Sunday 18th December
Kahoe Farm Hostel – Pukenui
87kms
Massive day of hills. One big one up out of Kahoe and the
first twenty kms seemed to take a long time. We couln’t resist stopping at the
Waterfront café at Mangonui for some
very good eggs and a good read of the Sunday Times. I was reading about the Danish tradition of
Hygge which is interesting in terms of challenge and what we are going through
now.
So we had to move on from the delicious coffee and the hygge
of the café and onto the steep up and down of Coopers Beach, Cable Bay and
onwards to Awanui. We stopped at Waipapkauri Hotel and lay under a tree before
carrying on to Waiharaha where we had a drink at the dairy and then struggled
on to Pukenui, where we struggled up the
steep driveway to the camp. Had a good night there – gorgeous evening and met a
lot of local and foreign corn and avocado pickers.
Pukenui Holiday Park- Cape Reinga – Waitiki Landing 92kms
Left the next morning at 9.30am for the Cape and after a few miles we decided that it might be a good idea that we camp at Waitiki landing, meaning that we would cut down the 104kms day following. Made good progress from Pukenui up to Te Kao where we had a pie. The terrain steepened after that and we found ourselves on a 10km hill which was a bit of shock! Made good progress down the other side and got to Waitiki Landing about 3pm. Coffee and chips at the café and pitched the tent and then headed off to the Cape – pretty commiting – at 3.30pm- minus the panniers! A 40km return trip to the cape.
Made some big hills – about three in total – but the last one was massive – about 6kms in total. Very beautiful at the end though looking over the sand dunes and headlands.
Stopped and walked down to the Cape Lighthouse. All quite momentous and significant. Enhanced by a beautiful ride back to Waitiki landing as the sun set. We ate at a rest area near the Twilight Beach turn-off and again at the camp when we got back at 8.30pm. John’s chain broke 3kms out and he walked up the hill and then free-wheeled down.
We fell into bed before 10pm, utterly exhausted but on our way.
Waitiki Landing -Kaitaia 92kms
Late start due to the chain repairs and really weary now. Set off at 9.30am and made good progress – despite the massive hills - back to our friends at Te Kao and another pie there. Onward to Pukenui where we lay on the foreshore and watched the fishing boats and then had a coffee at the pub/ café. It became very hot from then on but we cycled on all the way to Kaitai, with a brief stop at the Waipapakauri Hotel air memorial.
Very tired and hungry in Kaitaia and no real plan except to bike on to Apihara. So we went to The Warehouse and Pak’n’Save and were entirely going to have Subway and bike on – only we came across the Mainstreet Backpackers where we had stayed before and they gave us a studio unit for not much more than camping so we were so grateful.
Got out of the sun, settled in, had a shower, dinner, wine, bed. All good here. We are all very exhausted after huge efforts on the hills and sunburnt and bitten by insects as well. A million thousand mosquitoes besieged the tent last night. Really crazy. Heaps of locals talking with us about them!
Lovely evening and an actual bed to sleep in! Feels good to be getting south of Kaitaia tomorrow but certainly more tired and exhausted than we expected.
Massive three days. Big big time going to the Cape and back.
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