Partial Last Day Post - So much more to show (and it's coming)

As the words become less, the photos are growing...and a few technical difficulties have kept me from putting more than two photos here...after hours of working on this post. Urgh. They will be coming, I promise.

 I apologize for the week gap in posts. Internet and time both have been impossible to find in the same place for the past few days. So where'd this leave off? Only the last day of riding, and the day we spent traveling to the airport. There's still a lot to say so there may be a few more posts while I happily reminisce on what ended up being the most relaxing-yet-active vacation I've ever done. 

Concerning the last ride - Total ride time: 8+ hours, distance was ~60 miles. The trail was simply awesome. It's the course for a mountain bike race every year so the corners were banked assuming very high velocities of travel and the route covered every kind of terrain. 

I've compiled a bunch of photos of the various muddy conditions. I'll get those together in some way to describe the multitudes of terrain awaiting the dirt-loving cyclist.

 The cool NZ trees are turning for autumn. Halfway there.

Rob's bike has a personality, especially if you look at it like this. Maybe its look can be interpreted as an inquisitive-yet-confident one, "What, we have to cross the river...here? Sure, let's go!"

Friday, Day 7 - Enchanted

Today was a rainy day. We did what we could to avoid it and, though we started in it, it had subsided quite a bit by the time we got out there and it ended not too long into the ride. We drove approximately 1 hour north to be alongside this river: 

The rain muted everything and gave it a different dimension.

Bridge ran over the river. Rob got some good shots from the center of the bridge. Might find them on his blog. And if you haven't checked out his photos lately, he's added quite a few great shots: newzealandtraverse.tumblr.com

The forested areas were different from those we've ridden through. There was a great variety of plant-life, likely the most varied of any we've seen.

 Sunset over the river...love the fog floating around!

Having fun!

Some of the forest that we rode through, possibly because of the rain dripping from the leaves to the ground, really felt like an enchanted forest. There's no way to capture the feeling of expecting to see the kinds of glowing and magical creatures you'd find in an enchanted world, but know that's exactly how it was.

The ride was a mix of road and great trail, 4+ hours, another perfect day!

Thursday, Day 6 - Incredible x 2

Morning in Taupo was calm and serene, as it is every morning. Rain was falling gently from the sky. We made the ride plan based on the weather forecast (the one in the newspaper is about as good as it gets...so it's hard to tell what's what), to avoid as much of the rain as possible. We've learned that riding in the rain isn't terrible since it's warm, but it's never any fun to get stuck in a downpour, no matter the temps. 

Rob created the most comprehensive ride plan for this trip...he "scouted" more routes than we have time to do and multiple riding distances for each route. Having so many options has given us great flexibility and confidence in starting out each day. What he did borders on impossible. I feel like I'm traveling with a native Kiwi considering how well he knows the roads. 

We chose to drive 3 hours to ride in the Bay of Plenty.  Lovely drive. And when I say "we" I mean Rob is driving, I'm enjoying the scenery and backseat driving. Driving on the other side of the road is not an easy task.

We drove through torrential rain that wasn't far from our final destination. We kept telling ourselves the sun would be right around the corner.

Turns out, we were mostly right as the rain turned into a very slight drizzle and stopped altogether for much of the ride.

New Zealanders and most people who visit here are adrenaline junkies. We have to remember this when taking the advice from Kiwis.

Lunch was comprised of muffins and a mocha & cappuccino the size of an elephant at a cool little joint in town. Most places to eat in little towns like this one look too fast-foodish and kind of run down. None of the towns look dirty or anything, just not particularly up-to-date in architecture or interior decoration. A couple we saw yesterday had the feeling of trying to be a town out of the Old West, cowboy style.

Start of the ride: random place in the middle of nowhere. I'm becoming a big fan of the minivan. Tossing the bikes in without taking off wheels is such a luxury. My folks told me someday I'd understand why they liked their minivan so much...well, now I *finally* really get it.

The area is lush and the most beautiful yet of the trip...and the other areas we've seen have been nothing less than breathtaking. So, what's the right adjective: astounding? Around every corner was a breath-taking view. By that, I mean, it actually often took my breath away. Since there was a lot of climbing going in, it's true, that I was already working hard and out of breath.

Having the low rain clouds made the greens greener and the fluff of the fog added so much to the scene, too.

