Author Archives: Kiwihobos

Roughly 70km today!

We got moving fairly early with a coffee to move us along. The pool called for me to jump in, they open it at 6.30am. A fairly big day ahead, but she is pretty flat. A few minor up and downs but flat and boring. It really did get boring. We stopped in Ngatea for Subway, it was still early 10am so we got a foot long each and had half now and we will have half later. There was two op shops that we may have looked at while our food settled.

From there we followed a canal. I tried to get a shot of Rowan reflecting in the water but I was too slow.

Honestly, it was a pretty boring day these cows are the most exciting thing I saw all day and it was just before Te Aroha

We did get to follow on some tracks, which was good. Most of the ride from Tirohia was on the Hauraki Rail Trail. We did do a lot on back roads with farm after farm to look at.

We arrived in Te Aroha just before 3pm and we went op shopping, so predictable. After that we went to the holiday park, about 3km from the town centre.

Once we were set up we hopped into the spring spa. It is not as hot as last night, I wish it was hotter but Rowan was happy.

36km today!

We headed off at a good time and went back the way we came in. Our first hill was right there. It took a couple of breaks to make it up, but we did it all on the bikes. Then it was downhill to Tapapakanga Regional Park, then back uphill. This hill wasn’t bad at all. There was a nice view at the top where we had a snack.

From here we stuck next to the coastline all the way to Miranda. We stopped at Kaiaua for lunch. It was a good hour before we got back on our bikes. Only 13km to go.

There is a cycle trail next to the road, which was a bit haphazard in parts from recent storms. But we followed it in parts and ended up at the Miranda Springs Holiday Park at 2pm. Nice and early. After set up we got into the pool which is pretty hot. We lasted 40min before needing to get out. After dinner, we hopped into bed to read our books. Then we decided to hop back in the spa

I woke up feeling tired but ready to go. I would love to make it to Miranda Springs but we will see how the day goes. Rowan had a leak in his mat and it went down several times in the night. We better try find the issue tonight.

The day was hard, everything hurt. A couple of weeks off and our bums are not used to the cycle anymore. The morning was quite scenic following the coastline.

Then you turn inland to get to Clevedon. 17km of the day done. We had a bite to eat in Clevedon, just some sandwiches Rowan made. At this point when I hoped back on I really felt achy and tired. We slogged it up then a fun down to Kawakawa Bay.

There is a big up from there and it was hard. I sweated a lot. It felt like it took forever. The ride down was quite fun. The ride all the way to Ōrere Point was actually quite good. Very rewarding with short bursts up and long downs.

I was attempting a selfie with this sign and the owner invited us in for a cuppa. We ended up staying there for an hour. Janine & Ruddy live 50% here and 50% in West Auckland. Ruddy did the Tour Aotearoa last year and they often cycle. It is a real eclectic Bach. They save everything and they love to op shop. It was really cool seeing all their collections. Janine said they usually would invite us to stay and are trail angels but they are on their way back to Auckland. Ruddy noticed Rowan’s rear tyre going down and he showed Rowan how to replace the inner tube. The tube was damaged at the valve because a washer had gone which holds it in place.

Once we said our goodbyes we had a short ride to the top10 holiday park. Feeling quite tired now that we had had dinner. I don’t think I will get far with my book tonight.

We planned to get moving fairly early, but the rain came and demotivated us. Really we could have left yesterday, but the weather forecast was horrid. It turned out okay, which was rather annoying. Anyway it gave me heaps of time to make the beds and clean up properly after ourselves. We got on the bikes and got back off them. Ahh a hill to Gulf Harbour! Once we slogged up that it was easy breezy. I tell you what, my legs are asking what the heck I am doing?! Obviously our time off has made them think that my crazy days of cycling are over. Well I have news for you cupcake.

We got to the ferry terminal and got our tickets. Nana & GPA came down to see us off. Annoyingly the ferry isn’t running and we have to jump on a bus. Very lame, I was looking forward to the trip.

We made it to the downtown ferry terminal and waited for the next boat to Pine Harbour. This time was broken up by a random evacuation test, which we had to comply with. The weather really fined up and made the journey really nice.

Once we arrived, we had a short bike ride to my dads house in Beachlands. Dad looks good and we had a good few hours catching up. We also had a chance to grab a few things and leave a few things. NANA, you will be pleased. I left behind my wholly merino jarmie tip and replaced it with a good one. We also picked up a go pro thingy so maybe I can experiment with some vloging.

We said goodbye to Dad and headed to the Mitre10 for some gas for our cooker and then to the supermarket for a few supplies. Then cycled out to Ōmana Regional Park which allows camping if you book it online and pay. $16pp.

