New Zealand, the land of volcanoes and earthquakes. I hope neither occur during our trip, but today we were riding under the smoking eye of Mt Ruapehu, the largest active volcano in New Zealand, as well as the highest point of North Island (2797m). It’s last eruption was in September 2007.

We had a delayed departure from Taupo due to a stuff up at the hotel with breakfast.        We made the decision to ‘give up’ on waiting, and ride into town to find food. The Coffee Club sorted us out with a great omlette and large coffee, setting us up well for the day ahead.

Leaving Taupo skirting around the lake edge provided many scenic vistas, but we were reluctant to stop as the traffic was becoming increasingly heavy with holiday makers.

Good old Ride with GPS had a few little ‘treats’ for us today. With the first, we decided to accept the challenge as it took us off the busy highway. This is what we found.

Amazing how hard it is to lift a fully laden bike over such barriers. The road appeared to be an old forestry road, and for most, was quite rideable.

We raced through this section, mouth closed, as the hives were very active, bees swarming. We also did all our zips up, just for good measure.

It was not all easy riding on the old road. There were a few sections like this!

At the other end of the track we noted this sign. Oh, and there was another barrier to climb over.

I loved this sign pointing back to where we had ridden. Deforested barren area named Earthquake Gully Road. Awesome name!! I did ponder as I rode on as to how it gained that name.

Back onto the highway, concentration to the max, as the traffic seemed even heavier. Caravans, boats, 4WD with mountain bikes all screaming past. I guess many people finished work yesterday and were heading off to their Christmas holiday destinations.

At about the 55 km point we arrived in Turangi. I knew a great little cafe there to stop at called the Pink Cadillac. Sue and I stopped there in January, quite cold, and rugged up with their crocheted blankets. Today, the blankets were out, but not needed as it was about 27 degrees.

We got chatting to a Swiss couple from Zurich. He was a keen cyclist and they were visiting their daughter….we swapped stories as I have a son living in Basel, Switzerland.

The Pink Cadillac have the best iced coffees! A bit decadent and over the top but I knew what lay ahead! I was going to work that off well and truly.

What lay ahead? This graph reveals all. Check out the slope and climb from 55 km….yeah, it climbs a bit.

The climb was ok, with a mixture of headwind and still air and I was glad to get to the top of the climb. Here I am a little further on.

Ride with GPS had a second surprise and took us onto another trail to the intake tunnel of a hydro power scheme. It was a dead end, but it was a pretty spot to stop and refuel with a banana.  We could not sit down there as the ground was littered with swan feathers and dung.

Back onto the main road and it was a slog. For the rest of the ride we were buffeted by a strong headwind, slowing down progress and making us work that bit harder,

We were both glad to arrive in the village named National Park, stopping firstly at the local store/service station for an icy pole….and quite possibly a large block of Whittaker’s Fruit and Nut! 😬🤷‍♀️

Both of the next pictures are looking back at where we had just ridden from.

My dear friend Noelene is a wonderful supporter and encourager of my blogs. She was born in New Zealand and has incredible memories and stories.  This is what she wrote last night about her memories of the mountain.

” We used to belong to a Lodge up on Ruapehu. ….we would all come in off the mountain totalled as there were no ski lifts then…sunrise looking up at the mountain was amazing. Having also climbed up in the summer to the crater lake. Bit silly when of course it can erupt and does any time. But in those times you never thought about such things. I remember in National Park there were hot springs and in a little village a dairy that sold amazing icecream. We would go down there to soak in steaming mineral water and eat these delicious ice creams…young life of many years gone.”

Thankyou  Noelene xx

So another day, with today riding 105 km,  and we have now been riding for seven consecutive days. Tomorrow more adventures lay ahead as we hit the Forgotten Highway, with a mixture of gravel and bitumen. We can even have our passport stamped, but I will leave that story for tomorrow.

Ooroo 😊💪🚴

One of the essential items we never leave home without on cycle tours is Imodium! Oh my goodness was I unwell during the night….both ends … leaving me wondering how I would get through today. But Imodium saved the day rendering me capable of riding, although somewhat dehydrated.

