More big things.

Day 32. Giant Kiwi. 

Dannevirke to Eketahuna
Daily total: 80.13km Running total: 2018.97km

Did well. Got up, packed and all ready to go in less than 2hours! Then I ended up chatting to various people at the campsite and ended up leaving later than usual. I need to get up and leave before other people wake up. That way I won't fall into the same trap again...but that won't happen. There is no point in kidding myself. 

VIKINGS!!!

Passed through Woodville which seems to be a town built on pies and second hand shops! 

The toilet trinity.

The land of pies...

Also passed the Tui brewery, so I had to stop in for a cheeky mid-day pint. It would be rude not to. 

The unofficial Tui endorsement.

Pahiatua was another small town. Nice stop off point as there is a big park running through the center of the town. It was a day of many stops. I was making good time, the roads were flat and I had a tailwind. The number of trucks reduce after Woodville on State Highway 2. 

Stayed in another cool cheap campsite in Eketahuna, same range of facilities as the one in Dannevirke but had a river you could swim in instead of a duck pond. It also had free tea and coffee! Check out the Tararua Council's website for a list of the council run campsites. They are cheap and good! The best combination. 

The giant Kiwi of Eketahuna!

On the way into town, met another fund raiser on a bike. He had done many fundraising trips across NZ by riding, walking, hitching. He had been on the road for many years. Cool fellow. Has a blog documenting his journeys, you can catch him on http://lifeonabikeinnz.blogspot.co.nz/

Random photo, unrelated to anything written above.

  

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Little words, mostly pictures...

Day 31. Peddles. 

Waipukurau to Dannevirke
Daily total: 67.87km Running total: 1938.84km Bike costs: $15

Had planned to cover a greater distance and to stop in a town called Woodville but the bike had other ideas. The internal workings of the left peddle decided to give up on their day job and went into a hasty retirement. So 20km of a seized up peddle and ended up in Dannevike. The closest town with a bicycle repair shop. Only $15 to replace and fit the peddles. Not so bad, thought it was going to cost more. 

The campsite was really cool, really quiet, duck pond, hot showers and a fully equipped kitchen. All for $8! Bargin. The town itself was settled by Danes, which explained the various pictures of vikings lurking about the town. 

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And it all went mental!!!

Day 30. Go to the places people say not to. 

Napier to Waipukurau
Daily total: 76.73km Running total: 1870.97km

Left Napier and resisted the wineries! Swung by the town of Hastings to harass the local press but to no avail. I did not harass long enough or hard enough...well I was impatient. The local reporter would be back in the afternoon. I could not wait. The road was calling. 

Hastings

Ok the pedestrianised area does have a railway track running through it...

Classy Art Deco.

Hastings also has an Art Deco styling as well and controversially, I prefer Hastings to Napier. There seemed to be much more of a community and it had the first pedestrianised town center that I have come across in NZ. The Art Gallery is worth checking out, it is free and has some pretty good exhibitions going on. Espeacially this guy, Israel Tangaroa Birch.

After Hastings and a brief distraction in North Havelock (nowt to report from there), I was back on the road. The sun decided to make an appearance after the morning drizzle.

Return of the sun...

Half hour down the road, I am greeted by this...

Shifty looking clouds and thunder...

 Then this...the wall of white, which I initially thought was rain, turned out to be way off the mark...

The wall...

Before the wall hit me, a stranger in a Yute (van) appears and hurriedly asks where I'm heading. I point to the fast approaching wall, the wind gathering strength. The guy replies that is not an option and to get in the van. I dive in as the wall hits us. Thumb sized hail stones pounding everything in sight. Visability is low. The guy then deposits me at another stranger's house to wait out the storm. One cup of tea later, it passes and leaves me with this to resume to journies in...

Sans-mental

 

Oh how I was deceived...

The campsite was beside the main road with heavy traffic as a constant stream throughout the night. It did kind of look good at night...
 

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The gentle side of Annie.

Day 29. Water shortage. 

Kuripapango Campsite to Napier
Daily total: 84km Running total: 1794.24km

The other side. Golden hills and a high speed burn to Napier. 

Some water issues. The one place I was told to get water, Blowhard Reserve, was not quite the fresh water source I was sold on. I was given some fresh water at the campsite but my stocks were still low. About 35km from Blowhard was a farmstay, who I pestered for water! All was good in the world of water. 

Once out of the forest, the rolling hills appear and riding conditions become amazing. There is a gentle slope down to Napier with the odd mini hill. I covered so much distance in so little time.  

I arrived early, too early to contact Carl, the person I would be staying with in Napier. So I headed into town along the beach. I never made it to the town...on route I got beckoned over by a man on a bench. Turned out to be Juilian, the French guy that formed part of the brief Pannier Crew back in Katikati! 

Now that I am up to date, I am off to Napier, famous for itself Art Deco style to explore. Photos will follow. 

Out and about in Napier...

Napier was leveled by a massive earthquake during the 1930s, new land appeared and the place was rebuilt Art-Deco style. 

You know there will be more photos with the word 'Bluff' in them in the near future...

Rain!

The not so Art-Deco side of Napier

Feel free to comment away. It can be about anything, from suggestions to places to visit, questions about how to donate to feedback about my writing skills or even if you want want to get involved. Let me know.  Due to the spiteful nature of technology, leaving comments is not a straight forward process as you think it would be...to post a comment, you need to sign in using a google account or just select the anonymous option on the drop down box. Comment away and spread the word!  

Annie is not so gentle...

Day 28. The heat, the hills, water rationing. 

Taihape to Kuripapango Campsite
Daily total: 82.23km Running total: 1710.674km

The back road route to the Gentle Annie

The route is beautiful but for such beauty, you have to work for it. The whole day was mainly uphill. Some gradual, some steep and some bordering on hateful.

At the summit of one of the larger hills, the road just plunges into the valley. Just mad downhill action. Sunglasses are a necessity for this as the insects bounce off you with force. The idea of one getting you in the eye at that speed sends shudders down my spine. 

On the way to the Gentle Annie.

Part of the Gentle Annie. 

Wearing headphones for this shot may not have been my best move of the day...

The view before the plunge.

If all directions were like this...

Not seen: guy throwing up due to the winding roads...

The start of the ear popping plunge.

The final hill was hateful. 2.5km covered in about an hour. Every 100m. Stop. Rest. Sip. Go. Repeated over and over again over a winding hill that never wanted to stop. I was a shambles reaching the top. The road was sticky due to the heat. Man, the heat. The unrelenting heat and patchy shade. So, so hot. Pretty much depleted my water supplies for the two days! Near on 6 liters reduced to one liter. There maybe issues tomorrow. This was at the end of the journey. 

So many trees. 

The campsite. Next to me was a cool American family who gave me beer.

Feel free to comment away. It can be about anything, from suggestions to places to visit, questions about how to donate to feedback about my writing skills or even if you want want to get involved. Let me know.  Due to the spiteful nature of technology, leaving comments is not a straight forward process as you think it would be...to post a comment, you need to sign in using a google account or just select the anonymous option on the drop down box. Comment away and spread the word!