Te Kuiti to Owhango

Day 11 - Monday 08 March 2010

Dist: 112 km. Av. Speed: 22.5 km/hr. Cal: 2156. Ride Time: 5 hrs 02 min

I was a bit slow getting away this morning after chatting to my American neighbours at the camp ground. They were from Southern California between San Diego and Los Angeles and had spent the last five weeks travelling around New Zealand (for the second time). I mentioned that once they got north of Hamilton things got a bit dry and north of Auckland they were talking drought. He chuckled and asked “what constitutes a drought here”, I said “oh, about three weeks without rain” at which point he laughed out loud and said “we hadn’t had rain for six years - until last week when we had floods and 52 houses were washed away in mud slides”.

So, anyway… breakfast at Tiffany’s - who’d of thought - in Te Kuiti. I scanned the main street for an eatery and Tiffany’s looked like it would fit the bill. And it did, serving up a wonderful muesli with fresh fruit followed by poached eggs just like I’d cook them at home. Bang-on, the only problem was that they served both at the same time… so I’m stuck with the dilemma between soggy muesli or cold eggs - doh! I’d still give them an 8.5 though.

I was putting off leaving Te Kuiti, not because I’m attached to the place or anything, but the thought of the monster climb out of town as you head south. There’s no warm up, just straight into it, and 20 minutes later you’re at the top! Tough start to the day.

There were a few ups and downs for the first 10km or so out of town and then it settled in to some good cycling although the shoulder through here is either about 200mm wide or non-existent so it could be a bit hairy at times as the trucks rumbled past.

Mum and Dad caught up with me about 15km out of Te Kuiti and we stopped for morning tea about 10km after that. Mum had made up a huge picnic basket with all the trimmings. Dad asked if I wanted them to carry my panniers and handle-bar bag… I was caught with a moral dilemma, wondering if it was within the rules to accept outside assistance, so I had to think about it for oh, about three seconds. They carried my stuff all the way to Owhango and it was wonderful. It felt weird at first but I soon got used to it and was happy to be able to crank along at 30km/hr with ease knowing that it was a 110km plus day ahead.

The traffic volume reduced by probably 75% after Eight Mile Junction and the road improved so it was really quite enjoyable. And the landscape is certainly greening up as I head further south. We had lunch right on 50km from Te Kuiti - another roadside banquet (thanks Mum) and then pushed on to Tauramanui for afternoon tea at the Copper Kettle.

Shari and the boys caught us up about 10km short of Owhango after they’d spent the day at Waitomo Caves.

I have to admit that without the panniers and front bag my mind switched back to race mode again and I tended to treat every 25km stretch as an individual challenge to keep the average speed up. It worked out OK and I got to Owhango still feeling alright but glad that there won’t be any pedalling for the next three days which will give the legs a chance to recuperate.

After a wonderful ‘country pub’ meal complete with friendly country style service at the Owhango Hotel we packed up all our waterproof barrels ready for the big kayak adventure on the Whanganui River tomorrow. The weather looks fantastic!

I won’t be able to blog until Friday now sorry - that’s assuming (and I think it’s a fair assumption) that there’s no phone coverage on the Whanganui River! So the next ripping yarn will probably come from Wanganui City on Friday or Saturday morning.