I am blaming bugs on my drink bottle. When you ride in the wet, lots of ‘muck’ gets splashed up onto your bike from the road and other cars. It is not uncommon to have a gritty bottle and often I will squirt some fluid out before drinking. The lids will be soaking in Milton’s tonight!

Our Air BnB host had put on a delightful European style breakfast which I did enjoy as I tried to get some goodness back into my body.

Leaving Rotorua around 8.30 am it was a pleasant 14 degrees. We rode by some geysers heading out of town. You could clearly see the water bubbling and there was a strong smell of sulphur in the air.

Then we needed to cross over onto the highway, and we did this via a nifty and safe under the road passage. In the centre of the road is a hub  with spoke like tunnels heading into various directions. It was impressive and a safe way for walkers and cyclists to cross the highway and other roads adjoining.

This was our final view looking back towards Rotorua as we headed out on the highway. You can just see the wisps of steam from another geyser.

Today was reasonably hilly, as can be seen from our elevation graph. The ride was 118 km today.

After leaving the highway (rarely are highways well regarded as enjoyable by cyclists), we were traversing great back roads like this. Green and lush farms with predominantly cattle grazing.

Navigationally, we pre plan our route on a website known as Ride with GPS. We can then upload the ride files digitally onto our Garmin’s which have satellite navigation facilities. In addition, we print out the route with the turn by turn instructions, as a backup to the Garmin files.

Ordinarily this works fine, but at times there are issues. Here I am looking somewhat puzzled/bemused with the route pointers! Note the tan line mark on my legs now….that is going to look so great when I get back to work wearing dresses in a few weeks..😂😂😂

More lush green countryside. So much of the land in this area looks like ready made links golf courses.

Navigationally there were a few issues today. Garmin mapping failed us in that the road we were riding on did not exist according to its maps.  The road had clearly been around for many years, as it had plentiful lichen growth. We decided to plod on and see where we ended up.

We stopped at the first road junction, which happened to be the SH1. Whilst we were still looking at our maps this big milk tanker pulled up, and the driver got out to say ‘hi’. He had seen us earlier ‘down the road’ and was curious as to our plans.

His name was Kevin, and he suggested we take another road via plantations, which we did. Great road!

This is a section of Kevin’s route.

There was a little issue by now. We had only ridden past one shop, and that was mid morning, where we did stop and grab food and drink. Since then, zip and I was thirsty as, and rationing my fluid, having nearly consumed my second bottle.

I was reluctant to tell Tony as I knew he would give me his bottle, but he too needed fluid. I guess I still needed extra fluid due to what I had lost overnight, plus it was now in the mid 20’s.

Eventually I said to Tony that we needed to stop at the first sign of anything that might be water, even a farm house. Tony saw a sign for water, but upon closer inspection this was not going to work, let alone the potassium cyanide sign next to it!

About 25 km later, I found a shop and bought lots of water, coconut water and an icy pole. Feeling heaps better my energy also picked up for the final section into Taupo. We went via a tourist route to check out the river. There was a jet boat in action that would have been up to the falls. Cruises also depart from here.

More green hills on the outskirts as we climbed up from the river.

Here is our route today. It was a great ride, highly enjoyable.

We are now in Taupo. The weather is nothing like Sue and I had in January. I will not be donning my bathers for a dip in the lake this time! It is quite cool this evening, with occasional rain and very strong winds.

Tomorrow we climb up to the village known as National Park, passing by the volcanic Mt  Ruapehu in the Tongariro NP. Rain is not forecast but 50 kmh westerly winds are! ( not the direction we want 😩). I am hoping the meteorologists have overstated the wind strength!

As I look out across Lake Taupo the mountain is under a shroud of heavy cloud. Let’s hope it lifts tomorrow for some great views.

,

The best laid plans do not always work out. Today was one of those days.

All night it poured and poured, along with plenty of thunder. I lay awake in bed rethinking what we should, or should not do.

Safety is number one though.

The plan had been a 143 km ride, over the hills to Tauranga, then back to Rotorua. We planned to catch up with the iconic cyclist Fraser Sharp, who has represented New Zealand in Paralympic cycling. Fraser competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics, finishing 8th in his best event. He has also medaled at World Cup level. What an achievement!

