My heart is starting to beat in an echo of the road
Day 5....
This morning seems a hugely long time ago. A whole week seems to have been crammed into the course of the day somehow.
It started when I left the comfort of the Orana motor inn in Kataia and headed out into a slightly drizzly dreary day. I felt better ... well than yesterday and my headspace was certainly more sorted for sure. I pottered along the road waiting for The Big Climb to appear. Now I had seen it from the car on the way up and several people had told me about it but nothing truly prepares you. But more of that in a bit. Today was humid warm... too warm for rainwear.. but there was rain... more drizzle today than the torrential of yesterday but also a welcome relief in many ways.
I said my headspace was better today... i think ive stopped trying to see the whole and concentrate on each day... and if necessary... breaking it into smaller pieces. So today was from Kaitaia.. up mangamuka gorge (god knows how long that would take) ... down mangamuka gorge (wooohoooo) - part 1 done. Part 2 from mangamuka to the ferry and part 3 the ferry to oppononi. Made it sound easier for sure.
As I approached the climb .. the scenery abruptly changed... seemingly in the blink of an eye. One minute it was rolling fields... the next ... 'jungle' so dense and full of sound it was reminiscent of Madagasgar... and this occupied me nicely for the lower part of the climb. Rivers... waterfalls... the gorge ... stunning!!
Before I reached the actual climb... i was surprised to see not one.. but at least five lycra clad guys (yes they were on bikes).. endedup stopping to chat which was so nice as only cyclists can appreciate the terrain... that said I envied their unencumbered bikes. I was conscious of delaying their ride.. more than mine to be fair and suggested they go ahead.. because frankly it would have been very embarrassing. One of them suggested I fall in with them for a bit! Lol... the mere suggestion that even if well.. i could keep up with them.. even as a tailhanger.. was so funny it ended up in a coughing spasm (yup still having those). They wished me luck and i wished them a good ride and we went our separate ways...
Which left me v the gorge...and let me tell you... it was a climb and two thirds with only half my normal lung capacity. The first bit was ok ... frequent stopping still required but it was relentless. A bit like the steps in switzerland bro... when you turn the corner and think you are there you are faced with another bend upwarda. For the second half of it I was stopping most bends... generally cos i was so slow that i wanted to ensure no cars/lorries would go round that bend the same time as me. Fortunately there was hardly any traffic... so actually that just became an excuse to stop... cough up my guts .. try and breathe... summon the fortitude... mutter to myself that the top wasnt getting any closer just standing there.. and go again.
Eventually I got to the top... I asked a lady in a car coming the other way, to make sure I wasnt dissapointed. Then came a long sweeping.. beautiful downhill which I will post as soon as I have better access to plug points.
It almost made up for all the struggle of the last three days... almost!
Then I headed towards mangamuka... worried I would miss the turnoff and knowing I needed to eat soon.. I stopped at a cemetary (just because it had a place to lean my bike and a tap (apparently for hand washing before and after visiting) - used by me to fill water bottles... ate some disgusting protein bar and then continued onwards. I think it was about here that I bacame aware of a van driving up alongside me and the occupants saying something to me.. i pulled my headphones out and realised (with prompting) that it was one of the cyclists I was chatting to earlier. He asked how i was... whether i needed anything. Such absolute kindness again shown to me by a not so complete stranger (this being the second time we had met). So thank you Roger... it was a pleasure to meet you. LHS
Just down the road.. I found a hot bacon and cheese toastie and decided it would be rude not too ...
Next up ferry... and as I took the turn... upwards of course... I felt pretty good with the day so far. I realised I might make the two pm ferry and the road whilst winding up and down... wasnt too bad.
Miles and miles later..
I rolled into town at 13:52 ... only to find that the ferry left from 4Km down the road... i 'leaped' onto my bike and hotfooted it. It was a loong four k and I pulled into the ferry terminal at 14:04 to have to watch the ferry sail untroubled away. Bummer! Still an enforced hours rest ... in a beautiful spot... who am i too complain... especially as I had been aiming for the 15:00 ferry anyway.
An hour later I rolled my bike on... and ended up chatting to the deckhand Jack and his friend.. self- confessed layabout.. Jock. Jack even offered me an apple (yes I did accept and ate it on the spot). Nice guys and we passed the journey chatting away.
Off the ferry... a shaep climb up.. then nice until turned onto SH12 and my new road to follow for a while. It was up and down .. though felt more like up but to cut a hilky story short I crawled into my days destination, Oppononi, at around 5pm.
Then it was all business. No rooms at any inn so bivvy it was and I did have fun setting up around the goats. Wasnt wholly keen on bivvying it tonight as still feel pretty rough but needs must and actually its stopped raining and is warm.
My final story for today is of a pot noodle dinner (all the cafe's closed) rescued by the unexpected kindness of my tent neighbours (i was upset about them pitching so close to my bivvy).
One of the young girls came in to where I was blogging and offered me two sausage sandwiches on a plate with a glass of juice. Once again bowled over by the generosity and care of strangers.
And that is a good place to leave todays blog... so im going to tuck myself in to my sleeping bag and try and rest for tomorrow it begins again...
Today my heartbeat started to echo that of the road.
