Hi,
What a fabulous weekend - thank you Mike for letting me go on this adventure. And thank you Iona and Maureen for accompanying me on it.
I made a sourdough during the day Thursday and Iona finished it off while I finished work. And she also cooked up a lot of soup for our late Thursday night dinner at Waiterere.
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Sourdough left for Mike |
We left home after a bit of faffing with the bikes (thanks Mike for helping) and picked up Maureen and headed up with the busy traffic to Waiterere.
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We're off! |
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At the crib in Waiterere |
Got there just after 6pm and settled in. What a great wee spot. We heated up Iona's soup and enjoyed some sourdough and then explored the beach in the dark. Hahah. I had such a good sleep.
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Friday morning iced latte |
Up early and away just after 7am. Off to Taihape for brekkie. Then continued to Rotorua.
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Taihape Soul cafe |
We went straight to Planet Bike to pick up Iona;s eBike for the weekend. Ed and Lenore were amazing - they are in such a perfect spot to help all the mtn bikers. And they are so good at customer service. Helps that they know Maureen really well. She has been coming here for 20 years to bike all over the tracks.
We decided to do Forest Loop. So we headed off to the cafe for sustenance and left around 1pm or so. The Forest Loop is a very easy track all around the forest park. 34km I think we did. So good. Great views.
It is less than 5k from Planet Bike to Marg and Linz's house - but at one stage it told us to head towards Kiwi St. And there was no sign of a road - just driveways. Explored that a bit - found a house. And decided there was a paper road behind the house. So we sidled by this house. Like we were in their backyard. So weird.
Got to Marg and Linz's place and met them. They are so lovely. And their house is perfect. We had a room downstairs and settled in. And then had tea - a huge home made lasagne - vegetarian! Thank you.
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Lasagne night - thank you Marg and Linz |
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Beautiful house |
We watched Alone in the evening and then off to bed for a great sleep. Up to get ready slowly for day 2 in the park itself.
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Saturday morning starts |
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High point views - top of Soakhole |
What a fantastic day. All on grade 3 tracks (with a grade 2 at the end when we got tired). And I had such a blast.
Let's see. We rode up Soakhole and down Tokorangi (this is where I started wooting with joy). challenge downhill. Yellow Brick Road. Bunny Jugs. Be rude not 2. Lion. New exit. Dipper x 2
New Exit (again).
Same deal to get home. Iona dropped her bike off and drove home. And Maureen and I rode home - happily riding through the back yard of that house once more.
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Off to Atticus Finch |
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Sunday morning high point. |
Sunday saw us say goodbye to Marg and Linz. I felt very welcomed and they were such lovely hosts. Thank you.
We packed up and Iona drove to Planet Bike while Maureen and I tried a different route through the Rotorua Tree Trust. Autumn colours were stunning.
We rode up to the very top of the park. Up Hill Road. Then we did Time Warp, Split Enz (5km long mostly downhill!!) and Rollercoaster.
Then back to Planet Bike to give back the bike and say goodbye and head home. A nice easy drive back. We left the park at 12:12 and got to Maureen's place at 18:03. We had a late lunch in Tūrangi on our way.
Best weekend. So good. I learned a lot of new skills. My bike performed so well - some of the tracks felt nice and fluid. I want to take Mike back there. Thank you Maureen and Iona.
Can't wait to do it again.
Love,
Angela