A cold shower and eating as fast as we can before the sun sets. We need to get used to eating early again.

A bit of a rush to catch the plane. It turns out our bikes are heavier than I thought. Rowan’s bike is right on 22.5kg in the bike box. We got my bike and ended up loading it up to 31.5kg. This incurred an extra $20 cost but it was worth it. Our raincoat pockets loaded up with heavy items. Luckily Air NZ doesn’t way its passengers. I kept worrying I put the wrong items checked in. I really didn’t want to lose any more electronics like last time. It all worked out well but the flight was a little delayed. The lovely Liz took us to the airport, we are really lucky to have such nice friends. We must have been fairly good house guests, we got an invitation to come again.

My mum flew in an hour before us from Queenstown and picked us up. The bikes fitted easily on her roof racks. I should have taken a photo of them on Liz’s roof, the little Honda Jazz looked funny. The traffic was pretty bad and we got to Whangaparāoa at 5.30pm. It is great to see my Nana & Grandpa. They are my number one fan on the blog.

The weather up here is pretty crap. I mean the rain hasn’t really stopped much since January. Everything looks very lush and green. Nana got a new vegepod for mothers day. We had instructions on how to set it all up. It is a pretty neat set up and it means we dont need to worry about Nana trying to bend down or walk on uneven ground to do her vegies. There was a few more jobs to do around the house which we got done pretty fast. My Aunty Tissy came over for dinner. It was good to catch up her.

My lovely mum gave me a much needed hair cut. I haven’t cut it since December, it was well overdue. We spent the whole morning on Saturday out doing jobs and a bit of shopping. I found some art for my niece’s bedroom. It will be her first birthday soon. I had a chance to catch up with my sister Clare, it was just the two of us which was quite nice. Rowan cooked a curry for dinner. On Sunday and Monday we just potted around. Getting the bikes and our gear all ready. Rowan got out and scrubbed the fence. It ended up raining while he finished the job. Feeling ready to go, just hoping for some good weather for the next few weeks.

We are very lucky to have such great friends who can put up with us for a week. Liz & Rick are awesome friends, we have missed them. The week went really fast. We both got to see our doctors. We got a good load of op shopping in. A quick check of the container, it is looking just like we left it. We put more dehumidifier stuff in and set off a borer bomb. Rowan had left his guns to be sold on behalf when we left Christchurch. The company he left them with sold up and Gun City took their stock. Rowan had to go see them and get them to buy them off him.

Mother Day, Rowan cooked a big breakfast for Liz. I found some awesome handmade ceramic placemats, a woolly scarf and some chocolate. It is a thank you for having us, and why not make Liz feel a bit more special on Mother Day. She has definitely been a good mother at timea for us! We went for a walk with the dogs in Bottle Lake Forest. The kids took Liz out in the afternoon.

Tuesday night we went to a pub to participate in a quiz. We were a team of 6 with Rick & Liz’s friends and we ended up coming third. We were only a few points from first. Rowan really enjoyed cooking every night and we all appreciated it. We gave Billy some more money, he is down the road where we left our house truck.

We had a successful op shop around. We ended up with a fair bit of gold to add to the collection. I found some more porcelain cubes that I had displayed in our old house. Now I have more to make it even bigger.

There are two spokes that need replacing on our bikes. It turns out we need new chains too. Obviously all those miles has caused some wear and tear. My bike isn’t ready to pick up, talk about leave it to last minute. We will have to pick it up tomorrow morning before we go to the airport. The guys at Evo cycles give us a couple of bike boxes so that we can dismantle and get them on the plane.

Monday, we went op shopping in town. At the first shop, I followed a lady around, hoping she would put down a really awesome dressing gown. She ended up buying it 😞. As we did all the shops we also went to the library to get some help about booking the Intercity Bus. They were not helpful as they were only a booking agent. Many calls later, we won’t know if we can get on with our bikes until 6.30am tomorrow. If the bus gets too full, they get upgraded to a double decker, which can’t handle bicycles.

We also needed to go to the police station to make an in person report about the cars that abused us. Just as we were leaving the cop shop, there was a collision. A guy pulling out of a carpark didn’t check properly and hit and older man with his car. The younger guy got angry, decided to drive his car as fast as possible, lost traction and hit him again. The poor old guy had damage to the front and back of the car now. It was a bit of a surreal moment and we ended up making new statements for this incident. The guy around our age has no insurance so hopefully the old boy has some good insurance for his car.

