Leaving Trevelyans we head back to Gisborne to spend a few days with Harry and Tui,😊 It was also a chance to get vehicles serviced, COF done and of course some biking and walking before embarking on a much anticipated exploration of the east coast up to East Cape. The weather was quite settled and we were hopeful of heading away, Nek Minute the heavens opened the flood gates lol it absolutely bucketed, looking at the long range forecast which was not for settled days we go to Plan B, forgo our eastern tiki tour and decide to head back inland to Rotorua. We leave in the pouring rain with rivers running high and dirty keeping our fingers crossed that there are no slips through the Waioeka Gorge luck was on our side we finally ran out of rain half way through the gorge into sunshine and a relatively mild day.
We arrive at Ngongotaha NZMCA park mid afternoon sunshine and warmth.
Whakarewarewa Mountain Biking
The day dawned absolutely beautiful clear warm for being one day past the shortest day! Actually very mild.. we head out after brekkie to do some trails in the forest.. heading to the Redwood Forest we park up gear up and off we go heading uphill! Yes it was a grind for my little legs but thank goodness I’ve got really good climbing gears and the still managed to grunt my way up the top, Shane on the other hand cruised up with ease, his stronger leg muscles putting me to shame! The climb seemed to go on forever but finally some relatively flat track to recover. We drop onto single track Challenger roadside and enjoy going downhill some nice berms small jumps of course Shane loves these downhills and off he went at a rate of knots and I of course was a little more circumspect but still enjoyed the challenge. Next onto the Dipper a great 2.8 km ride once again a buzz I’m now getting a bit faster! We head back up the hill and drop into Arapa track a much more knarly downhill but still fun of course Shane zooms away I even had to stop and check that I was heading the right way finally made it out! A great day out, good for the lungs and legs!! AND of course a great excuse for Shane to collect his reward of a bought lunch at the Artisan Cafe in central Rotorua.
Another awesome ride in the Wakarewarewa MTB park today Bridget Dudin joined us. Head out via Creek track a nice warm up before climbing up Nursery road, onto Tokarangi Face track a great single track through the Bush, Shane and Bridget lead the way, a great workout climbing ever higher. We then went up this knarly track lots of roots, narrow this is when I decided to push my bike up lol Shane powered up as did Bridget popping out onto a forest road we continue on till we come onto the Tokarangi track now with all the uphill it was time for some downhill fun! I managed to keep up for a couple of secs lol. Those daredevils were off but it was still an enjoyable run down.. I’m certainly learning how to handle my bike better! We catch up with Shane whom had bolted down the bottom! Head back uphill to Challenger another great run and pop onto Tahi back to bottom and to Waipa car park. 2 hours of exhilarating biking it was certainly a great way to spend the morning. Another reward a lovely lunch at Cafe Dynasti in Ngongotaha.
We head back to the Redwood forest for the tree walk in the evening. Walking 9- 20 metres above the forest floor amongst these giants of the forest. A 700 metre walkway that consists of a series of 23 suspension bridges traversing the gaps between 22 100 year old Redwood trees, the lighting effects were truly magical enchanting and mystical. Ruru projected onto tree trunks, fairy dust glittering throughout the trees, giant wooden lanterns, LCD projections were truly mesmerizing. For anyone who visits Rotorua this is a must do! The following morning we headed back to get a perspective of the day time of the Redwoods, a totally different experience! Looking up in awe as we walk up in the trees the true impressiveness of these giants, the sheer straightness of the trunks is a sight to behold.
We leave Ngongotaha heading to Cambridge via SH 5 a lovely drive over the Kaiamai Range down to Tirau, the corrugated iron capital of the Waikato 😀. We arrive at Jeremy and Annie’s mid afternoon now they have a rather steep drive up to their place and being front wheel drive we use Jimny to give extra push up hill! Worked an absolute treat got up with ease. A grand view of the surrounding countryside.
We spend a week here as weather pretty unsettled with some heavy rain. We keep ourselves busy with helping,cooking, baking and general chores.
When the weather improves we head to the Hamilton Gardens another gem of a place to visit even in the winter. There are several themed gardens to explore The Surrealist garden, distortions of size! Modernist, Picturesque, Herb, Kitchen, Tudor, Italian, Concept to name just a few, it was a fantastic few hours admiring these gardens and we definitely be going back in the summer!
Leaving Annie and Jeremy’s on Thursday 2nd of July we head for Waihi Beach. Stopping at Paeroa and do a lovely walk round the Howarth Memorial Wetlands. Ducks galore a hunters dream lol, it’s a stunning wetland and great to see more and more wetlands being conserved.
We arrive at Waihi Beach in the late afternoon park up at the NZMCA park and enjoy the late afternoon sunshine. The following day get on the bikes head down to Bowentown via the bike track a lovely well groomed track the wend our way through Bowentown and a nice little grunt of a climb to the lookout, a great workout for the lungs! Admire the vista and head back into Waihi Beach village, check out some of the galleries before heading back to Moho.
Saturday was the day for the maiden voyage of our inflatable bright orange Advanced Elements double kayak! Down the Shelley Bay we head, set up get on the foot pump and in a jiffy we are set! Now Jude being a pussy didn’t want to get wet feet but had to as otherwise we would have been kayaking on land! Both aboard off we paddle keeping in unison with our oars we glide effortlessly through the water, enjoying the experience with each stroke! We explore Shelly Bay and Anzac Bay absolutely stoked with the stability and ease of movement through the water! We both agreed we are going to have lots of fun with the kayak exploring the waterways.
Sunday the weather was on the change cooler and a very blustery easterly, meeting a friend for lunch in the village we walk a good 4 km on the beach to The Flatwhite Cafe, intermittent squally showers pass by. A lovely lunch was had and a great catch up with Bridget. After goodbyes the wind has really picked up thank goodness it was behind us and we did a power walk back to Moho. We got a fair buffeting from the wind overnight torrential rain. Thank goodness the morning dawned reasonably settled.
Sunday we walk the beach to