NZ2050

Tuesday, March 3rd: Today’s remarkable ride over the Rimutakas and down into Wellington was going to be a  spectacular way to conclude the North Island half of my Tour Aotearoa. Anticipating the joys, and mindful of my crucial needs to meet in town to set me up...

Monday, March 2nd: Getting a good night’s sleep in rural New Zealand can be hard. Once again, I found I’d pitched my tent last night within earshot of a main road. Heavy truck traffic, complete with the thump-thump-thump of engine braking, continued til after 11pm and...

Sunday, March 1 Although we started celebrating Lynn’s birthday yesterday afternoon, today was the the actual day. At least we had a few hours together at our sumptuous retreat, Hiwinui Country Estate, before I resumed my ride to Bluff and Lynn headed home. Tucked...

Rain! At last!....well sort of. When I left Apiti this morning it was overcast and damp. I put on my waterproof jacket to try to entice the rain to try harder. To no avail. I, and the surrounding countryside, just got slightly damp. Where trees sheltered the road from...

Today I began my day’s riding in a rather unusual way. A short ride from my motel via a local bike shop to get a couple of spare tubes took me to a tunnel… …this is the view from the far end back to the street level. Immediately to my right was a lift, built about 100...

The photos above are of my campsite at Pipiriki this morning, and the night before inside the old school which now serves as the very hospitable base for Whanganui River Adventures, The man with the red cap is Junior, one of the staff, who is brilliant at fielding...

Sitting around chatting with fellow cyclists staying at Mike and Kay’s backpackers last night, I made a good decision: not to take the main TA route through spectacular country to the Whanganui river, then a jet board ride down to Pipiriki. But to get there by road....

I was well refreshed by a good night’s sleep in a proper bed, a big dinner and breakfast...and relieved to find when I was packing up my cash and credit cards, in their plastic bag, among my toiletries. Don’t ask me how they got there. When your worldly possessions...

Apologies for not posting the past two days. They were long and hard, so I had no time except for riding and personal maintenance. I’ll catch up quickly now with a few words and lots of pictures. Please excuse the typos. Day 8 of the TA for me was Monday Feb 24, and...

A mountain I love a lot started to come into view about half an hour after I began cycling from Matamata early this morning. I was eager for my first glimpse because Maungatautari symbolises much about the past, present and future of our ecosystems. The fringe of...

My paddle in the children’s warm pool straight after breakfast was the highlight of my day. Even better than the cycling, which was very good. Perhaps I should explain. Over breakfast with half a dozen Tour riders in the campground kitchen, we were asking each other...

Given Auckland has been my home for more than 20 years, I think I know it reasonably well. After all, it is the smallest of the seven cities I’ve called home over my nearly seven decades to date. And I cycle around the city a lot, often covering long distances. Today,...