Contrary to the sign, we saw a grand total of (maybe) 5 cars all day. We had this slice of paradise to ourselves.

...actually, we shared the place with a fair number of cows. I spent some time conversing with this cow. We have the video of the conversation. He was quite chatty. 

The dirt road, according to the guide book, is one of the roughest in New Zealand. That's saying a lot about the roads here since it was in very good condition with only a few rough spots. The dirt was well packed. The trickiest riding I've found is when the loose gravel is deep, that's pretty hard for me to ride.

 The river ran below...we climbed from being next to it to 2,066 feet above it.

More amazing views... We kept stopping for photos, but not for long at any point. It was a 7 hr 15 minute ride (pedaling time) from beginning to end.

 Up into the clouds!

Still climbing...

 Ooooohhhh...

Bike taking a breather.

Then the dirt road turned into a single track mountain bike trail for the entire descent back down. (That's a very, very long way on single track--3 hours to be exact and most of that was spent grabbing the brakes.) Here's a swinging bridge over the river. Capacity: 5 people. At least it looked very strong so I wasn't worried. Day turns to night very quickly under the dense foliage, but we had plenty of lights. We finished up at 10pm. Towns shut down around 7pm so dinner had to be bought at a gas station at that late hour.

We have some great video from this ride that we'll get up at some point. Thanks again to those who've emailed/commented...we're glad you're enjoying the photos and stories!

4 out of 4 Stars - Wednesday, Day 5

According to the guide book for this trail: "A fantastic slice of mountain bike heaven." Not far from Taupo so a quick trip to get here, we rode all trail today for a total of 3 hours with multiple views of Lake Taupo down below.  

Day 4 - Taupo to Kinlock and Back On/Off/On/Off/On Road

First, a big thank you to those who've commented via FB, sent private emails, and who are on Twitter. Your messages are fun to receive and we appreciate them! It's odd, with all of this time to do nothing but ride, how little time (and energy) is left over. To reply to a few questions/comments: yes, it's front page news every day here because William, Kate, and their baby are visiting NZ. No, Mom, I don't feel any stronger, but once we recover from this, we will be! The food has been very tasty, though we haven't had anything that is particularly Maorian or New Zealand specific. The kiwi fruit we bought at the store are tasty and very juicy, but the meat is almost white inside. The butter is really, really good. Breakfast is international style so porridge (oatmeal), cereal, yogurt, juice, cheese, etc. All-you-can-eat is appropriate, no one could possibly serve a large-enough breakfast for our appetites!

Here's what it looks like when we're crammed in the elevator coming and going.

Today (Tuesday) meant riding from Taupo up to Huka Falls (where we'd had a night ride on the second day), and then up roads that led us to a mountain bike trail, but not just any trail.

I'd shown a photo of Huka Falls at night; getting back here during the daytime was cool. We rode some of the same trails that I was gushing about a few posts ago. The trails were still really fun, though on a "fun" scale, I think night riding is just a little cooler than daytime riding. We saw people on the trail, and considering how tight they are, it's much better to be there when there isn't a chance of being there with others. Seeing the place during the day added a much different perspective. The scenery and water are so beautiful, it was nice to see that part of it, too.

Our bikes overlooking the bright blue water of the raging Huka Falls. Tourists were all over this area...how odd to have other people around.

After the falls, we rode to a very large building that was full of bee products. This was a very large bee sculpture hanging from the ceiling. I had some honey-based ice cream which was quite delicious.

 It was warm enough out that the ice cream tasted very good. (First ice cream this year for me, I believe.)

While we were there, it started raining. For a moment, it was a downpour. We put on rain jackets and hit the road. At first, we were wondering if it would make sense to ride to the long trail we had been looking forward to riding. Very quickly we realized that the rain wouldn't negatively impact the day at all - it was a light drizzle and warm so no problem at all. We were on the road for 19 miles to the start of the trail.

The terrain was serene, sparsely populated, and there weren't too many cars.

The entrance to the Great Lake Trail isn't much to look at. One moment into the gates, a whole new world opens up. In the US, I feel that mountain bikes are tolerated or allowed on some trails. Here, trails are designed and specifically designated for mountain bikes. This is the best trail I've ever been on. 16kms of fairy tale mountain biking...er...Evergreen riding is even better!

