Browns Bay to Tuaranga

My free 100mb (apparently $10 worth) ran out halfway through. Most photos can be found at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xh0wx237qf58xgf/AADrmoR1gK1d65gJuAoLaDW-a?dl=0

I decided to have a rest day in Auckland. It was definitely nice to not do much although I did have to do some babysitting to earn my board. I did go shopping and made my life hard by buying far too much food. A weeks worth of dinners + snacks and others is probably a bit too much. Oh well just need to eat more I guess.

Distance day 23km total 1189km
Ascent day 300m total 14750m

I woke up and the weather was terrible. This made it very hard to get out the door but I knew I had to. After saying goodbye to everyone I eventually made my way to Devonport to get the ferry across the harbour. Ras who was the cyclist that invited me in a few days previously had invited me over so I did a short ride to meet him.

After lunch I jumped on the train to Papakura so I could avoid spending a whole day riding through the suburbs. By the time I got off the train the rain had stopped and would stay away until that evening.

From Papakura I made my way through Clevedon. A little before Clevedon I saw two cyclists, and they were heading the right way!

They were seasoned tourists from Barcelona with some very impressive trips already done. This however was the first time with their very young kid. It was nice to ride with other people, even if it was only for an hour. In Kawakawa they stopped to stay with people they knew so I headed onwards. 

When I got to the campsite in Tapapakanga regional park I was greeted by a British couple who were just about to end their extended trip. Turns out the campsite was closed. 

 So of course I ignored that so I got to enjoy the whole foreshore by myself, mostly. So far I've found the best company you get is when there's very few people around and this was no exception. A few beers and even a light entrée were much appreciated.

It started to rain so I went down and went to sleep. I didn't really get much sleep all night as a few large storms came through. Reassuringly the tent only deformed a tiny bit under the strongest wind and I stayed completely dry. Very noisy though.

Distance day: 84km total 1273km
Ascent day 800m total 15350m

I was up well before sunrise, although the terrain blocked it mostly from where I cooked breakfast.

After saying goodbye I headed off. On the way to the main road I saw a cycle tourist go by. We waved and as I got to the road I saw him look back and soft pedal till I caught up. Turns out Tim was heading pretty much the same way as I was.

This was very handy as we seemed to ride at the same pace (although he did longer days than me) and with strong head and cross winds we saved a lot of energy by taking turns pulling. Unfortunately after two hours we had to part ways. We had similar goals, I just wanted to do slightly less direct routes.

There was a rail trail I'd heard of that I wanted to do from Thames to Paeroa and through the Karangahake Gorge. I found the route to Paeroa very boring. All it is is a few dead straight gravel paths through farmland with a handful of corners joining them, 34km worth. I'd only recommend them if you really wanted to get away from traffic.

Once in Paeroa the trail became great. The farmland quickly turned into a variety before getting into the gorge proper.

I skipped the main part of the gorge by going through a kilometre long rail tunnel. I got my head torch out but very quickly I turned it off and relied on the occasional light and the postage stamp size square of light in the distance to keep me on track.

After getting through the tunnel it was just a short trip to the turnoff to Dickeys Flat, a basic campsite next to a stream. When I got there one camper mentioned there was another cyclist camping as well so I went and introduced myself. Deiter is a German and his short term goal was to reach Rotorua so we decided to travel together for a bit.

With camp setup and dinner cooked I enjoyed the last of the sunlight before having an early night.

Distance day 97km total 1370km
Ascent day 650m total 16000m

I had a terrible sleep. Don't know why, but I couldn't get comfortable at all. So when it got past 5am I got up and had a quick walk before cooking a very early breakfast.

We both packed up and got on the road just after 8am. We made great time rolling turns, although the short sometimes heavy showers forced us do a few clothing changes. We stopped in Katikati for a second breakfast which ended up being an early lunch as we stayed a little to use the libraries wifi.

While eating another cyclist stopped by. He earned us that there were lots of narrow bridges the way we were going. As we didn't have any choice we pushed on.

The going was still fairly quick and the bridges didn't cause too much trouble but I wouldn't recommend that road.

We reached Tauronga really afternoon and had our camp setup before 2.30pm.

I'm glad I was traveling with someone else as the single price for a campsite was $25 and 50c for a shower! $15 each was at the boron end for a campsite worth hot showers and other services.

