Stratford to Cape Egmont

Day 6 - Friday 4th March

Stratford to Cape Egmont - 96km

1. Stratford to Plateau Car Park (20km MTB)
2. Dawson Falls to Cape Egmont (68km MTB + Road Bike)
3. Cape Egmont to Ruddocks’ Resort (8km Run)

The forecast was right - the rain and wind hit Stratford about 4am. It was going to be a wet ride up the mountain. We got away about 7.15 and nosed up Pembroke Road toward the Plateau Car Park with the gusty wind and showers driving in from our starboard quarter. The gradient was obvious from the start as we struggled to reach double digits on the speedo. We were glad to have chosen the MTBs which are far more stable in the wind and actually have brakes in the wet, essential assets as the wind got stronger and the rain intensified as we climbed slowly up the mountain. We resorted to riding on the right hand side of the road, tucked in against the hedges when we could and leaning our bikes into the wind.

Once we reached the tree line - the National Park boundary - we were sheltered from the wind but there was no let-up from the rain. This 20km leg should have taken about an hour… two hours later, after negotiating ‘rivers’ powerful enough to carry rocks down the road, in the middle of a torrential downpour we finally popped out of the trees and into the scrub country, and back into the gale!

It was about now that it dawned on me that our planned run from the Plateau car park to Dawson Falls had probably been thwarted by the weather bomb. There are several creek crossings on the track and we made the call that it’d be too dangerous to risk. So, after 2 hours of busting our butts to get to the top we promptly turned around and beat a hasty retreat to the DoC Centre where we jumped in the car to drive around to Dawson Falls to catch up with Keith in the camper for a stunning hot breakfast.

As we ate, as if by magic, the rain eased, the clouds parted and the summit of Mount Taranaki burst into view. It’s a great perspective from Dawson Falls - very close and ‘in-your-face’.

With the day brightening, we rolled down the mountainside with full stomachs, saddle sores and frozen fingers toward our final destination - Cape Egmont. The easy road and slight tail wind helped us make good time and before we knew it we’d clocked of 30km on our MTBs and it was time to change up to the road bikes for the final leg. Our legs were pleased about the change since the road bikes roll along a lot easier but our butts protested as we settled in and started clicking off some fast kilometers along Wiremu Road. Finally it was time to swing west, drop toward sea level and attack the last 10km directly to the Cape. It was surprising just how much energy we could muster (I think someone said the race word) and we cranked up to over 40km/hr, sweeping the bends and cranking the short climbs and suddenly the lighthouse appeared in front of us.

We backed off, sat up and rolled quietly toward Cape Egmont amongst a flotilla of ‘Britz’ campers eager to get their photo at the lighthouse. We’d made it! Over 700km in six days, of biking, running and kayaking across New Zealand’s widest point. Another one ticked off!

After the compulsory photo, thankyous and congratulations, we decided to run the coastal route from the lighthouse to our accommodation - it was only 8km, shouldn’t take too long. Another two hours, five swollen river crossings and one entanglement with an electric fence we arrived at Jeff’s resort.

What a perfect way to round off a brilliant week of adventure. Keith Brodie arrived with cold beer, the mountain cleared and we witnessed a stunning red sunset over the Tasman - brilliant.

I’ll add some photos and trip stats over the weekend when we get home. Tomorrow is a travel day back to Waihi.

Life is for living after all…

Eleanor Roosevelt

Taumarunui to Stratford

Day 5 - Thursday 3rd March

Taumarunui to Stratford - 158km

1. Taumarunui to Canoe start (13km MTB)
2. Canoe start to Ohinepane (15km Kayak)
3. Ohinepane to Stratford (100km Road Bike + 30km MTB)

Fog hung around the Whanganui River at daybreak today but Metvuw.com promised sunshine so we knew that once the fog lifted we’d be in for another great day.

