As far east as we can pedal

Our great progress in a southerly direction ended at Waiotapu and since then we have actually been heading north east as we have made our way through the Bay of Plenty and on to East Cape.

Today we reached the most easterly point on our journey around Aotearoa with an early morning 52km sprint out to the East Cape lighthouse and, in the process, ticked off our second lighthouse of the four we are targeting on the ride.

The highlight of the trip happened at Te Kaha when the RA in a moment of total relaxation let it slip that she was actually starting to enjoy the journey. That could be about to change as I will explain later.

She has been in her element talking to the locals who have been really responsive to what we are doing. It has been great. We have also been heartened by the community spirit that is very much alive once you exit the larger centres. Life in the remote areas that we have been riding through would be pretty lonely and tough without the cooperation we have witnessed. Many of the people who we have talked to have recently moved back to the area from larger cities. That community spirit and a less materialistic outlook are the motivating factors.

Bob has been much happier since his op and I have been making more of an effort to be more caring and bearing in an attempt to win him over even though he is a bit of a show pony. Talking about show ponies, on our way out to East Cape we came across dumb and dumber of the equine variety. There are a lot of horses out here on the coast. In fact, horse shoes are available from the local 4Square here in Te Araroa. Anyway, we were pedalling our way out to the Cape and a lack of fencing means that livestock is largely free range. We came across two horses who, instead of running off into the wide open spaces chose to escape from our scary mechanical horse by running down the road if front of us, for about 5km! They would occassionally head off into open land but as soon as we got close to getting ahead of them they would bolt back onto the very narrow road ahead of us. Unfortunately, when we came back we had to go through the whole process again. At one stage a cow joined our little muster, then a lot of horses started galloping down the hill towards us. We were starting to feel like livestock wranglers. The theme music from Rawhide started playing in my head.

At the beginning of our week we made a bit of an ‘escape from Waiotapu’ after the person in the room next to us in the tavern called us bastards for waking him up early. Now we are not the noisiest show in town and given the stream of big semi trailers rumbling past the place all night, we thought our whispered communications were as secure as a CIA agents shoe communication with HQ. But alas, we were wrong. Long story short, we got the heck out of Dodge as quick as the Moustache could carry us.

Our journey east took us through the Kiangaroa Forest. All I could think of as we pedalled through, all alone, was “please god don’t deliver any mechanical failures here”. It is really important in these locations, where you may be lucky to see anybody all day, to project an image of utter confidence that nothing can go wrong. The RA has been studying the topography of every ride lately so my days of bluffing my way through tough terrain are over. Fortunately, maps don’t show population densities otherwise my route planning may need major surgery. Happy ending, we got out the other side of the forest and started to see signs of life again. Great ride but a lot of gravel.

That was our longest ride so far but we were spurred on by the thought of a rest day and the opportunity for a soak in the hot pools at Awakeri. On both fronts it was a thumbs up. In the pools we me a great couple from Ōpōtiki and they signed on to the spirit of our journey and shared our adventures on social media. The couple in the unit next door did the same and their three boys all took a short spin on the back of the tandem.

The RA was worried about our brakes, as was I. After nearly 17,000m of hills, the pads looked to be getting a bit skinny. Now I am not a mechanic and when the big guy was handing out practical skills, he completely ignored me. After a bit of head scratching I remembered the process and with surprisingly few expletives I had the new pads installed. I knew from past experience that the new pads were going to create a lot of noise as they wore in. I was not disappointed and on our ride from Awakeri to Ōpōtiki, we had a lot of breaks to realign the brake callipers. At one stage I commented to the RA that the bike components were performing tag wrestling. As we sorted one noise another would start. I am pleased to report that after four days of ‘whack a mole’ we finally seem to have brake and pedal noises mostly sorted.

Since hitting the coast at Ohope we have been enjoying a fantastic ride. We have driven this route in the past but on the bike we are really able to immerse ourselves in this beautiful part of the country. It is not just the scenery but the people as well. What a welcoming lot the locals are. Well the human variety. As we rode between Opotiki and Te Kaha I spotted a magpie and the noise it was making suggested that it did not have a benevolent attitude to our presence. Sure enough, there was a flash of feathers and screeching as it did a low pass over us. I yelled to the RA, “in coming enemy fighter at 10 o’clock, she simply advised me that the time was only 9:45 and then I felt the wallop as the enemy tore into my helmet. The RA figured out what I was referring to and immediately set up defensive measures in the form of aggressive arm waving. This seemed to have the desired effect along with me putting the bike in turbo mode and pedalling like mad. The bird decided to give up the aerial assault. A day later we spotted another of these terrorists in the sky starting to prep for an attack but this time the RA was onto it and her arm waving seem to deter it.

One of our destinations was Waihau Bay. If you have watched the 2010 Taika Waititi film, Boy, you will be familiar with this location as the film was shot in the area. While there is nothing promoting the movie in the village, Waititi is very much claimed as their own as he lived his early life here. When we went to check into our accommodation we were greeted by a team decked out for the Halloween party that was taking place that evening, a few metres from our room. We helped them erect some Angel wings (not sure where these fit into Halloween). We didn’t participate as we are usually so tired after riding that it takes more than a few zombies to keep us awake.

This week we also clocked up 1,200km since leaving Kerikeri and nearly 1,800km of the overall journey. We seem to have a reasonable routine going. Getting the bike setup each morning is a breeze. We know every piece of equipment and clothing that we have with us so ensuring it is all packed is now also easy. Our meals are working out ok but the biggest challenge is sourcing suitable quantities of ingredients. Most foods are packaged on the assumption that you have plenty of storage for the bulk that you will use some other time.

Tomorrow is a new benchmark for tough rides as we head from Te Araroa to Tokomaru Bay. It is not an RA friendly ride and I have had to re-emphasise many times that the two following rides are pretty short and then she gets a rest day with some family. Unfortunately, the weather gods have decided to compound the challenge by delivering up a very stiff headwind. This could be my last post.

East Cape lighthouse again reminded us that the lighthouses give a beacon of hope to those caught in a storm. The Bald Angels give vulnerable kids that some beacon of hope. If you would like to donate to The Bald Angels please visit the give-a-little page