Tomorrow we will be heading up to Rotorua. I hope I don't get altitude sickness 😀.

Distance day 73km total 1443km
Ascent 800m total 16800m

Russel to Browns Bay

I had a lot of energy when I woke up so I decided I'd look for trouble. As I'd Rushed through Russell and the Bay of Islands the night before I decided the perfect warmup would be to head up to Flagstaff Hill. Awesome 360 degree view over the Bay. I had to work for it as the road up is 800m long and climbs 90m with extended sections on the wrong side of 15%!

The decent down was exhilarating. Had to be on the brakes as if was down into a very residential street.

After backtracking I headed onwards. Now I've generally been using the maps to select routes then checking the distance and
elevation on Google maps. Google suggested I go straight over a hill on gravel rather than traveling twice the distance. So I took that route.

To be fair I knew what I was getting myself into, but if I'd been on a road bike It'd have ended in tears. The corners were really sketchy with steep banks with lose gravel meaning my back wheel would slide down occasionally. The road was also quite steep in sections so traction was a real problem.

The descent was much more relaxing,  which is the opposite of what I'm used to. Going faster allowed to almost use the baked corners. All up it was fun, would be quite pleasant on an unloaded bike.

After that adventure I started looking for a nice place to stop for lunch. I passed a few places with enough space but I was looking for a view. Unfortunately after that I had around an hour of road with minimal shoulder. Ended up turning off to Oakura smashed down a lot of sandwiches.

My previous gravel experiences hadn't dissuaded me so I decided to take a back road past Helena Bay. The climb was about as hard as the previous with 250m gain. This time though I was climbing along the side of very steep hills with awesome views.

I was starting to tire little bit from there it was almost entirely down hill.

Between these gravel sections were amazing riding roads mostly along the coast.

I finally got into camp in Whananaki. By far the busiest I'd been to so far but it was the friday before a long weekend.

Distance day 87km total 916km
Ascent day 1500m total 11250m

I'd been getting pretty good at getting up for the sunrise and very rarely been disappointed.

Turns out I was camping in the same place as another cyclist. Only found out in the morning and once again was wrong direction for me.

I'd planned to head along the coast to the next doc campsite. I didn't have phone reception so I couldn't check but I thought it was maybe 90km. Turns out it was a bit more. I'd been in no rush to leave which mare it much worse.

I'd planned on taking a shortcut across the southern hemispheres longest footbridge bit I couldn't fit! Street that I really should have taken the longer route but I decided to do more gravel.

The roads were very pleasant to ride on but the day was getting and I still had to pass through Whangarei and travel 30km along SH1. I didn't quite manage a clean exit as I rushed mounting at a servo and had a clipless fall. Bit of blood and hurt ego mostly. SH1 was not so nice but I Finally got to the campsite at Uretiti beach. Turns out I passed where Catherine and Michael and the kids were camped.

The site had a similar amount of people to the previous one but Ed spread over a much larger area so it was much nicer. Only had about an hour of sunlight and I was buggered.

Distance day 109km total 1025km
Ascent day 1300m total 12550m

I'd managed to packup pretty quick but a quick chat turned out to be not so quick. I want so tight for time so I didn't worry.

I've figured out that eating enough for breakfast first up takes too long so after a bit of riding I stopped for a second breakfast.

Soon after that the first cyclist for the whole trip padded me. We had a chat and I was invited in for lunch. I didn't really need much but I couldn't turn it down. Really friendly people.

my chosen route was mostly easy going until a nasty hill climbing very rapidly partly on gravel. Luckily the gravel was very good so even though I had to get out l of the saddle to make progress I didn't slip much. The descent was very quick. Got caught out on one cornet but managed to stay on my side of the road.

Managed to get one of the lay sites in Sandspit. Great facilities although the timed showers weren't too pleasant after no shower the two nights before.

Distance day 88km total 1113km
Ascent day 1000m total 13550m

Monday of the long weekend promised to be busy so I was up will before sunrise. Managed to get going at 8am. I had to get into Auckland and I could either avoid SH1 and go an extra 30km or risk it. I decided to risk it as I had very little left in my legs.