Kel and I rode the MTBs from Taumarunui Canoe Hire HQ (where we’d stayed the night) paralleling the river to the canoe launching spot 13km downstream. After the safety briefing and a few paddling and river instructions Adam, Reid, Shari and I boarded the Canadians and slid away from the bank into the fog. Kel took the opportunity to gain some more whitewater experience in his Eclipse - the section of river we paddled was ideal training. We’ll be back!

As an aside - we discovered that the river and picnic scenes from the recent “Yogi Bear” movie were filmed right there in Taumarunui, and wouldn’t you know it, the Canadian kayak that Reid and I paddled was the actual one used in the movie.

It wasn’t long before the sun broke through and we enjoyed the serenity of the river as we negotiated the rapids and quietly paddled the bits in between. An hour later we landed at the Ohinepane boat ramp and camp ground all agreeing that the river was a great interlude from the road bikes and traffic.

Back on the bikes, we headed west on the Forgotten World Highway toward Stratford. This route is very scenic, very hilly and very long but very worth the effort. The lack of traffic was a nice treat too. We wound and climbed and descended and wound some more, occasionally catching a view of Ruapehu back over our shoulders to the east as we gradually gained elevation. Eventually we arrived at the 12km gravel section where we switched to the MTBs for the tight stretch to Whangamomona.

The calorie count must have been pretty high for the morning - or at least that was our justification for scoffing a pie, a muffin and two coffees at the Whangamomona Hotel.

Back on the road bikes again for the final 63km (with 3 saddles) to Stratford, we were looking forward to catching our first view of Mt Taranaki, the first sign that we were arriving at the west coast. The bonus was finding that at the summit of Strathmore Saddle we could look east and see Mt Ruapehu and look west and see Mt Taranaki. Brilliant.

The last push to Stratford took us from sheep farms to dairy country and finally back to suburbia at about 6.30 in the evening. A big day, but very cool.

Taupo to Taumarunui

Day 4 - Wednesday 2nd March

Taupo to Taumarunui - 132km

1. Taupo to Taumarunui (132km Road Bike)

Our decision to abandon the dawn kayak leg across Lake Taupo proved to be the right one. Although the rain hadn’t arrived, the wind was getting up and blowing off-shore which would have made it a tricky and possibly hazardous crossing in our multisport kayaks.

So it was a long day in the saddle; starting at 7 we pedalled out through Taupo and out toward Kinloch, westward on Whangamata Road to the Western Access Road.

Keith found another gem of a spot overlooking the lake where he excelled again with another poached eggs breakfast - yep, on deckchairs with a superb view south to the mountains.

The next few hours were quite tough going due to the gusty head wind and constant climbing. It was hard to get into a rhythm but eventually we reached the main road and it wasn’t too long before we were sipping on a coffee at the Te Miro Trading Post. Great coffee - comical service!

Luckily we picked up a tail wind once we turned south toward Kuretau because we gained quite a bit of elevation on this stretch and the shove from the wind eased the workload. Once we had reached the rest area/lookout it was all speed and fun as we blasted the last 9km to the Kuretau turnoff for lunch.

I had warned Kel that all the hills up to now had just been practice for the grunt over the ranges from Kuretau to Taumarunui - he wasn’t disappointed. We climbed in first gear for 45 minutes to the highest point over the pass - imagine the Beach Gorge carrying on all the way to Waikino! The good part of course was that there was an equally long and steep downhill on the other side before we reached the Whanganui River and the flats heading in to Taumarunui.

We arrived in peak hour traffic, just as school was getting out and then biked out to Taumarunui Canoe Hire where we arranged the boats for tomorrow and checked in to our accommodation. Not long after we arrived, so did the predicted rain - nice timing!

Tomorrow we’ll mountain bike to a kayak launching spot 14km downriver from town, then board Canadian Kayaks and paddle for about an hour and a half before biking off down the Forgotten World Highway to Stratford.

