We left Arapuni Backpackers relatively early this morning, around 9AM, after a perfect breakfast of beans on toast for Chris and some muesli for me.
The lady who owns the Arapuni Backpackers is really nice, and the place was clean and organized. That night, we ate some frozen food for dinner, which is for sale there. It was a huge step down from charcoal grilled lamb the previous night, but we were happy to be warm and dry while the rain pounded outside. It’s been a wet few days.
Our first stop in the morning was the swinging bridge at Arapuni, just on our way out. It’s strung above a deep gorge with a river rushing below. The view of the river below and the ferns was amazing.
Todays ride was about 32 miles with about 3100 feet of climbing. It’s split between paved roads, gravel roads and forest paths. Like all of NZ, the roads and paths are steep, but we have a tailwind for most of the day that helps out, and it’s dry for a change. We actually had no rain today, and even some scattered sunshine near the end of the day. I actually got some mild sunburn! I did not put on any sunscreen – bad boy!
As we approach the last third of our ride today, we are routed on the Waikato River Trail which is amazing. We dive into the jungle, surrounded by giant ferns and trees, on a narrow hiking path. It’s cool, but also challenging! Both the ups and downs are steep (like 15-20% grade) with some slippery spots to navigate on top of the climbing. Chris does amazingly well, especially considering she does not have any mountain bike experience. She sailed down a really steep and rocky downhill smoothly and also made it up some very steep parts of the path without walking. However, we both pushed our bikes up plenty of hills – it was hard going.
Arriving at our hotel in Mangakino, we find that we are almost alone in a luxury hotel. So…we buy some food at the grocery store in town and cook dinner in one of the beautiful kitchens for guests.
NOTE to Chris’ friends. Her phone is kind of dead due to water getting in to it. It may recover or not, but we’ll get it fixed or get a new one as soon as we can. If she doesn’t respond, that may be the reason
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