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January 1st-10th, 2002January 1st; Wellsford to Auckland
I slept through the new year. Last night I heard some music down the street, but otherwise quiet. This morning I was up early again and riding out from Wellsford. This was a reverse of my route from December 23rd, so I was anticipating some big hills to Helensville. They turned out easier than I expected. Essentially three huge hills with a smattering of smaller hills. The first hill was to the lookout at 10 km. Just prior to the top were two calves walking along the road. They thought my bike was interesting and starting following me as I very slowly rode up the hill... go home!, stay!... what do you yell to curious calves? Fortunately they eventually paused and didn't follow anymore (though I was now concerned about cars driving down). Paused at the lookout at 10 km. Some haze but otherwise a nice view (apparently the haze comes from the bush fires in NSW). Headed back downhill and then past the Tauhoa Anglican Church pictured above right. Mostly level for a while and then back over the next large hill just past the Glorit community building. More sheep in pastures than I remembered from the past ride. The last hill had another scenic overlook and then came down to Kaukapakapa at 46 km. Stopped at the gas station and then through rolling terrain back to Helensville at 59 km. Yeah! The hilly bits were done. I paused at Helensville and sat outside Woolworth eating some lunch items and reading the newspaper. Nice peaceful morning, though it was getting a bit warm. After an hour break, back on the bike and about 10 km of flat before some more rolling hills and into Kumea at 80 km. Just past here I met another touring cyclist riding New Zealand for several months.
First hotel I came to was Kiwi International Hotel. They wouldn't allow me to bring my bicycle to my room, so went down the street to Park Tower Hotel instead. The elevator was too small to fit my bike without taking off panniers, but I got my bike to the room. Hooray! I hadn't really figured out the Auckland sights, so did a quick walk around
and then up to the prominent Sky Tower. The Sky Tower is 320m and is
tallest tower in the southern hemisphere. There is a viewing platform at
220m with nice sights over the city and surrounding area. It was
impressive to see container ships in the harbor, the harbor bridge and many tall
buildings. Auckland had posters up for the Volvo Ocean Race (expected to
arrive in next few days) and for the Women's Tennis Tournament (featuring Anna
Kournakova). Otherwise big and cosmopolitan city. January 2nd; Auckland to Pukekohe
I decided to make a very leisurely ride with general goals of getting out of urban Auckland and getting close enough to ride to Hamilton tomorrow. Overall a bit flatter today, except for the very end near Bombay and Pukekohe. Stayed for continental breakfast at the Plaza Hotel and then cycled through a quiet Auckland. At 2km, my first stop at an internet cafe where I tried to send a further update. Many of these internet cafes appear in Asian areas and this one was owned by Japanese. From here I found my way to "Great South Road", my primary route for the day. This paralleled the Motorway #1 until they join near Bombay. It was urban riding and then past suburb towns with an occasional town center. At 19 km, I passed Papatoetoe motel and made a second stop here for an early lunch. From here, more little town centers: Manukau, Papakura and Drury. At this point, the urban area ended and went through some more fields.
January 3rd; Pukekohe to Hamilton
The ride started with 6 km of mostly climbing uphill back to highway #1. From here north, it is "motorway" on which bicycles are not allowed. From here south for a few km, it is "expressway" which allows bicycles and seems to have many bike signs. As I went down the hill, a road split for the Coromandel Peninsula and then an "expressway ends" sign. It was still just as busy, the road looked the same... only the bike signs disappeared. It was very foggy, so I put on my blinker lights. Around 20 km, I came past the cars parked above right. The front At 37 km I went crossed the Waikato river on a one lane bridge past Rangirri. For the next 17 km, there was a second quiet road through agricultural areas on other side of the river. I saw corn and other crops. Also here was a large Huntly Power Station. My front tire had been slowly leaking and at 50 km, I stopped with it quite flat. These tires have their own stories... so I replaced the original front tire (original with the bike and also ridden from Port Augusta onwards) with another (bought in Alice Springs, put on the back near Torquay, rubbing and taken off in Tasmania).
