The East Side of Te Ika-a-Maui

Te Ika-a-Maui - the fish of Maui.  According to Maori mythology, the North Island was a giant fish caught by the demi-god, Maui.  He caught it from his waka (canoe) - the South Island.  Unfortunately for me and all bicyclists, when Maui left to get a blessing for the smooth, flat fish, his brothers with whom he was fishing started chopping up the great fish, hacking at it until it became the hilly landscape it is today...

Time in Rotorua went quickly and restfully.  Gerard and Kathy (old family friends) took us to the Kaituna river, a meca on the North Island for whitewater kayaking.  The pristine water, safe drops, and beautiful foliage along the river made it a river I've got placed high on my list to return to.  We enjoyed bathing in thermal pools and checking out the smelly volcanic activity that surrounds the area.  At the Rotorua farmers' market, David (their son), treated us to a 'Long Dog' - the longest hot dog in the world!

Small waterfall drop on the Kaituna

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After leaving Rotorua, I biked on my own to the north to get to the Bay of Plenty.  Initially, I passed lots of livestock on the quiet backroads, but quickly, the landscape changed to kiwifruit farms and other produce.  As I biked east along the coast and the tailwinds picked up behind me, final sparks of red dotted the coastline coming from late blooming pohutukawas.  I was abruptly shaken back to reality by a loud boom, and rapid depressurization of my rear, Continental tyre.  After a quick repair completely destroyed the patched tube, I realized that the kevlar bead in the tyre had come detached from the rubber - tricky.  Dental floss in the sewing kit goes a long way sometimes, and the needle made quick work of the soft rubber tyre (thanks for making sure I have a needle and floss, Dad!).  Still 20km from a bike shop in Whakatane, I made camp on the beach.  I awoke to a 'bang' in the middle of the night and figuring it was the floss breaking, slept on.  It was, in fact, another spot on the tyre where the kevlar bead had broken away from the rubber in the same manner as before!  So with 2 floss repairs, I limped into Whakatane to a new Schwalbe tyre, which has since solved my tyre issues completely!

Kevlar bead coming through...

Dental floss sewing fix.

Biking around the East Cape was breathtaking, in all forms of the word...  The shoreline was rugged and rocky, fragmented by beautiful bays and river mouths on the north, and white-sand beaches on the east.  The weather was very hot, everyday, and the constantly hilly road was a real test to my stamina.  I rode by Maori communities where signs were completely in Maori and I could only guess as to the purpose of buildings (schools, maraes, etc).  I enjoyed fires on the beaches with plenty of driftwood to feed the flames, and the new moon provided beautiful, starry nights.  On the night of the new moon, I ended up at a hotel/pub at Te Puia, where people were friendly and the beer went down smoothly.  The hotel was home to a small hot pool - water was piped direct from a hot spring nearby and the pool temperature was controlled by the addition of cold water from the hose, which also made for a nice shower post soak.  At the end of the night, after setting up my tent on the short grass outside, I enjoyed a nice long soak and the full Milky Way in the clear night sky.

Beautiful, rocky shoreline, punctuated by little sandy bays made biking along the coast beautiful!

I was, however, on a mission the whole way.  Drawn by a passion that runs deep in my being, I was on my way to the Bliss Stick kayak factory, in the wop wops near Taihape.  After passing through Napier (and enjoying heaps of ripe apricots, nectarines, peaches, avocados, and apples) and Hastings (where I stopped in the Rush Monro ice cream gardens and spent a good amount of time (and money) enjoying the creamy goodness) I headed inland toward the multiple 500 meter climbs over the Ruahine range, ultimately taking me to 1000 meters.  The road was brutal and I cursed Maui's brothers over and over...  Massive river gorges sliced through the hilly terrain and, of course, the road did not follow any river.  My lowest granny gear recieved the most use, next the my usual low gear which got me through the headwinds.  When I turned onto the 30km of washboarded gravel road that was a shortcut to Bliss Stick, the clouds opened up and the enjoyment level went to nill.  Still, driven by a deep passion... my legs carried me on.

Lauren met me there after having a similarly bad day of riding, however she didn't have to face the hilly gravel roads to Taihape and got a ride.  It was great to see her again, and especially great to see the bottle of cider, and barley and mushroom soup with scones she made/brought for dinner!  The Bliss Stick factory is in an amazing location and pretty much owned and operated by Charles and his wife, Coke.  All the boats are made in an oven in an old sheep barn that's now full of tools and kayak molds.  There was a small kitchen, bathrooms, and plenty of tent space for visitors who come to build their own kayaks.  While Lauren and I were there, 2 germans, 3 americans, and 2 aussies were also there, taking advantage of the build-your-own boat program (do some work for Bliss Stick, and build your boat for 50% of retail price!).  Fortunately for me, there was paddling gear to borrow and I got down the Rangitikei river twice - a scenic class IV technical canyon with plenty of boof drops to play on.  At the river lodge, a short drive down the hill from the kayak barn, a Kiwi-Experience tour operator brings a busload of young tourists in everyday to stay in the hostel and spend their money at the bar - party is always an option for the end of the night.  I'll definitely be returning there in a car with paddling gear someday soon...

Tricky drop on the Rangitikei

At the Bliss Stick kayak barn, the hilly terrain around it made for difficult biking. But the kayaks were totally worth the effort!

Leaving Bliss Stick, Lauren and I enjoyed backroads all the way to Palmerston North.  The terrain flattened out (for the most part... Maui's brothers really did a number on the island...) once we left the Ruahines.  Although rivers still sliced their way through the landscape at the bottom of massive canyons, the hills were more gradual and forgiving.  Once we crossed over into the Manawatu drainage, back on the east side of the mountains, we found especially flat riding.

We stopped at the Pukaha Mt Bruce wildlife center where Deparment of Conservation (DOC) and volunteers are putting in a huge effort to save native bird species.  Since 95% of all kiwis that are born in the wild don't make it due to introduced predators, the eggs are incubated and chicks are raised within the wildlife center before being released into the bush.  There were also other rare bird species there, including a kokako - a brilliantly blue parrot-ish bird which flew down to us as we stood next to its aviary and sung out "ko-ka-ko" in brilliant, clear english.  Wow!!!

After checking out the Wairarapa wine region, and giving it an extra good investigation with our taste buds in Martinborough, we made the 500meter climb over the Rimutakas to get to the Hut Valley and the Wellington harbour.  I've now surpassed 5000km, which is more than half of what I pedalled in the USA/Canada, and am done with the North Island!  Tomorrow, we'll be on the ferry to Picton and heading to the Luminate music festival near the Abel Tasman where we're both volunteering for 8 days!  Super stoked to be back south!!!  Check out the last of my photos from the North Island on the album "This Must Be The Last Hill"