Day 6- Putaruru to Rotorua
After the best night of sleep for the whole trip it was up at around 8.00am to get ready for the ride.
The hotel we stayed at last night was somewhat out of the 1930’s and not much had been done to it since opening. As a result the rooms were comfortable but very basic with lots of period items including a razor blade shute… see the picture. Not sure where the blades end up as there was no sign of a collection bin!
Anyway after rising and packing it was off for breakfast and a coffee at a local cafe which was delightful… compared to dinner last night which was average to say the least!
After breakfast I made a visit to the chemist to get some cream for the nether regions as the last few days were quite painful! Seems to be working thankfully!
The initial part of the ride was on made roads with one long 6 km climb which had a constant 5% gradient. The Garmin said there was some flat spots and even a short downhill but I am certain it was lying!
After the climb it was on to a bush logging track which was through the pine forest. Quite pretty really although for me there were some challenging parts requiring me to walk. After getting advice from Chris about riding on tracks I let my tyres down substantially which made a big difference. I feel I am getting more confident on the really rough parts of the tracks now… in some ways that experience on Big River Wialuta ride still haunts me!
After emerging from the woods we stopped at Mamaku for lunch which consisted of toasted sandwiches we bought at breakfast.
Then it was on to Rotorua which was a great decent with the wind behind us! Lovely riding to end the day!
We are staying at the backpackers tonight which is very comfortable.
The days ride was 59 kms and we climbed about 750 metres. The weather was cooler today thankfully with clouds so much appreciated by us all.
Today’s pictures are:
A picture of the trail we rode on with local flowers
The ride route to Rotorua
The razor blade shute
Some strange hills sticking up from the ground… must be something to do with volcanic activity in the past.
A bad picture of Lake Rotorua from the road on our decent… there was a better view back 1.5 kms but I was not going back!
A lovely picture of the 1800 built Museum
Our home for the night
