a block of land to farm, but this area was so rough that they ended up just walking off the land.

I slipped over once in the mud, and Katie fell over as well. By the time we were about 5 km from the Landing, we only had half an hour before the boat left. I decided to push on and see if I couldn't get to the boat, and tell them about the others coming up behind. I pushed the pace as much as I could, but was limited by the track.

By the time I reached the Bridge to Nowhere we only had about 15 minutes left to get to the boat. I stopped for about 15 seconds to take the compulsory photo, and dashed on.

The track was wider, and I really pushed myself to get there on time. I was in all-out racing mode, and couldn't go any faster without crashing. It was great fun.

I reached the landing six minutes after 9:30, but fortunately the boat hadn't arrived.

Anka and her husband were there, as well as Daniel and two other people I recognised but couldn't name. Greg and Katie turned up a few minutes before the jet boat, and we all managed to get on board, bikes and all.

The trip downriver was spectacular. Huge rock cliffs, dense forest with nikau ferns, and the occasional person paddling in a canoe.

Bikes on Board

 Near the end, another jet boat came nearby, and a small dog jumped across into our boat!

At Pipiriki, we paid for our trip, washed our bikes and grabbed some food. I had a container of Up & Go and two microwaved pies. They weren't very nice, but at least it was breakfast.

We then headed off down the road to Wanganui. At Matahiwi we stopped for some real food (I had a milkshake and an egg sandwich). They had the boat used in the movie River Queen sitting outside the cafe. The lady wanted to take some photos of me for her Facebook page.

We headed on. The road was sealed except for the numerous roadworks. While you might think that a ride downriver would be easy, there were constant hills to deal with, as well as a steady headwind.

Suddenly, Greg said he was getting sleepy and wanted to take a nap, and that I should head on. I thought this was a bit weird, but I wanted to get to the bike shop before it closed to pick up the cable and battery for my Dynamo, so j kept going. About 20 minutes later I got sleepy too, and almost fell asleep riding on my aero bars! I had to fight to stay awake, as my eyes just wanted to close. After a while I ate some more food and began to feel more awake again.

Finally, I reached the Gentle Annie, a massive hill between me and Wanganui. It was a tough climb, but at the top I finally had cellphone reception and could call Velo Ronnies to make sure I could pick up my parcel. By this time it was 20 past 4, and they said they would be shutting at 5 -- and I still had about 15 km to go! They said they'd wait for me.

I took off, not waiting for Greg to catch up, and really pushed the pace into the headwind as I raced into Wanganui. I found the shop quickly, and got my bike serviced while I bought some tools to replace the ones I had lost. I also decided to get a new saddle, as my old one was getting cracked.

Keeping the old one, "just in case"

Unfortunately the parcel with the Dynamo cable and battery hadn't arrived! Gee, thanks NZ Post. Three days and the parcel still hasn't arrived. Now I can't use my Dynamo hub at all. I'm not impressed...

Greg had gone off to another bike shop, and his phone wasn't working so he couldn't text me. In the end they phoned, and we met up. I showed the guy at the other shop my front light, and managed to leave it behind! Now I don't have a light at all.

We decided to stay at a backpackers with wifi, so I could get cleaned up, upload all my photos (over 300 of them), and get my bike sorted out before we continue on the route tomorrow.

A walk in the Park - Tour Aotearoa

1st March - Day 8

I slept really well, and woke around 5am to finish typing up yesterday's blog. When it was light I cleaned my bike and gear. My cue sheets had gotten wet, and I had to lay them all out to dry.

I was still a bit swollen from the wasp stings, and my hands, arms and legs were sore and itchy.
Greg got up, and began to sort his gear out too. He discovered that his Spot tracker had fallen off somewhere along the Timber Trail, as had his light.  Then when Greg washed his bike he found that his crank was so loose it came off in his hand!

We had breakfast made by our host, Rem, while our clothes were washing and drying. There were even soft seats to sit on. Such luxury!

After sorting everything out, and feeling refreshed and clean again, we headed out towards Taumaranui. The route followed a gravel road, and we passed some roadworks. A little way on, there was a new tunnel being built under the railway line, and Greg rode through. I followed him, only to discover that the gravel at the other side had a gap of about 30 centimetres! I hit it awkwardly, and it was only luck that saved me from doing an endo!