Between Matamata and Tauranga is a long hilly range and the pass across is known to be dicey when wet. Our Air BNB hosts and Fraser both advised us not to cross for safety reasons. Reluctantly we knew it was the right decision…..next time Fraser.

This was the view over those hills as we left Matamata.

The traffic on the highway was really really awful. Laden log trucks, milk trucks and then there was SWOOPT. That is the registration belonging to a hotted up orange car that came within cm of hitting me. So very close, my adrenalin surged heaps.

We could not wait to get off this road! It was pouring so we were also getting heaps of water flicked up.

We had a rest at the Fitzgerald Glades cafe which was slightly off course, but I knew where it was. Sue and I had sought refuge here in January and again I was heading there for refuge. Ah, great coffee – no Sue! We sat at the same table!

Whilst we chilled, we heard a very loud donkey, so sought him/her out as we left.

This picture then explains the rest of the ride…well in part. We climbed! In the rain! Limited to no verge in places resulting in us riding on the grass…..

Once we descended into the suburbs around Rotorua it bucketed down and we took refuge where we could. We started to get cold as it was now only 14 degreees plus we were wet, and the little breeze had a greater cooling effect.

Whilst we waited this sign amused me.

Then there was this mural. It is of the Kuranda railway in Queensland!

You can see the water dripping off the bike and my soggy hair.

The vacant car park spot below was totally flooded shortly after this photo. A car parked there had water half way up its rear wheels.

We had toyed with the idea of riding around the lake, if the weather was ok. It was far from ok so we contacted our Air BNB hosts, who kindly allowed us to head to their place. The warm shower was just the tonic needed.

We have headed into town to check out the bike shops, picking up a few extra tubes ready for the two days of lots of gravel coming up when we hit The Forgotten Highway on Sunday and Monday.

So sorry about the lack of photos today. The ride was seriously more one of survival on the roads today, concentrating hard to keep our line in adverse riding conditions. But, safe we are!!

We are hoping better conditions prevail tomorrow as we head to Lake Taupo, some 103 km or so away.

Thankyou to those who have sent us words of encouragement via Facebook, Messenger and Strava. It is nice to know where our support is and it heart warming.

I am somewhat behind in my blogs from Europe….Rome, Tuscany….I had issues with my camera ( it died) and wifi in Tuscany. So I will move on and do a photo blog in the future…as right here, right now I need to pack my bags.

Yes, I’m hitting the road again….seriously hoping not literally this time after Europe where I broke ribs and teeth!!

Tomorrow New Zealand looms. Again you say? Yes, this will be my 4th trip to NZ for 2018. I love the place, it is nice and close travel wise, spectacular scenery, friendly people, crap car drivers.

When I tell non cycle people I train for cycle touring, they give me a funny look…they do not get it. Why  don’t you do a boat cruise? Say what?? That would end in tears….one day, when I cannot do the cycle distances, maybe….possibly…but not until I’m old…well older!! 

Why cycle touring? The memories, the places and the people. The effort required to chug up that hill, carrying your gear is satisfying (after the fact). The feeling you have at the end of the day, week or tour knowing what you have achieved under your own steam. 

More recent memories…

The sights…

I love reliving the memories. I am a sentimental person and love the stories.  I have been fortunate to meet so many interesting people….Roberto who lived in the Siberian Mountains with wolves whilst finding his voice, Marco who just abrogated life responsibilities to ‘just ride’, Jane who played in a recorder orchestra, Peter who at 80 rode LeJog and the list goes on. People have fascinating stories to tell…if you listen.

So back to this trip..the plan is a 1550 km ride starting and ending in Auckland. It will be hilly, there will be gravel. We have all day though to create new memories. 

Some of the route is familiar territory.  Sue and I did the section from Rotorua to Taupo to Tongariro en route Auckland to Wellington.

I have also done some riding around New Plymouth when I did the Taranaki ride with friends, camping in the area.  Looking forward to seeing this years Festival of Lights on Christmas Eve there. 

Also revisiting Whangamomona, a small town on the Forgotten Highway. It is in the middle of nowhere, lots of dirt roads, and stinking hot last time I visited. 

 So I hope the trip is safe, no falls, no broken teeth or bones, nothing stolen and I discontinue my bad weather chick magnetism!!