Turns out it was a good idea add except for a couple of tight sections it was relatively pleasant. I was off before 9.30am though. After that it was just another couple of hours along the old SH1 to Browns Bay were a warm shower and washing machine were much appreciated at Cath and Mikes.

Distance day 53km total 1166km
Ascent day 900m total 14450m

Rest day was nice although I bought far too much food. Will just have to eat a lot!

Hihi to Russell

While I'd aimed to stay somewhere around the Bay of Islands my map got me intrigued by marking a mountain bike track across the North of Puketi forest. This decided it for me so I'd planned on heading to Kaeo to grab some food before back tracking to meet one end of the track.

It'd been raining overnight and that morning but it seemed alright. Unfortunately it started raining after an hour or so. This time however I decided to put my rain coat on so my upper body stayed mostly dry.

After some lunch and a hot chocolate in Kaeo and with leg warmers on just incase, I set off, but not to the mtb track. It'd have been very adventurous even when dry and I really didn't want to get stuck in the middle of a storm.

Luckily the rain stopped and the sun came out but my day was still far from over. Google maps had said it would take 2.5 hours to go 20km and it was actually right for once!

I turned off the main highway a few kms out of Kaeo. The first few km were on sealed roads and went by easily. After that the surface was pretty much as bad as parts of the Hells500 ride Ol'Dirty. The opening was slushy with large rocks that bounced both my wheels around. Then the climb started. I don't mind climbing on most gravel roads but I wouldn't call this gravel. The best way I could describe it is to compare it to wet concrete that'd just been tipped of the truck. The going was very tough and my mudguards were getting clogged with mud. The wheels still managed to turn alright although if I needed to ride much further I'd have considered taking the mudguards off.

After a whole bunch of short breaks I made it to the campsite, just a basic Department of Conservation site. Doc sites tend to have the best locations, but often at the expense of luxuries like hit showers.

It looked like it was just me and and a German guy who was doing pays off the Te Araroa track but later in the afternoon a few vehicles turned up as well as a few separate people doing the full Te Araroa track.

After a good meal and a chat my bed was waiting.

Distance day 53km total 743km
Ascent day 800m total 9000m

My sleep was a little restless so when I saw it start to lighten I quickly got up and managed to catch the sunrise for the first time.

It really didn't look like I was up at 350m as as far as I could see was the same sort of farmland I'd been pushing through all week.

As I was up fairly early I also managed to get going earlier than previous days although not by much.

The first cycle tourists I met had mentioned the twin coast cycle trail and although incomplete I noticed I was close to one open section. They did warn me about obstacles but not to the right extent.

My trip to the start of the trail in Okaihau was really easy. The first thing I saw of the trail was a small cattle grate wide enough for a bike to fit easily. Unfortunately they then put a bollard in the middle so my loaded bike couldn't fit forcing me to lift it over whilst balancing on the cattle grate.

I guess I've been spoilt by the excellent Lilydale to Warburton rail trail but the surface of this trail combined with stopping every few minutes to carry my bike made this a very miserable experience. If I did it again I'd skip the section around Lake Omapere and go on the parallel road as the second half of the track was much better.

From Kaikohe I headed to the Ngawha hot springs were I thoroughly enjoyed being in the basing temperature pools. After a long time in there and a decent time for lunch I was finally heading towards the Bay of Islands. The previous days climbing up to the campsite meant I had middle Descending to do which was nice as the wind wasn't always favourable.

After a decent restock of food in Paihia I jumped on a ferry to Russel where I'm currently camped.

Distance day 86km total 829km
Ascent day 750m total 9750m.

And up to date!

Kaitaia - Cape Reinga - Hihi

If there's any funny words just use your imagination. Writing on a phone is hard!

After my luxurious night I awoke and had a breakfast consisting of 0.5l of yoghurt with a few handfuls of toasted muesli. I'll have to remember this when I camp near stores as this was awesome for a change. As soon as I started I knew the start was going to be quick. I actually had to check my panniers were still on! The first I managed 47km in the first 2 hours. Unfortunately in that time I passed straight through the last town with any decent shop.

This became a problem as I was very short on sun cream and as I found out the last 2 dairies didn't have any! Thankfully I had enough to get me to camp and the next morning I got some from some other campers.

