The Road to Auckland

Kauri Trees and Hot Springs

Today was a long ride through the Kauri Forest. I had to ride 25 miles of winding mountain roads through the forest. I visited some of the largest trees on a short walk. At lunch in Omapere I bumped into a couple I'd met in Pohara in the South Island. I also realised that I'd left a T-shirt in Rawene, so I wrote a letter to the camp-ground enclosing five dollars and asking them to send it to Wellington. They did. Sweet.



I camped beside a river in a camp-ground almost taken over by a club of all-terrain vehicle drivers. They had had some kind of race meeting at the weekend. They were friendly though. Unfortunately it rained.



The road to Pahi was relatively flat but I was thwarted by a stiff head-wind and although the day was clear and warm, the country-side was less dramatic than before. I spent a couple of hours at the Pioneer Museum where I learnt about the Kauri trees and its gum.



As I got nearer to Auckland the traffic gets busier and I was  forced onto the main road for five of six miles. This is where I lost my bottom water-bottle cage. A screw had worked its way out. The ride ended up being almost seven hours, some of it on gravel and mostly up and down all day. I remember putting up a rabbit and chasing it for a while. I also had a huge lunch at Wellsford. The toil was worth it though as I ended up at Parakai Hot Springs and camping gave you free access to the thermal springs. Just the way to spend the evening after a long ride.



The final days ride into Auckland took me through Waitakere and its surrounding vineyards, before reaching the outskirts and deciding to catch a suburban train into the city. Whilst checking into the backpackers I met Caroline and Sue (from the Cape Reinga trip) and had a drink with them that evening. In the afternoon I made all the arrangements for my forthcoming holiday in the Cook Islands and Tahiti.

I spent one further day in Auckland. I managed to find an English Sunday paper and spent the morning catching up on the news. After wandering around town for a while I visited the aquarium. In this one you walk through a perspex tunnel inside the tank, with sharks and rays swimming all around you. Amazing. they also had sea-horses, a couple of species be indigenous. I had a quiet evening doing my laundry.

Sailing the High Seas

The R. Tucker Thompson





I spent the whole day on the R. Tucker Thompson a schooner with a square-rigged foremast. In the summer she does day tripos in the Bay of Islands, but in the winter she does cruises through the Pacific Islands. For a price you can crw on her. Today I ran around pulling ropes as directed by the official crew and climbed up the rigging and out onto the bowsprit. At lunch we anchored in a bay and swam. We also swung from a rope on the yard-arm. All good fun on a beautiful day.





In the evening I played pool down the pub with a bunch of German lads. A fish and chip supper and a sleep undisturbed by mosquitoes.



Northland East Coast

The following morning I was back on my bicycle after the short ferry trip to Pahia. The day was sunny, the road undulating, but the countryside was a bit bland. I did bump into two other cyclist though. The camp-ground at Rawene was very bleak. I was the only one there and decided I may as well stay in the bunk-room. I'm now on the west coast of the northern peninsular. The estuary here is very muddy; a complete contrast to the pristine beaches on the eastern side. At least I'm riding again.

Cape Reinga

The Meeting of Two Oceans and a 90 Mile Beach

After arriving in the Bay of Islands I decide to take a couple of days off the bike and give my sore shoulder a rest. I've arranged an overnight camping trip to Cape Reinga which is the most northerly point in New Zealand (almost). At 9am I catch a ten minute ferry to Pahia to meet Sol who is the organiser and driver of the mini-bus. We are: Paul, Andrea, Gisella, Sue, Suzanne, Caroline, Sandy and me. After a picnic lunch at Cable Bay we visit a Kauri Forest and admire the massive trees. They are not tall. but fat! and were once hugely exploited for masts and spars on sailing shi[s and then later for the resin they produce.









Near the cape we are dropped off and left to walk over the heath and dunes to the ocean and then along the cliffs. Then we have to climb up the cliffs before arriving at the lighthouse at Cape Reinga itself. At the camp-site we all help to set up the marquee tent and prepare the barbeque. We spend the evening chatting and drinking before trying to sleep. Lot's of giggling.





After breakfast we go for another two hour hike along the cliffs. The weather is wonderful. We are then driven to 90 Mile Beach (actually only 60 miles) and spend an hour climbing to the summit of huge 200m high sand dunes. This was followed by a quick swim in the surf and another picnic, before returning to Russell.

