Day 7- Rotorua to Whakarmaru

Today’s word for the day is WIND!!

… and boy was there plenty of it blowing in the wrong direction which neater had a headwind for most of the day.

We started the day waking at 7 and were away to have breakfast ahead of the ride in Rotorua. Breakfast of bacon and eggs really hit the spot together with a cappuccino!

We were on the road by about 9 and for the first 30 kms approximately it was on roads winding through the foothills near Rotorua. The main farming through the whole area we road today was dairy.

After the first stage of the ride it was on to unmade roads which included one long climb of about 5 kms which was a challenge but great once w reached the top!

During this time we experienced rain showers which made riding a little more challenging. The rain showers continued for most of the rest of the day.

We had lunch on the dam wall of the Ohakuri power station which was good to have a break!

After this it was on to the Waikato River trail which was quite pretty along the banks of the river.

I am starting to feel a bit more confident on trails now and although progress is a bit slower than Chris and Steve I feel much better on them.

We arrived at Whakarmaru at about 6.00 pm which made for a big day of riding.

My Garmin data stuffed up so the distance is wrong.. we rode 83 kms climbed about 1000 metres.

The accomodation we are staying at tonight is guest house style homes which were workers accommodation in an earlier life when they were building the dam and power station at Whakarmaru.

Seems we have a few challenging days ahead of us now with climbing and trail riding….hopefully the practice up to now serves me well!

Picture’s today are as follows:

Today’s ride map

A view of the dairy country in the early part of the ride….sky is blue!!

View of spillway flows to take off excess water from the power station dam along the river with the power station in the next photo

A general view of the Waikato River

Steve and I climbed up 108 stairs to this view platform which was terrible as the trees had grown …. Chris wisely did not do the climb preferring to looks after the bikes… he said!