Lake Tarawera Outlet to Taupo

Day 3 - Tuesday 1st March

Lake Tarawera Outlet to Taupo - 115km

1. Tarawera Outlet Camp to Tarawera Cafe (10km Kayak)
2. Tarawera Café to Lake Ohakuri, Waikite Valley Arm (45km Road Bike)
3. Lake Ohakuri to Orakeikorako (19km Kayak)
4. Orakeikorako to Taupo (41km Road Bike)

After a few evening showers, Tuesday dawned fine and warm with just a light breeze. A perfect day to paddle across Lake Tarawera. The sun was just peeking over the horizon as we set off across the lake, destined for the café 10km away on the western shore. We skirted around the southern banks, keeping in touch with dry land in case the wind got up and enjoying the scenery. There were only two other boats on the lake for the entire journey and an hour after set off we beached on the sunny shore right outside the café. The sun was well up now so I took a swim while we waited for Keith in the glamper van to arrive with breakfast. 30 minutes later we were enjoying poached eggs on toast, sitting on deck chairs looking back across the sparkling lake to where we’d come from. Superb!

It was the sort of scene that you don’t really want to leave but we had to get moving since we had a big day ahead. The next leg was a road bike to the headwaters of the Waikite Valley arm of Lake Ohakuri 45km away to the west. It was a pretty easy ride and the valley is quite scenic - we arrived at the lake boat ramp, looked over our shoulders, and the support crews drove in behind us. Perfect timing.

We refuelled with another good picnic lunch, then paddled off toward the Waikato River and Orakeikorako. Sadly there was some sort of algal bloom going on. The water was thick and soupy and smelt gross in some places but gradually cleared once we got to the main river and swung south with a tail wind helping us to our landing point. We caused a bit of a ruckus as we landed because apparently it’s private land and we didn’t have permission, but turning back certainly wasn’t an option and once we explained what we were doing to the owner everything got worked out. His comment was “no, you’re not supposed to land here but you guys are mad so go for your life”.

The last leg of the day was a road bike in to Taupo. The original plan was to finish the day at Kinloch so that we could start paddling across Taupo from there the following morning, but it was becoming obvious that a Lake Taupo kayak wasn’t going to happen due to the approaching dodgy weather. So we changed the plan and braved 15km of SH1 madness, finishing at the Spa Road Top 10 motor camp.

We treated ourselves to a bit of luxury and splashed out on a cabin and dinner out at a local restaurant. A well deserved reward after a long hard day.

Omaio to Lake Tarawera Outlet

Day 2 - Monday 28th February

Omaio to Lake Tarawera Outlet - 163km

1. Omaio to Ohiwa (72km Road Bike)
2. Ohiwa to Port Ohope (8km Kayak)
3. Port Ohope to Ohope Beach (9km Road Bike)
4. Ohope Beach to Whakatane (5km Run)
5. Whakatane to Kawarau (36km Road Bike)
6. Kawarau to Tarawera Falls car park (27 by car dammit)
7. Tarawera Falls car park to Tarawera Outlet Camp (5km Run)

We woke to the sound of logging trucks grinding their way up a long, steep hill. It was a sign of things to come - both the trucks and the hills! It was only 6.40am and we had to give way to two cars and a logging truck (rush hour in Omaio) before rolling out on to the highway west. We were headed for an appointment with a big breakfast in Opotiki. It was a pretty nice ride and apart from the pigs running loose on the road side, the logging trucks (did I mention the logging trucks?) and the road works it was pretty uneventful and straightforward. Our legs were a little bit jaded after yesterday but all things considered we were feeling ok.

We arrived at the café in Opotiki at 9am for a great breakfast and managed to get phone reception and a few texts away before heading off on the bikes again to Ohiwa. The transition from bike to kayak was pretty slick and we were soon paddling out the low tide channel towards Port Ohope. Once in the main channel we made good progress through the calm water to the wharf where our support crews were again already waiting.

Another quick transition had us back on the bikes pedalling to the north end of Ohope Beach where we ditched the bikes, strapped on the runners and jogged up the beach to the Hopi Point Walkway which leads around the headland to Whakatane. From one of the lookout points it was amazing to look back east and see East Cape slipping under the horizon. We paused for a minute to reflect on the fact that only a day and a half ago we had started way around there. Reid joined us for the run and did a great job, he entertained us with a perfectly executed commando roll along the track after tripping on a tree root.