After another hour or so I stopped for lunch at Te Kao. I met 2 cyclists from the uk who'd just started from the Cape that morning and were heading to Bluff, in just 6 weeks! All I could do was wish them luck as they would need to do a lot of hard riding.

After lunch I pushed on. The day got a lot harder with hills that just kept getting bigger making the going tough. I didn't think there was going to be quite this much climbing in the day but when I got to the end it was worth it.

I had a quick ride down (and a considerably harder climb up) to the lighthouse but that was enough exploring for me! I'd definitely want to spend more time exploring the walking tracks if I wasn't tired and had my bike to worry about. Just looking how far down the water is was tiring enough!

After my quick look I headed back a few kms to the turn off for Tapotupotu Bay, just a 2.5km gravel road that plummeted rapidly down to sea level. Down the bottom I was greeted with a beautiful beach and heaps of space to camp. Seemed this is quite a popular site, although the site could gps triple and still have space.

After a quick swim and a very quick cold shower I got my camp sorted and pulled out the stove. This is the first time I've needed it so far so I'm considering sending it home and buying  a very basic stove, just enough to meet my normal needs.

As the sun set the stars came out and with no light pollution and only a few clouds or made for great viewing.

After the longest day by distance so far the tent was very welcoming.

Distance day 117km total 532km
Ascent day 1300m total 6450m

After my big day before I'd planned to make the return trip a bit easier. Unfortunately my need to reach a store meant it was still a monster of a day!

Halfway Up the cliff

My warmup was 165m of vertical distance in 2.5km back up the gravel road. After that my first stop was to check out the giant sand dunes of Te Paki. When I got there I decided to give riding 90mile beach a go. To get to the beach you have to take a trip through the stream bed for 3km. I didn't get very far as I was sinking in far too much and my bike wasn't sounding too good. It's unfortunate as apparently if I could just stick through till the beach it'd have got much easier. Maybe another time on someone else's mountain bike :p.

Creek from the top. Sections out of the water were fine

I spent a bit of time cleaning my bike so it was well after lunch before I got back to Te Kao. While I was eating lunch a fair bit of rain came through and dropped the temperature by over 10 degree's in a few minutes. I waited out the rain for a bit but I had to get going so I grabbed my rain jacket and headed off. Luckily the rain quickly stopped.

While the lack of hills I remembered I definitely didn't have a headwind on the way up! After quite a long time I arrived in Pukenui and finally bought some sun cream.

Distance day 82km total 614km
Ascent day 1150 total 7600m

The night before and still this morning my calves really hurt, probably to do with the climbing the sand dunes as well as the excessive riding. Some stretches helped a bit but it was still slightly uncomfortable to ride. As I'd done a lot the last 2 days I took it easy. This time it actually was fairly easy with only a few step hills not amounting to much. I had a tail wind for a lot of the day as well which helped immensely.

Turned up at the campsite and it was completely deserted. Not even someone to take my money! They'll be around in the morning most likely.

My company for the afternoon. 

Distance day 76km total 690km
Ascent day 600m total 8200m

I'll be off towards the Bay of Islands tomorrow where I may have a day with almost no cycling, but we'll see.

Parakai to Kaitaia

So it turns out I am a bit silly. Anyway I'll start from the beginning.

Wednesday morning I was packed up and rolling at 8.30am. I'd planned a big day so I knew I needed to get up early otherwise I'd be racing the sunset. With a few encouraging comments from other campers I was off. The first 20km was a nice warmup before the first big climb. This would be one of only a few climbs up above 100m. That really isn't a very indication as what threw North Island lacks in big hills it more than makes up in frequency.

Just copy paste this a few dozen times and add a Ben's leading to more climbing

I made good time for the 60km to Wellesford, possibly too good as I was only just over halfway with a decent amount of climbing to go. The ride up to here had been fairly quiet but straight after Wellesford I was forced to travel along SH1 for a short period. Far to busy to be pleasant.

Thankfully I got back onto a smaller highway after an hour or so. I actually passed one campsite I didn't know about 80km from Parakai, but stubbornness forced me to get to my target.

This was a good idea this time add I ended up at an awesome campsite.

That night I shared a drink and a chat to a Danish guy spending three months droving around NZ. He'd just stayed after a previous trip spending 3 months sailing around Scotland. I was stuffed so had am early night in the hopes of heading off early. 