Into Northland

A Crash on the Road to the Bay of Islands

The following day I decided to head for Russell in the Bay of Islands via a quiet coast road that was un-made but scenic. After branching off the main road I came across a wandering cow in the middle of the road. A farm was close by to I road up the front door and knocked. A Maori answered the door and didn't seem that interested. He asked me "what colour is it?". "Was it red?". "no", I said, "it was black". It looked at me like I was an idiot. He meant what colour was the tag in its ear not the colour of its coat! In any case he wasn't interested and the cow remained unmolested.



After that I crossed the Helena Hills and came down to the village of Oakura and had lunch overlooking the sea. It was very quiet down here. Shortly afterwards the tarmac road finished and gave way to a rutted dirt road of gravel and rocks. Before I knew what was happening I'd gone over the handle-bars and found myself flat on my back in the middle of the road. I was covered in dust, had a grazed bum and a cut on my head which was drizzling blood down my face. I hadn't been wearing a helmet. I picked myself up feeling a bit dizzy, but more or less fine. The bike looked fine too, but I tried wheeling it I could see that the front wheel was heavily buckled.

At that moment a fisherman turned up driving a pick-up and towing his boat. A quick chat followed where the situation was appraised and summarised. He suggested that he give me a lift all the way back to Whangerei as the chances of getting a ride the other way was slim and he was here right now. I accepted. We lifted the bike into the back of the pick-up where I was surprised to see a large Tuna fish. The bike went on top of it. I jumped into the cab beside him still gently bleeding. I was to be driven back the way I'd come. A waste of 40 miles effort!

I asked about the Tuna. He told me to keep quiet but he'd caught it illegally and was driving it to a small airport where he would sell it and it would be flown directly to Japan. Blimey!

When he dropped me off I lifted out the bike which was now covered in Tuna blood. He recommended a pub for me to stay in and after checking in I wheeled my bike around to a bike shop to see what could be done. The guy said he could fix the wheel and I should come back the next morning.

I then spent a long time in the bath soaking away my aches and pains. I spent the evening propping up the bar. My odometer said I'd gone through 2000 miles today.

On the Road to the Bay of Islands 2

After picking up the bike, which had only cost 24 dollars to have the wheel repaired I rode the more conventional route to Russell. The ride was a bit tedious as I had a sore neck and shoulder from the fall. I was however determined to get to the Bay of Islands.



Whilst having lunch at Tawai I almost had an altercation with a local Maori. He seemed to think I was paying too close attention to the spat he was having with his girlfriend! I was sat outside the pub and they were in a car just in front of me. I couldn't avoid seeing them. They calmed down eventually and just as they were about to leave he waved me over. I was a bit apprehensive but he placed a small package in my hand which turned out to be some nice Thai flower heads. He told me that they weren't properly dry yet so I needed to wait a few days before trying them. Pretty friendly I thought.



After that it was a long climb over to Kawakawa and then a five minute ferry ride at Opua and a short hop around to Russell, a town on a beach. I arranged to stay in a Samaritans Backpacker place and then spent the time walking around town. I walked up Flagstaff Hill to watch the sunset - this is the site of a Treaty in 1840 between the British and the Maori.

North to Auckland and Whangerei Falls

The Northerner

After ten days or so sojourn in Wellington with Jo on Friday April 2nd 1993 I took the "Northerner" night train from Wellington to Auckland. The weather in Wellington had been cold so I'd decided to go as far north as possible and ride back down to Wellington.

The train had no sleeping compartments but I was warm enough on the sheepskin covered reclining seats. I see nothing all night apart from strange stops in the middle of nowhere. Eventually the dawn breaks as we head into Auckland. At the station I photograph a steam engine on it's way out on an excursion. An hour later I'm on a bus going even further north to Whangerei. This is a three hour trip on a busy road through the isthmus to Northland. After all that travelling it is raining. Fortunately it's only a five mile ride to the camp-ground at Whangerei Falls. I stay, alone, in the bunk room, and manage a walk to the falls in the late afternoon.

Things have changed in Auckland since I was there. The Northerner service was stopped in 2004 and the Auckland Station I used has since been closed too - though a new one has been built close by.



That steam train I saw was called the Cannonball Express for that excursion. In fact it is KA942 built in New Zealand in 1940 and in mainline use until 1966. She was restored in 1991 and again in 2001. She is still running. Here are a couple of videos: near Dunedin, and here and here.