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.