We'd previously walked from Muritai along
the coast track to Pencarrow Head, but had turned back as it's quite a long
walk (4 hours) and we'd set out quite late in the day and weren't really
prepared for a long walk. "We should hire some bicycles and do this"
we said, and as we left the car park we spotted the cycle hire shed that had
eluded us when we set out.
On Sunday we returned to Muritai, parked up
and rented a couple of bikes. We'd packed a picnic in a cool bag, so
redistributed that between two rucksacks - along with all the other
requirements that we usually forget when we go out exploring and which are
written on every map we see when we get to the park or reserve in question:
Plan your trip, tell someone of your plans, wear proper shoes, take waterproof/warm
clothing, take water and food with you. Normally when we set out we joke about
how we would need to be rescued as we were wearing inappropriate footwear, no
warm clothing, no food or water, hadn't told anyone, didn't know where we were
going etc. But this time we done it proper, like.
I've not been on a bike for about 30 years,
so I was a little unsteady to begin with. Also, the concept of gears on bikes
was largely foreign to me, so I had to figure out what I was doing with those
as well. Fortunately, your modern mountain bike is fairly intuitive in this, so
I got the hang of it pretty quickly.
 |
| Christ on a bike! Well, me, actually |
We set off down the gravel track towards
Pencarrow Head, stopping along the way to admire the scenery and the lighthouse
- New Zealand's first, which was manned, or womanned, by New Zealand's only woman lighthouse keeper,
Mary Jane Bennett.
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We headed off the beaten track onto a more
rustic one by Lake Kohangapiripiri, and sat down by the track to have our
picnic.
The return journey was substantially more
arduous as we were heading into the wind, which had picked up quite
significantly. Also we were a bit saddle-sore by this point, so we stopped for
a breather several times on the way back.
The overall trip is not a long one by
cycling standards - I think it was about 8km each way. But it felt longer on the way back.
For the avoidance of doubt that is not Mary Jane Bennett in the lighthouse picture - it's Me!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat ride eh Rory - where did you hire the bikes from? The wind is tough sometimes but the views and the scenery are just somethign else! Good on ya for "doing it proper, like." James
ReplyDeleteNice job Rory! We've shared your ride on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/huttcity.wellington - if you're keen to really break teh 30 year biking drouht we can highly recommend the Rimutaka Rail Trail - flat easy riding through tunnels and heaps more history.
ReplyDeleteI love cycling - I'm not fond of cycling uphill and/or against the wind, though. That looks like a nice tour. We've planned to do some longer tours again this summer. :)
ReplyDeleteBravo Brother Rory for getting back on the saddle. Wow, is it really 30 years ? I remember the bike trip around the Dordogne well - the picnic by the river, the al fresco pees, the hills, the sore arses - especially the sore arses. I recall we covered a great distance. How far do you think we went ?
ReplyDeleteWill you do more, as suggested by comments above ?
Did you ring your bell?
H x