Distance day 116km total 186

Ascent day 1700 total 2700

But the weather wasn't going to let me. 

No rain thankfully But visibility was terrible until around 9.30am. I Finally got rolling after 10 and knew I had 50km of dead flat road to enjoy. Well I did for the first few kms until I swung northerly into a decent breeze. For about 40km I was pushing hard to exceed 15km/h.

Descending onto plains. 

Mercifully the pains ended and I spotted in Dargaville for lunch. I was ready to call it a day and stop at the first place I could until I meet two other cyclists (American and Dutchmen). Over the last week or so they'd basically done the reverse of what I planned to do. After that quick chat I headed off energised and set on reaching the Waipoua Forests. Once again my stubbornness for me through as it was still 50km and a lot of climbing although in the hills the wind wasn't a problem.

It was also nice having a sustained climb for a few kms for a change. This climb thankfully led onto a rapid descent to my place of rest. 

A short gravel Road along the Waipoua River leading to the campground. 

 I got into camp with about an hour of sunlight and nothing left in the tank. On paper this ride should have been a decent ray day but I learnt threw hard way that plans need to be flexible.

While it was a lovely campsite, I did Hey eaten alive by mozzies. Below is the inside of the outer pay off my tent in the morning.

Distance day 100km total 286km

Ascent day 850m total 3500m

After struggling to walk the night before I knew I had to take it easy so I set myself an easy target of Rawene 55km away. This being NZ that still included three 2nd highest Ascent of the trip but I had plenty of time so I took it very easy. 

My first task of the day was to climb out of the forest. Deserted roads through dense forest make for great cycling. Although I didn't take the time to go on the longer walks through the forest I did take the few minutes to check out Tane Muhata. Not the biggest Kauri but definitely big. 

With the climb done I had a very nice decent. Most of the climbing for the rest of the day was easy, that is except for the climb approaching Omapere which turned out to be 700m at 13.2% average with sections showing above 18%. I had to take a break halfway but I was rewarded with an awesome view of the entrance to Hokiamga harbour.

 The rest of the ride had me following the coast with a few trips inland. Finally I turned towards Rawene where I was greeted by a couple of short sharp climbs up to the campsite.

Distance day 56km total 346km.
Ascent day 900m total 4400m.

The weather the lay few days had been awesome if maybe a little warm (my cyclists tan lines have had a lot of work) today was shocking. During the night or stayed raining and basically didn't stop all day. Nevertheless I soldiered on and took the ferry across the harbour.

Nice and easy way to skip a large ride and it seems avoid a lot of traffic. The next few hours had me riding along awesome roads in terrible weather. I'd love to do the same trip again in clear weather. 

Probably wouldn't look as ominous with normal visibility. 

I stopped to get food a couple of times but the first place had very little hour food and the second wasn't serving food for a few hours. So on I went cautious that I couldn't let myself cool down as I was soaked so is be in a lot of trouble. Between stops I came across another two cycle tourists (Canadian and Kiwi) pushing their loaded 3 speed bikes up a hill. Sounds like they were wishing for a few more gears! Luckily they only had 5km left for the day where as I had 30 ish.

I eventually reached Kaitaia and had a much needed late lunch. Unfortunately I had made no effort to dry off so once I was back out into the elements I couldn't stop shivering. With the Backpackers full I either had to ride another hour at least to get to a campsite or stay in a motel. I stayed riding hoping I'd feel better but after a few minutes I pulled over and I'm now looking forward to a nice sleep indoors. 

Distance day 73km total 418km

Ascent 750m total 5150m

Hopefully I'll be able to make up for it tomorrow with a good trip out to  Cape Reinga!

Also you can check all my photos here. If toy want to see where I've been in more detail dings me on Strava.

Melbourne to Parakai

Bags packed and I'm off!

Photos will come sometime later when I have wifi.

 No dramas at the airport (besides getting scanned for explosives a few times). Not really happy about my total weight as I was slightly over on checked luggage and right on the limit for checking but oh well. Hopefully the packing stuff will account for a few kgs.

Flight over was uneventful, first time on an a380, verdict: it's a plane, never really had problems with any aircraft before, although I did notice that leg room was pretty good for me. 

I had to declare my camping gear, so I got a free clean of my shoes and tent! Even managed to get the tent back in its bag.  