January 4th; Hamilton to Rotarua
At 23 km was town of Cambridge with three blocks of downtown shops. I had breakfast at the early bird cafe, stopped at the "SuperLoo" (20 cents) and then went to post office to mail off disks and maps. Coming from town was slight downhill and it had a few rolling hills after that as the road wound along the hills. At 56 km was Tirau. Several large structures including those above right. Also here was an overabundance of cute souvenir shops and other tourists walking through town. Several nice cafes and an inviting looking motel. I walked through town and stopped in the visitor information center. It was still early so, rode further.
From here the road continued slightly downhill to 65 km before starting a long slow uphill climb for 20 km. Unlike the Northlands, this was mostly one longer slow hill. However, seemed easier since the grade was never very steep, so just put in low gear and climb. Had one brief stop at Fitzgerald Glade Cafe at 70 km. At 80 km, some more rolling hills and by 85 km I was at the top. By now the skies had cleared and there was a strong westerly tailwind to blow me along. Zoom! Started heading downhill and was blown along. At 98 km came to Lake Rotarua and then followed the road southwards to
Rotarua, population 68,000. This area looked very touristy. I came
past another "Zorb" with large rolling hamster balls with people
inside. At Rotarua I could smell sulphur from thermal pools in the
area. Decided to stay here for two nights. January 5th; Rest day in Rotarua
The first inhabitants of the area were Maori whose ancestors migrated to Aotearoa (New Zealand) around 1300-1400s. Early Maori lived in the area during winters and migrated elsewhere in the summer. The Maori didn't have a written language, but instead captured aspects of these ancestors in their carvings. I listened to an interesting concert at Whakarewarewa followed by a tour of the thermal areas. Nice to see some of the dances including war dances designed to intimidate the enemies. Around 1843, missionaries named Spencer came and established a village named Te Wairoa close to Lake Tarawera. This gradually became a staging post for early tourists going to the nearby Pink and White Terraces. These terraces were layered pools of silica and sulpher close to Lake Tarawera. In addition to being billed as "eighth wonder of the world", people also came for health reasons. During night of June 10th, 1886 this all changed when Mount Tarawera erupted. It was a massive eruption that killed over 150 and also buried Te Wairoa and two other villages. I had an interesting walk through the village, only some of which has been excavated. I also looked at displays of the village disaster at the Rotarua museum.
The thermal baths were no longer in the old museum building. However right next door is "Polynesian Spa", supposedly a large set of pools. Throughout Rotarua I could smell sulpher smells. I also walked through a nearby park and saw bubbling pools, misty waters and some mud pits. More of these thermal areas were also on display at Whakarewarewa. Here was a geyser that had been continuously erupting for 200 days. Also interesting here was seeing how villagers used the springs to roast chickens, boil vegetables, run baths and many other daily tasks. Overall this has been a touristy area for over 100 years dating back to the
Pink and White terraces. Today it has a good mix of adventure tourism
(e.g. bungy jumps, mountain biking, "Zorb",...), Maori culture and
also the thermal zones to explore. As an aside, Cannondale stock has made
a sudden jump these past few days...wonder why...though still not what I paid
for it. January 6th; Rotarua to Taupo
At 28 km was turnoff to Waiotapu thermal reserve. My first stop was the mud pools along the loop road. Sputter, pop, pop, sputter, bubble,... lots of gas bubbling up amongst the brown mud. To think this stuff gets sold at Waka thermal reserve! A few km further I came to the main visitor station, parked my bike and paid entrance fees. I had just enough time to do the longer walk through the park. Saw several collapsed craters, nice terraces, beautiful pools and large amounts of steam. Was beautiful to walk through the park. At 10:15 am was the scheduled big event: eruption of Lady Knox Geyser. Got on my bike and rode back a few km to see the show. There was a large amphitheater here and people were starting to gather. Around 10:12 am, a ranger stepped out and explained that he was dumping 1.5 kg of soap into the geyser to break surface tension and start things. A few minutes later some suds started to bubble up and not much later a large water spout came up to about 10m high. While the eruption would last up to an hour, most of us left after about 10-15 minutes of watching the flow. Apparently the original discovery of soap as an agent for the geyser happened accidentally when washing clothes. Imagine the surprise!