A picnic lunch was waiting for us at Whakatane’s big rock after we descended the steps from the walkway but we couldn’t stay too long before we were back on the road bikes headed for Kawerau. The traffic picked up from here, especially the trucks, and there was lots of that wonderful kiwi inch diameter new chip seal to vibrate the eyes out their sockets, sandpaper the butt and knock our average speed. Nice!

We arrived in Kawarau just after the support crews and went to the Information Centre to get a permit to drive through the forest - to our chagrin we discovered we wouldn’t be able to mountain bike the 2nd to last leg up to Tarawera Falls car park and after failing to find a suitable plan B we conceded defeat and went by car - dammit. We still did the magnificent run from the falls to the Tarawera Outlet Camp so all wasn’t lost.

When we arrived at the camp Adam and Reid were already bombing off the bridge into the crystal clear, warm lake outlet stream so we jumped in after them and it felt fantastic to finally get a fresh water ‘bath’ and feel really clean. I feel terrible saying that knowing many people in Christchurch haven’t had a shower for a week…

The weather forecast for tomorrow looks good so we should be fine for a dawn kayak across the lake to the Tarawera Café.

East Cape to Omaio

Day 1 - Sunday 27th February

East Cape to Omaio -127km

1. East Cape to Te Araroa (27km MTB)
2. Te Araroa to Omaio (100km Road Bike)

4am alarm… doh! It’s raining… Shari suggested (tongue in cheek) that since there wouldn’t be a sunrise, we might as well all stay in bed. Nice try but there’s always hope, so after a quick snack and finally convincing Reid to get up we were off on the half hour drive to the Cape.

As per script the rain gradually abated as we headed east. We walked up the 500 steps to the lighthouse in the dark in about 15 minutes and were immediately impressed by the pattern cast by the lighthouse spotlight on the sea. The sky was gloomy but slowly stars started to appear and the sky brightened. Unfortunately it stayed dark out to sea and we didn’t actually get to witness the sun pop over the horizon so we made a call to get the Cape to Cape underway at 6.30 regardless.

We jogged down the steps, boarded the mountain bikes and pedalled west back towards Te Araroa. 27km and just over an hour later we arrived back at the camp ground for breakfast. The ride was pretty straightforward but the scenery spectacular as the sun peeped through and illuminated the craggy rock formations, the amazing post-storm clouds and the cattle and horses wandering on the sandy beach.

After breakfast we saddled up the road bikes and our first assignment was to tackle the long, winding hill out of Te Araroa. It didn’t turn out too bad and was really just a warm-up for what lay ahead for the rest of the day. The contour was ‘undulating’ but the superb scenery kept our minds from worrying about climbing and focussed on the important things like enjoying the environment around us.

The highlights of the day included Shari and the kids’ swim at Waihou Bay, the coffee stop at Waihau Bay and the never-ending views from the cliff tops out to a smoking White Island. The biggest highlight though came when we pulled off the road for no other reason than to ogle at the view and just happened to coincide it with the passing of a pod of Orca. Two of the magnificent beasts were very close to shore, just below the cliff we were standing on. A spectacular site highlighted by the brilliant blue of the ocean on such a crystal clear day.

After 100km we rolled in to the Omaio Reserve camping area at 3 o’clock to find our camp all set up and food ready and waiting - perfect! The reserve overlooks the coast and has a great swimming spot just down from our tents so we all went for a dip (bath really) to cool down and clean up.

Day one was a winner! No drama, everything went smoothly and we’re feeling good about the BIG, multi-discipline day up to Tarawera Outlet Camp tomorrow. It will be an early night tonight…

Waihi to Te Araroa

Prelogue - Sat 26th Feb

Waihi to Te Araroa

After a check on the latest from Christchurch, a look at the long range weather forecast, some last minute organising and rushed packing we finally headed out of Waihi about nine this morning.

