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…