At 43 km was Reporoa with a small store and chance for some lunch. This area was mostly flat and went along fields with cattle and sheep. Nice quiet riding, with occasional cars zooming past. Still a few forests as well. At 74 km the road went uphill for several km. Saw a glider port with a glider flying above. Came past a race track and then was already closer to Taupo. Just prior to center of town, I stopped briefly to watch bungy jumpers plunge from a platform over a gorge below. Zow! Taupo was busy for a Sunday afternoon. Many stores open and people
walking about. This was along shores of Lake Taupo with jet boats,
parasailing and an interesting "hole in one" golf
challenge. Walked through town and find good place to stay. January 7th; Taupo to Tarawera
It was cool and clear when I left Taupo. For 2 km I rode along Lake Taupo before starting inland and a gradual climb for the next 20 km. I passed a large hotel, DeBretts, that was a thermal spa. From here I could see volcano cones with snow on summit in the distance. Here were green fields and sheep and cattle as well as several forests I passed through. At 35 km was Rangitaiki Lodge and stop for breakfast. This rustic lodge had large deer heads on the wall and a recent issue of "pig hunter" on the table. A good breakfast though and I was on the road again. From here it was flatter before coming into the Waipunga Valley. At 53 km was an overlook to Waipunga Falls shown above left.
January 8th; Tarawera to 9 km down road, truck ride to Napier for 71 km
Not much more to do but start walking down the road. I walked on the flat and uphills. For one or two slight downhills, I hopped on the bike and coasted. It was 80 km to Napier, but fortunately I was starting at 420m, so more downhill than uphill. There were two summits at 14km and 29 km. Along the way, I also looked backwards at traffic to see if I might get a ride. After an hour and 9 km, a small truck pulled up and stopped. In it were two New Zealanders from Tonga who were driving from Auckland to Hastings to get fruit, so the back was empty. The made this run once a week for a small business in Auckland. I was grateful for the ride as I zoomed over the hills and down to Napier. This would have taken a while to walk/coast those 71 km. I thanked them and got off in Napier.
Napier and Hastings are two large towns in the Hawkes Bay region. The region has much of New Zealand's fruit crops and also grapes for wineries. The town was devastated by a large earthquake in 1931 and then rebuilt, much in an Art Deco Style. I found an internet cafe and then walked along the shops. Also here was MarineWorld. I went and saw the afternoon dolphin and sea
lion show. They have penguins, gannets, seals, sea lions and dolphins on
display here. Otherwise a quiet relaxed town. Hopefully will get
things fixed and be rolling again soon. January 9th; Rest day in Napier
At 10:47 am on February 3rd, 1931 a magnitude 7.9 earthquake devastated Napier. In the downtown area most of the brick buildings were knocked down. Most of the remaining buildings were damaged by fires that broke out soon after. An inner harbor was drained when land rose over 2 meters.
I also visited the small museum in Napier. Exhibits included ones about
Art Deco, the earthquake, Maori artifacts and style through the 1900s.
Overall it was well put together. In afternoon it rained for a while but
then cleared up. January 10th; Napier to Hastings
Cycling with new hub was nice and smooth. I had mailed away my tent and sleeping bag as well as the old (broken) wheel. The weight savings of 5 kg, the flat terrain and new wheel made everything seem very smooth as I rode out of town and past fruit trees. There was light traffic, but reasonable shoulders.
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