Auckland airport really caters to bikes. They have bike repair stands. Took me a little while to get my bike sorted but at least it survived the crossing unscathed.

With my bike ready to go I made my way to the closest train station to head into the city to catch a ferry. I probably did this first ride quicker than any cars. I managed to pay very little attention to Auckland on the train ride and ferry but I'm not too worried. Over on the North shore I headed to Browns Bay where Catherine and Michael had dinner and a bed ready.

Distance day: 23km Total: 23km.
Ascent Day: 300m Total: 300m

Next morning I awoke to some singing. The boys were up! After a quick shop to start my food stockpile, Catherine took me on a very scenic albeit rather hilly ride to Helensville. The first test was awaiting me just outside the front door, 400m at 14%. Give me a month and this may be in the very hard category but day 2 it was almost get off and push situation. That was the hardest of a whole bunch of hard hills but thankfully they were all fairly short and I was payed back with some nice short descents.

In Hellensville Catherine bid her farewells before making the return trip. It was great to have the company and guide for the first real day. After lunch I headed a few km along the road to Parakai to camp.

Distance day: 48km Total: 71km
Ascent day: 700m Total: 1000m

Tomorrow could be a big day! No real campsite for ~120km.

Shakedown Tour and 5 days to go

My Steed, carrying ~25kg

Many years of talk, and a few months of action and i'm nearly off! I've traveled to New Zealand many times with family but mostly just visiting family with a few short trips mixed in. I hope to rectify this with a 3 month trip covering the full length of both islands.

Before I left i knew i needed to do a min tour, to make sure all the vital things were all sorted. My shakedown tour was 230km and 2500m climbing over three days from Tues 30th Sept to Thurs 2nd Oct from Lilydale - Lilydale via Warburton, Marysville, Lake Mountain and Reefton.

Day 1: Lilydale to Feiglin Campground Acheron Way 78KM

With my panniers packed i set my alarm for the next morning. I was unsure how long my first day would take me, so i decided to get one of the first trains out to Lilydale. Note to self: bring something to apply the brakes, as holding a bike for an hour is not pleasant.

By 8:20am and i was rolling! Riding fully loaded ended up only feeling weird the first 30 minutes or so. The first time i got out of the saddle it was a bit of a shock, but very easy to adjust for. Funnily enough after the tour riding without loaded front panniers felt really wrong and twitchy, and that was only after 3 days!

The Lilydale - Warburton Rail Trail is a beautiful trail. If you haven't done it, do it now! This 40km stretch of gravel bike path takes you through (and towards) some of the most pleasant places to ride. Even on a week day there were plenty of walkers and cyclists out, although most were out for a gentle ride, so i even managed to overtake one cyclist! 2:15 hours later i was in Warburton, where i had a quick chat to the mechanic at Cog Cafe. I asked if he knew of any water up the road, this was going to be the first test of my legs, and i had 600m to climb so I kept my weight as low as possible. He reckoned there was a spring in one of the clearings part of the way up Mt Donna Buang after the hairpin at Acheron Way.

With that info i set off. The climbing was slow, but i never found it too much of a grind. Halfway up Mt Donna Buang i stopped for lunch where Acheron way starts. I really need to come up here again and have a good look at the rain forest gallery, from the lookout the area below looked amazing! After lunch i headed up towards Donna Buang. I hadn't planned to go this way but i needed some water so on i went. And on and on. After 5km and 250m climbing my legs were starting to fade, so i decided to turn around and stop at some water I'd seen on the way. Turns out i would have had to go another 2km to reach the mentioned water, but what i found was pretty good.

After getting back down to the intersection I headed along Acheron Way. This is a great cycling road. Both times i've been along it it has been almost deserted. The first 10km or so is all gravel, including a decent amount of descending. The whole road is great to ride along, but i was still very glad once i got to the sealed section. 

Sooo Smooth!

Very soon after this, and before 2:30pm i rolled into Feiglin campground. This was a basic clearing with space for a few tents, but i had it all to myself! I picked a nice even spot and got my tent all sorted. Turns out i picked a very nice spot. An hour or so after I arrived a rather large storm came through, including strong wind a fair amount of rain. At first i thought there was some thunder around, as i heard a whole lot of loud cracks. Quite quickly i realised i was hearing trees cracking in the wind. I was relatively sheltered so i didn't feel the wind too much, but a tree 30m away did!