I tell you what, we are not enjoying Southland this time around. People here really hate cyclists. It is unfortunate because we loved our time renovating in Bluff. But this trip has soured our views. We continued op shopping and didn’t score much. We did get a cheap blanket to wrap the bike chains in. Went to the supermarket for dinner and went back to the holiday park. While Rowan cooked, I organised as much as I could, hoping we can get on a bus in the morning.

The alarm goes off and I call Intercity. It looks like we are good to go. We quickly pack up and head into town. We need to get there early enough to dismantle the bikes. Our bus driver is the most grumpy man. I think he hates his job with a passion. I would complain, but I don’t want him to get into trouble. Here we go 11 hours on a bus, we haven’t been on a bus this long since Spain and Morocco.

The yellow hue of a winter storm brewing, it stayed all day today! My sisters are yet again getting wet feet in Auckland. The bus trip isn’t too bad. Majority of the time I read my book.

The lovely Edward (neighbours son) picks us up from the bus station. We are staying at our very good friend’s and ex neighbours house Liz & Rick. I have really looked forward to seeing them and we have missed them a lot. It is really nice to spend some time here catching up.

We did it! 35km to Bluff!

An easy day for us with a fairly flat track to Bluff. There are a few hills but nothing too hard for us. We get onto the lagoon track after Rowan has had some fun on the boat and train! The train is designed to go on a wooden track. In 1863 they imported Lady Barkley and she is the first locomotive in Southland.

The track was pretty nice. It stayed on the waters edge for about half of the ride. Then we are following beside the road. I am suffering from some bad chafed thighs from yesterday. Every push on the peddle hurts and I am motivated to get there and get it done.

We get into town and find some bubbles and food to have lunch and celebrate. We cycle out to Sterling Point which is absolutely packed. We turn around and go to the Lighthouse to eat. Then we thought we better get the mandatory photo of the AA sign.

We ended up booking a shuttle back to the holiday park rather than a 70km day. We went past Joanne’s old rental in Bluff. I think it was 2018 we fixed the house up. They got rid of the awesome buoy letterbox. Other than some horrific net curtains it looks the same! Paint job looks like it is holding up well. Probably needs a touch up with it being a weatherboard home.

Well we weren’t expecting that! Our intention today was to get to Winton area not Invercargill. We got the last few kilometres into Mossburn and headed to the cafe where we got our lunch for the day (a couple of sandwiches). We then took off and did 20km in an hour. Wahoo

From then on we got slower, but that is kind of expected. When we arrived near Winton fairly early, we made the decision to push on to Invercargill it means a 100km day. There are not many photos today. It is all the same scenery. It was a very boring 100km. The hardest was our hands, they got absolutely ruined from yesterday’s ride. Today they just constantly ached and went numb.

We were not far out of Wallace Town going over a train overpass when dickheads decided to yell at me. Swearing and telling me to get off the road. Worse than that, I watched the horror of one of them opening the car door and holding it out with his foot and hand to try push Rowan off the bridge. At this point he was at the top of the bridge with no way to move over more and he would have been pushed off to the tracks below. It was really scary. It wasn’t until I caught up with him and we can pull over safely that one of them threatened to come back with his rifle. I think both cars were kinder to me because I am obviously a girl. We called the police straight away to make a report. Definitely the scariest encounter since cycling.

When we got to Wallace Town I was looking for a toilet (none). Only 8km from here to our campground, so I will hold it longer. When we went past the tavern, Rowan saw the two cars pull out. So we called the police back as they asked us to do that if we saw them again. Luckily they didn’t see us so there was no more confrontation. Talk about a horrendous way to end the day. These roads have been really good because they are back roads and are really quite.

It is getting dark as I pitch the tent. Rowan has cycled to the supermarket while I get camp ready. Well we did over 100km wahoo. I don’t recommend the Southern Travers Trail. It is boring!

I waited for the birds to waken me and let me know it is near dawn. Sadly there was no bird song. There are definitely birds around but obviously not in numbers I was expecting. I did have a friend once I got out of the long drop.

It is really stunning here, we will definitely come back and spend some more time here. A slow pace for the start as I keep stopping to take photos.

Once on the main road again we have a really jarring 20km mostly down hill. The rocks are really big and it makes it really awful to ride on. However we are going downhill and that is something to smile about.

We stay left and go up from there. Along this part there are 4 ups. Lucky for us they are ups we can actually manage staying on the bike. No pushing necessary! Just before you go down on the last up the cycle track turns off to follow the river. It is a really good trail. The stones are very fine and it is much nicer to cycle on.

The local campground is closed for winter. We end up finding a good spot a few km from the Mossburn village to camp. A early stop for us at 3pm. The rain has been following us so we are happy to get pitched, washed and fed before it really starts.