The rain made the soft, very fine sand slightly tacky and there aren't enough leaves on the ground to be slick. Ideal riding conditions.

 Peaceful.

The road back to town was loooong and there was a lot of climbing. After the trails, I was tired and out of energy. The road portion leading back to Taupo didn't seem like it would ever end. This view of the lights was all I needed to be able to keep going.

We were out there over 8 hours, rode for over 6 1/2 hours and traveled 90 kms. Another great day! Not sure if I will be able to move tomorrow...

Day 3 - Monday Mountain Biking (and hiking) Rotorua

There are a few (or maybe many) mountain bike parks in NZ. Rotorua, a town ~90kms from Taupo, has one such park. Apparently it's famous since it's so large. 

There's a little shack for info, another for coffee, sandwiches and smoothies, and another full of tools and a bike mechanic. I have a feeling this place is packed when it's tourist season. 

Our planned ride included some of the trails in the park and then on to trails outside of the park. Groomed trails just don't have the allure of the wild ones. However, we've seen video of people riding these trails, and it's pretty obvious they are very fun to ride. 

We got an early start today, but we had some stops to make in town and add that to the driving, it took us until a bit after 1pm to start riding so we decided to skip the mountain bike park and just get on the road. 

The trail map of the mountain bike park is printed in detail on cloth. More people ought to print maps for active people on cloth (ahem, I'm talking to you every cycling map company...maps printed on paper don't last more than a single bike ride...)

The first part of the ride was all on pavement, smooth, fast pavement. Our Evergreens ride fast on the road (even with loaded bags and a lot of water, 11 lbs carried by Rob alone) so we have fun on the road and fun on the trails, both. These are very special bikes. I'll write more about my bike after the trip, but for now, I'll just say that I'm completely astounded at how great it is in every single way...and I don't know how I've lived without it before now, it's making this trip so much more complete than it otherwise would have been.

The weather was quite pleasant all day, except for about 5 minutes when there was a torrential downpour. Rain wasn't in the forecast so our rain jackets weren't at the ready...except we happened to be next to a tourist spot named Hell's Gate (it's an area full of thermal activity and mud bath place). We were able to avoid getting wet almost completely thanks to a generous awning next to their gift shop. Considering how often we've been near anything that would give us shelter this whole trip, we got very lucky.

Post rain there was a beautiful rainbow and blue skies.

Not long after, we turned onto a road that took us into rain-forest like areas. We were still on pavement for awhile in this wild-looking place. Then we got off the road, onto a grassy trail that turned into a mountain bike trail (it used to be just for hikers, then they opened it up to mtn bikers...how often does that ever happen?)

The whole off-road ride was in an area that I felt I'd never seen before except in tropical rain forest exhibits in zoos. Think Jurassic Park wild. It was that scenery without the dinosaurs. We saw some really cute little birds and I did everything I could to take photos, but they were too quick. One little blue and white bird seemed to be playful. The chirps are really cute. I'm so glad I don't have to keep looking out for wild creatures or snakes or anything like that, it would change the experience so much. This just feels like a world away from the real world.

A good portion of the ride involved hike-a-bike sections. In one 1.8 mile section alone, we gained 1,110 feet of elevation. It was exhausting and hard work to say the least. We'd heard that the downhill portion on the other side would make it all worthwhile. The downhill section was very fun and more technical than we've seen so far, but it'd be hard to say all of the hiking paid off. For me, the downhill parts were especially rewarding, since it felt like I rode sections I wouldn't have felt comfortable riding in the past. Chalk it up to laziness, riding is far easier than getting off the bike than walking it in the tricky parts.

We have a lot of video from yesterday, will post small portions of the footage when possible.

This petrified tree was at the top of the climb. I can only imagine what ancient rituals might have taken place here.

Just before complete darkness takes over, the horizon is outlined next to the clear sky. Impossible to show, the stars that shine at night are remarkable. The sky is so full of brilliant stars. This is a place without light pollution or any pollution, for that matter. The stink from the sulfur of the thermal areas is as bad as it gets. People seem to be very conscious about keeping their beautiful land clean in all ways.

We finished the 43.6-mile ride at 8:30pm. It felt like we'd gone much further than that as we were perfectly exhausted after being out there for 6 1/2 hours. The max temp: 84 degrees, average: 66. It felt like it stayed just as hot (and a bit humid) after the sun went down.