Not the most reassuring thing for your first night camping solo...

Luckily the wind died off quite early, although the rain stayed all night. Dinner was cooked whilst inside the tent and i was in bed just after the sun.

Day 2: Feiglin to Big River 64km

Marysville Rd, it may be sunny but it wasn't warm!

I awoke feeling pretty good, unfortunately it was still raining, so it wasn't until 9:30am that i actually got rolling. The first hour was fairly easy, but on the approach to Marysville i had my second real test of my legs. I lost the gps data from the first bit of the day, but i was seeing 10+% for 1km or so. I stopped in Marysville for a coffee and cake before starting my climb up to Lake Mountain. 

I decided to put my leg warmers on during a patch of rain, as it was still very cool down here and i had another 1000m of climbing to do. And i never regretted it as after the first hour it only got above 5 degrees once for the rest of the day.

I had never climbed Lake Mountain before, and i wasn't sure i'd do the full climb as i'd wasted a lot of the morning in the tent. I'd read climb guides so i knew the first part is very hard. Turns out that my gearing is enough to get me up extended 10% gradients, although if i was gifted a few lower gears they would be greatly appreciated.

Once i got to the intersection to the summit i decided that i did have enough time to get to the top so off i went. This section of the climb is very gentle so my speed picked up a little. While riding the sun managed to peek through enough to start making the wet roads steam!

A steaming road! And it was only 5 degrees!

Towards the top i started seeing a bit of snow. Apparently the rain i had down in Marysville was snow up on the mountain! Ah well, another chanced missed to ride whilst its snowing. A little while later i arrived at the Lake Mountain resort! Unfortunately the cafe was closed, although the buildings were open so i stayed inside and had a small lunch before rugging up for the descent.

The end is near!

I don't have much experience descending, so i never get too fast, but unlike Donna Buang i found this descent really relaxing (note i didn't go down to Marysville). The 10km of road back to the turn off is largely gentle flowing bends with good vision so the brakes didn't need much of a workout. I still had one more climb to go 2km at 7%. Once that was done it was virtually all down hill to my campsite, including 6km and 250m vertically down a gravel road to Big River. Descending on gravel has never been my favourite thing, and this road was particularly rough, although i was generally pretty good at finding the smooth spots. Big River campground turned out to be a massive campground, which i had all to myself. If i'd had a little more time i'd have gone a little further down the road to one of the smaller campsites, but i was tired and the sun was beginning to set.

Camp setup and dinner cooking!

A few hours after sunset i heard a vehicle go by, and then turn around. Seems some bogan's had seen my tent. Thankfully they went further away, although they made a lot of noise for a while including using a chainsaw...

Day 3: Big River to Lilydale 88km

This morning was much more productive, with myself all sorted and moving by 7:30am. First job was to backtrack up that 6km of gravel. With that sorted i was greeted with 20km of descending with a few small climbs mixed in on an amazing road along the Reefton Spur. I had a huge grin for a long time going around the many flowing corners. If i could only do one section of this ride again this would be it. 

From the bottom there was just 20km of gentle undulating road into Warburton, where i stopped for a while for a coffee and muffin.

Looking up at mountains for the first time since Marysville

 After far too long i got up and continued on my way back to Lilydale. The weather wasn't quite as nice as the Tuesday, but at least it was dry.

The longest bridge along the rail trail

Throughout the whole ride my legs generally had felt pretty good, never really feeling like i was nearing my limit. That was until 20km to go, when i started feeling really fatigued. I thought it might have been lack of food as i hadn't really eaten lunch yet so i stopped to have a bite. Turns out i had just been climbing for a while, as when i got back riding the descent started, although the food stop definitely helped. With Lilydale in sight i was done, so i treated myself to some potato cakes and dim sims. When i got back up i could barely walk! I guess the k's finally started to take their toll as i hadn't felt any stiffness in my legs up to that point. I managed to get back to the train station and had a short wait before heading home to a much needed shower and rest.

With my shakedown done i'm now confident that i can handle the full thing, although inevitably there will be new challenges to overcome.

Anyway my preparations are nearly complete, although i need to knock a few things off my list before i head off on Monday!