NZ2050

with Rod Oram

 

B to B 2024

B to B 2023

Tour of NZ 2023

KŌPIKO 2021

Tour Aotearoa

Kōpiko Aotearoa 2021

Day 11 – Happily homeward

Tuesday, March 9 ...heading home! ...and my bike was so keen to get home for a long rest, it left the Cape without me...

Day 10 – To the Cape!

Monday, March 8 Lunch on the beach at Waihau Bay Te Araroa, the last community before the East Cape, is at the far end of the beach...and the Cape is around the headland on the left The Shane Jones Memorial Dead-End Highway......for the last 22km of the ride from Te...

Day 9 – Oh my, Omaio!

Sunday, March 7 The Motu-vation Cafe and makers-place at Motu......wonderful food, exquisite crafts Climbing to the top of the Motu road......followed by an 800m descent over 30km down to the coast (...albeit, with two 100m sub-climbs on the way) Late afternoon on the...

Day 8 – Crowded house stay

Saturday, March 6 Shearers quarters offered by Taaheke Station to Kōpiko cyclists as accommodation and a food and drink stop.

Day 7 – Deep backcountry

Friday, March 5 Inside the Tuhoe tribal centre at Waikaremoana...another glorious Living Building (which is an international accreditation for buildingsthat are self-sufficient for power and water and made from sustainable materials.)Tuhoe's Te Kura Whare at its main...

Day 6 – Uplifting Ureweras

Thursday, March 4 Lunch at the Ruatahuna General Store, in the Tuhoe tribal centre......the staff member knew exactly who we were because her phone by the till has the Kōpiko tracking app on. Picking up the GPS signal from the emergency beacon we carried, it showed...

Day 5 – Deep lakes, dark forests

Wednesday, March 3 Wednesday, March 3 From our riverside campsite, we carried on upstream early on this damp morning. It was the first time I'd been along this upper stretch of the Waikato, and it was very beautiful. Our route took us past the Atiamuri and Ohakuri...

Day 4 – Challenging centre

Tuesday, March 2 It's hard to get to the geographic centre of the North Island. It's remote and the gravel backroads are very hilly and rocky in various places. Last year on my TA ride, it was my eighth day which turned into a 12-hour marathon with three low-speed...

Day 3 – Hard yards

Monday, March 1 We left this morning in plenty of time to ride 50km to Ongarue...where we were certain we'd get decent mobile phone coverage so Kennedy could call in live to Radio NZ for his Off The Beaten Track segment on Kathryn Ryan's Nine to Noon programme. It was...

Day 2 – Forgotten World

Sunday, February 28 Our morning was on gravel backroads through remote Taranaki farm country to the Republic of Whangamomona. Across the road from the hotel, where we had a big lunch, Kennedy upheld his namesake's park before we hit the road again. For a vivid telling...

Day 1 – Taranaki Treats

Saturday February 27 I impressed myself by setting a new record for packing up tent, bags and bike this morning, even though I faffed around a bit because this was my first night back in a sleeping bag and tent in almost a year since the end of the Tour Aotearoa - 50...

Day 0 – Cruisey drive, high expectations

Apologies - this is my first blog entry on the Kopiko. Friday, we had to head straight to bed for a very early start on Saturday; Saturday we had no phone signal or wifi at Pukeho; and Sunday I had mobile signal but a tech glitch on this site. So, it’s now Monday at...