Nn everyone LHS To you all
This morning seems a hugely long time ago. A whole week seems to have been crammed into the course of the day somehow.
It started when I left the comfort of the Orana motor inn in Kataia and headed out into a slightly drizzly dreary day. I felt better ... well than yesterday and my headspace was certainly more sorted for sure. I pottered along the road waiting for The Big Climb to appear. Now I had seen it from the car on the way up and several people had told me about it but nothing truly prepares you. But more of that in a bit. Today was humid warm... too warm for rainwear.. but there was rain... more drizzle today than the torrential of yesterday but also a welcome relief in many ways.
I said my headspace was better today... i think ive stopped trying to see the whole and concentrate on each day... and if necessary... breaking it into smaller pieces. So today was from Kaitaia.. up mangamuka gorge (god knows how long that would take) ... down mangamuka gorge (wooohoooo) - part 1 done. Part 2 from mangamuka to the ferry and part 3 the ferry to oppononi. Made it sound easier for sure.
As I approached the climb .. the scenery abruptly changed... seemingly in the blink of an eye. One minute it was rolling fields... the next ... 'jungle' so dense and full of sound it was reminiscent of Madagasgar... and this occupied me nicely for the lower part of the climb. Rivers... waterfalls... the gorge ... stunning!!
Before I reached the actual climb... i was surprised to see not one.. but at least five lycra clad guys (yes they were on bikes).. endedup stopping to chat which was so nice as only cyclists can appreciate the terrain... that said I envied their unencumbered bikes. I was conscious of delaying their ride.. more than mine to be fair and suggested they go ahead.. because frankly it would have been very embarrassing. One of them suggested I fall in with them for a bit! Lol... the mere suggestion that even if well.. i could keep up with them.. even as a tailhanger.. was so funny it ended up in a coughing spasm (yup still having those). They wished me luck and i wished them a good ride and we went our separate ways...
Which left me v the gorge...and let me tell you... it was a climb and two thirds with only half my normal lung capacity. The first bit was ok ... frequent stopping still required but it was relentless. A bit like the steps in switzerland bro... when you turn the corner and think you are there you are faced with another bend upwarda. For the second half of it I was stopping most bends... generally cos i was so slow that i wanted to ensure no cars/lorries would go round that bend the same time as me. Fortunately there was hardly any traffic... so actually that just became an excuse to stop... cough up my guts .. try and breathe... summon the fortitude... mutter to myself that the top wasnt getting any closer just standing there.. and go again.
Eventually I got to the top... I asked a lady in a car coming the other way, to make sure I wasnt dissapointed. Then came a long sweeping.. beautiful downhill which I will post as soon as I have better access to plug points.
It almost made up for all the struggle of the last three days... almost!
Then I headed towards mangamuka... worried I would miss the turnoff and knowing I needed to eat soon.. I stopped at a cemetary (just because it had a place to lean my bike and a tap (apparently for hand washing before and after visiting) - used by me to fill water bottles... ate some disgusting protein bar and then continued onwards. I think it was about here that I bacame aware of a van driving up alongside me and the occupants saying something to me.. i pulled my headphones out and realised (with prompting) that it was one of the cyclists I was chatting to earlier. He asked how i was... whether i needed anything. Such absolute kindness again shown to me by a not so complete stranger (this being the second time we had met). So thank you Roger... it was a pleasure to meet you. LHS
Just down the road.. I found a hot bacon and cheese toastie and decided it would be rude not too ...
Next up ferry... and as I took the turn... upwards of course... I felt pretty good with the day so far. I realised I might make the two pm ferry and the road whilst winding up and down... wasnt too bad.
Miles and miles later..
I rolled into town at 13:52 ... only to find that the ferry left from 4Km down the road... i 'leaped' onto my bike and hotfooted it. It was a loong four k and I pulled into the ferry terminal at 14:04 to have to watch the ferry sail untroubled away. Bummer! Still an enforced hours rest ... in a beautiful spot... who am i too complain... especially as I had been aiming for the 15:00 ferry anyway.
An hour later I rolled my bike on... and ended up chatting to the deckhand Jack and his friend.. self- confessed layabout.. Jock. Jack even offered me an apple (yes I did accept and ate it on the spot). Nice guys and we passed the journey chatting away.
Off the ferry... a shaep climb up.. then nice until turned onto SH12 and my new road to follow for a while. It was up and down .. though felt more like up but to cut a hilky story short I crawled into my days destination, Oppononi, at around 5pm.
Then it was all business. No rooms at any inn so bivvy it was and I did have fun setting up around the goats. Wasnt wholly keen on bivvying it tonight as still feel pretty rough but needs must and actually its stopped raining and is warm.
My final story for today is of a pot noodle dinner (all the cafe's closed) rescued by the unexpected kindness of my tent neighbours (i was upset about them pitching so close to my bivvy).
One of the young girls came in to where I was blogging and offered me two sausage sandwiches on a plate with a glass of juice. Once again bowled over by the generosity and care of strangers.
And that is a good place to leave todays blog... so im going to tuck myself in to my sleeping bag and try and rest for tomorrow it begins again...
Today my heartbeat started to echo that of the road.
Nn everyone LHS To you all
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