We left Rotorua on Friday the 13th…and it proved to be a difficult day. It was raining lightly when we set off but that only lasted for the first hour or so then turned into deluge category about midday. We do have to accept that not everyday will be beautiful and sunny but this was excessive and Tara was feeling like it was Uber XL time (George is always more optimistic). But our problems started on our way out of Rotorua, following a bike trail which suddenly ended due to damage from the last storm. We cheated and carried on anyway but had to take the bags off the bike a few times and lift the bike over the barriers. It didn’t feel unsafe but there were a lot of repairs and excavation happening. Once out of Rotorua and on our route that kept to small roads and gravel tracks we suddenly ran out of track and were facing a rudimentary bush track that was supposed to last 16 kms, at the point the heavy rain began. It became difficult to see our garmin map due to the rain and George’s hearing aids were wet so he couldn’t hear well. We just couldn’t manage this with our bike and bags and had to back track about 8 kms and get on the state highway. Luckily the rain did lighten up again but riding on the highway with rain isn’t fun or safe. There was also road construction with traffic stopped and down to one lane where we had to wait through the stops and go after the cars, while sitting in the rain. We did eventually make it to our bed for the night in Putaruru, with great relief and only an extra 16 kms and about 2 hours later than expected. We were tired and thoroughly soaked, 2 days later our shoes were still damp. However, we have excellent waterproof panniers which performed well, everything inside was dry. In the evening the NZ weather station posted a red weather rainfall alert for the area overnight which was worrisome but appeared to be mostly southwest of where we were and in the opposite direction to where we were heading.
After a good night’s sleep and getting somewhat dried out we woke to slightly better weather and forecast. There were no problems for us, thankfully, but southwest of us there were roads closed again due to collapses and mudslips. It was still lightly raining when we set out to ride to Cambridge and it did get heavy again but luckily this was just as we were riding into the small town of Arapuni where we found a nice cafe to spend about an hour until the heavy rain passed. After this we were able to stick to lovely small roads and bike trails all the way into Cambridge with mostly light rain. Along this part of the Waikato river is the excellent Te Awa (The River in Maori) cycle path with designated bike routes along small roads and pathways. We were able to stop and take in part of a large rowing regatta at the Karapiro dam when the sun was out briefly. We made it to our next retreat in Cambridge just before the rain started again so today was a better day.
The following day was a rest day and a chance to see Cambridge. It was pleasant for about half the day, the other half it poured again but this time we had refuge and we used it. Cambridge is a lovely town that seems more British than Britain with a focus on horses, rowing and gardens. When it wasn’t raining we did a walking tour of the historic buildings and monuments then later a walk around the central lake, Te Koo Utu, which formed due to a Lake Taupo eruption about 1800 years ago that caused debris to dam the Waikato river. You access the lake via a steep downhill pathway that is thick with palms and plants that make it feel like you are descending into a jungle. There was also an interesting art installation called “Waterfall Steps”. The following day on our way out of Cambridge we rode past their velodrome training centre along the Te Awa cycle path again which carried on all the way to Hamilton.
The Te Awa pathway follows the Waikato river quite closely and is quite impressive with many bridges and boardwalks through the bush on the banks. It was quite an investment by the region and does seem to be well used. We have found some very good cycling infrastructure in New Zealand but it is limited to certain places only. Hamilton, Cambridge and Auckland are quite bike friendly places with many separate cycle lanes to make travel easy for us.
In Hamilton we stayed in a tiny house, literally. It was adequate though maybe tight for taller people on the upper sleeping level. Hamilton is similar to Cambridge in some ways with a central lake area but quite a bit bigger city. It is known for the Hamilton Gardens which we visited on our one day there. It is a very well designed and maintained attraction with themed gardens such as English, Japanese, Indian, Renaissance, Tudor and so on. We easily spent 3 hours wandering around there.
We left Hamilton by train to return to Auckland. It felt a bit like cheating but there just isn’t a good route to ride on other than the highway. Also we are limited by time and this makes it easier to see more. Once back in Auckland we found a bike box to put the bike into for a bus ride north to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. We will spend the next few weeks up north and make our way back to Auckland via the west coast.
While in Auckland we were able to visit and have dinner with an old schoolmate of George’s from Saskatoon and her husband, Karen and Ken, who live in Auckland. George and Karen haven’t seen each other since Grade 8 so there was a lot to catch up on. The next day after packing up the bike we took a short ferry ride over to Devonport on the north shore and walked up to the top of North Head volcano, a well placed mountain which was used in the First and Second World Wars to guard and defend the harbour. We got great views of the harbour from the top and saw the Battery (groups of guns and service buildings) and Observation Posts on the hillside.
geeteetravels 
Sounds fantastic, although very wet!
Love the gardens and the lush greenery but not the story on the 13th! Be safe and taking a train one day is not cheating….
Geoff here. Wow! You guys are tough going through all that weather and those diversions. It must have been so rewarding to get to a resting place. Love the pictures. Jenny is big of roses and I’m extremely fond of marigolds. Those ‘rest days’ are so well deserved. I hope that you have many more special days and are blessed with beautiful weather, scenery and events. See you back on the Pickleball court.
Yes, we don’t seek out the adventure necessarily, but it usually finds us.
Crikey! I suppose a (somewhat) positive thing is that it was rain, not snow. You two have the most attractive trips — i.e. you attract rain. We’re glad you are managing so well. Thanks for the lovely pics. It’s fascinating countryside. The bike looked good on the train.