The situation is Christchurch is tragic and we’ve all discussed how it feels a bit wrong to be heading off on an adventure when so many people are suffering and close friends are struggling day to day. Out thoughts are with you always. Wish you were here…

The drive east was reasonably straight forward. We met up with Keith and Kel in Te Puke where we had our first break. They’re doing it real tough, glamping in Keith’s Mercedes glamper van! We’re in tents. It was great to get to the Motu Road turnoff and finally be on new road (for our family), it really felt like the adventure had begun.

My initial impressions of the East Coast Road were - “hmmm, there are a few more ups and downs than I was able to identify on Google Earth“. Maybe I should have sprung for the 3D Pro version? I hope we can sustain my estimated 25km/hr average or we’ll be in for some long days. It’s going to be tricky to draft and get into any rhythm too. However it’s very picturesque so at least by going slow we’ll get to appreciate the countryside more.

We’ve seen several ‘scenes’ from the movie Boy already - the pace of life has slowed, making it easy to get into holiday mode. Nothing wrong with that!

We did a quick reckie out to the Cape after checking in to the Te Araroa Motor Camp. We needed to check how long it will take to drive out there tomorrow and look for things we hadn’t allowed for that might foil our plan. There were none - but it’s going to be a 4am wake up call tomorrow if we’re going to be at the lighthouse in time to see the sunrise - ouch. I’m not sure Adam and Reid realise there is in fact a 4 in the morning!

Oh yeah, it’s raining so I hope we actually get to see the sun… ha.

CAPE to CAPE 2011 Schedule

CAPE TO CAPE 2011 - (710 km)

Saturday 26th February = Transport Day, Waihi to East Cape: 344km

Day 1 (Sunday 27th February) East Cape to Omaio

1) Walk to East Cape lighthouse to watch the sun rise over NZ. Then run back to road end

2) Road end to Te Araroa = 20km gravel MTB

3) Te Araroa to Omaio = 105km road bike

Day 2 (Monday 28th February) Omaio to Tarawera Outlet Camp

1) Omaio to Ohiwa = 69km Road Bike

2) Ohiwa to Port Ohope = 4.5km Kayak

3) Port Ohope to Ohope Beach North = 8km Road Bike

4) Ohope Beach North to Whakatane = 4.5km Off Road Run

5) Whakatane to Kawarau = 35km Road Bike

6) Kawarau to Tarawera Falls = 27km MTB

7) Tarawera Falls to Tarawera Outlet = 5km Off Road Run

Day 3 (Tuesday 1st March) Tarawera Outlet to Kinloch

1) Tarawera Outlet to Lake Tarawera Cafe = 9km Kayak

2) Lake Tarawera Cafe to Whirinaki Valley Rd, Ngakuru = 41km Road bike

3) Whirinaki Valley Rd, Ngakuru to Orakeikorako = 19km Kayak on Lake Ohakuri

4) Orakeikorako to Kinloch = 41km Road Bike

Day 4 (Wednesday 2nd March) Kinloch to Te Maire (Taumarunui)

1) Kinloch to Waihaha Beach (Lake Taupo) = 20km Kayak

2) Waihaha Beach to Car Park = 0.7km Portage

3) Car Park to Western Access Road = 5km MTB

3) Western Access Road to Taumaranui = 70km Road Bike

4) Taumaranui to Te Maire = 15km Kayak

Day 5 (Thursday 3rd March) Te Maire (Taumarunui) to Stratford

1) Te Maire to Stratford = 122km Road Bike - Forgotten World Highway

Day 6 (Friday 4th March)

Stratford to Cape Egmont

1) Stratford to East Egmont (Plateau Car Park) = 15km Road Bike

2) East Egmont (Plateau Car Park) to Dawson Falls = 4km Off Road Run

3) Dawson Falls to Cape Egmont to watch the sun set over NZ = 53km Road Bike

Saturday 5th March =

Transport Day

Cape Egmont to Waihi:

346 km