Day 9 - Epic Camp to Taumarunui

We were awake from our tents at about 7 am and there was a real buzz in the campsite with families and groups getting ready gouge day of either riding the Timber Trail or hiking…. They call it “tramping” here.

The night was very pleasant under canvas although quite cool!

After breakfast, which was provided by the camping ground, we packed a lunch of sandwiches ( peanut butter for me) and 2 hard boiled eggs!

We were off at about 9.00 am. After May 1.5 kms I realised I left my phone behind in the tent so had to do a trek back to retrieve it.

After this it was on to the remaining section of the Timber Trail , about 45 kms.

There were 2 climbs on the trail which were okay but in some sections the track was a bit churned up so I was walking. All up I reckon I walked about 500 metres today which was not too bad for me.

There were many other riders on the trail today compared to yesterday as it is a national holiday here. It is Waitingi Day!

Once again today we crossed several swing bridges which were again quite spectacular!

One particular attraction was the spiral loop on the track as a fair bit of the track is on an unused railway line used to carry timber. Quite amazing engineering given that all this was built in the 1800’s.

There was a beautiful downhill of about 5 kms on a good surface which made for good riding.

At the final stage of the track the surface was not on the old railway track so riding was a bit slower. Also it was station get hotter and the two was in the low 30’s. The good news was there was no wind!!

At the end of the trail we had lunch in an area where many of the locals had parked their cars for the time they were on the trail.It was busy!

After our lunch it was on to Taumarumui on gravel roads at first the thankfully we then had made roads for the last 10 kms in to the town. As it was hot we made a beeline for the dairy to have a milkshake to refresh ourselves!

All in all we had a good day riding 71 kms and climbing 750 metres.

Today I felt a bit more comfortable on the bike on the trails which is pleasing!

Today’s pictures are:

The ride route

A view of one of the swing bridges

A general view of the country at the top of the climb…. Quite amazing

2 photos of the rail loop with Chris in the first photo