We reached Taumaranui and went to the supermarket for supplies, then to a cafe for more food before heading out of town.

The road began climbing almost right away, and became gravel. Greg's crank came loose twice, and his rack was sagging down too. He had bought some nuts and bolts to help tighten his rack, so we stopped on the side of the road to fix it.  He borrowed my multi-tool, but couldn't get the locking nut tight enough so he gave up.

After much climbing, the road finally began to descend. At one point I saw a kaka flying into the bush, and Greg pointed out a wild goat.  After about 95 km of riding we finally reached the Blue Duck Cafe. There were about 30 people outside, obviously on a tour of some sort.  When we went inside, an incredibly grumpy and rude waitress told us that no, they had no food, no beds, not even bread, good bye. I asked to use a tap to clean my filter, and she grudgingly said I could use the one outside. I tried cleaning my water filter, but i was so put off by the rude waitress that I couldn't figure it out.  As we were deciding what to do next, Katie rode up. She was faced with the same grumpy waitress, and thought she was quite rude too.

We were supposed to call the jet boat people from the cafe, so I asked to use the phone. No luck there either...the people who were outside were busy ordering their food (!) and we would have to wait until they were finished.  Thoroughly peeved off at the Blue Duck people, we left, deciding to call the jet boat operator from the top as apparently you can get cellphone coverage there.

We had been warned about the bad state of the Kaiwhakauka track. It was incredibly muddy, not helped by the fact that it had started to rain again.

Along the way, we made a plan to ride in to a shelter about 13 km in, cook a meal, and then walk in the dark up the last 5 km to the Mangapurua trig, camp up there and book out jet boat, then ride down to the Bridge to Nowhere and the jet-boat pickup in the morning.

We pushed on in the rain towards the shelter.,Greg's rack had sagged again, so he fell back while Katie and I continued. Katie was riding ahead, on narrow muddy singletrack along the side of a steep hill when suddenly her bike slid sideways. Her bike hit the ground, but she kept going, doing a complete flip and ending up disappearing head-first down a bank!

It was a spectacular sight, her legs in the air as she disappeared into the bush. I was dreading what injuries she might have as I jumped off my bike and climbed down to her -- she had fallen a couple of metres and fortunately had caught hold of a branch to stop herself falling further. I helped haul her back up to the track. Fortunately she wasn't injured, except for a squashed banana and roll. After that, we decided to walk more -- not that we had much choice in the terrible mud and rain.

We finally reached the shelter at dusk, and began to prepare a meal. It was then that I discovered that I had lost my tool bag -- my cycle multi-tool, picture repair kit and the special valve tool that Bennie had ordered for me were all gone. Worst was that I had lost the wonderful little Leatherman tool that Ruth had given me  I was quite upset about that, though I can replace the missing tools in Wanganui. I mustn't have put the bag back after Greg used my multi-tool to try and fix his darned rack.

After dinner, we began the walk up to the trig. It was too steep and dark and muddy to risk riding, so we walked the whole way. It took a couple of hours to reach the top, by which time the rain had finally stopped.

At one point, we saw what looked like lights in the distance. They were actually the eyes of a flock of sheep reflecting our bike lights back at us!

It was approaching midnight by the time we reached the top. Katie pointed out that we had better get there soon, or we'd hit the 6-hour compulsory stop time. I never dreamed that would be an issue, but we reached that limit., getting to the campsite just in time.

At the camping area, we tried phoning the jet-boat operator, even though it was nearly midnight. Unfortunately the only phone that could get service was Greg's, and the only number we had for the jet-boat people was an 0800 number -- which you can't call from a US-based cellphone. We then tried phoning the operator, who said we'd have to use a different phone. We explained that we were on top of a mountain and this was the only working phone, so the operator did a Google search for us, and found a landline number. Of course there was nobody there, so we left a message. We just hope it means we'll get a seat on the boat tomorrow.

Katie's bivvy

We then set up our tents and went to bed. The inside of my tent was quite wet from the rain, but I got set up well enough. At least I'm warm.

We had covered 107 km and climbed about 1,400 metres. Lying in my tent, I could hear the occasional kiwi in the bush. It's an amazing place to be, despite all the rain and mud.

A lost mascot of another TA rider