DAY SIX: TOILETS, GLOW WORMS AND A HOLE IN A ROCK

Day 4 (Paihia Rest Day)
Day 5 (Paihia to Whangarei) Daily Distance: 78.92 kms
Day 6 (Whangarei to Wellsford) Daily Distance: 84.26 kms
Total Distance: 412.86 kms

Sorry I’m a bit behind with the blog … I’ve been having too much fun!

Even though it was so early in the journey, I felt that I had to have a day off in Paihia given the beauty of the area. I woke up early enough to catch a jet boat out to the famous ‘Hole in the Rock’, which is as beautiful as they say, but also as popular with the tourists.

 

Not so busy was 'Camp Gregory', which for a moment I thought may have been run by long lost relatives of mine. And then I saw the sign and realised that it can't possibly by the case:

"Camp Gregory: Enjoyment guaranteed... Hangovers optional"

I spent the afternoon tending to my bike and then returned to the water for a beachside reading session. That night I found a sports bar full of, let’s say, the not-so-upper-class citizens of Paihia, but it was worth hanging around for a while to see the Aus v SL cricket game that they were televising. I returned to the hostel to be greeted by a Scottish couple (the hostel managers) and an Irish couple (blind drunk – did I say that they were Irish?) trying to drop coins from their buttocks (clothes still on) into empty cups. Despite what you’d think, it was surprisingly entertaining.

The next day started with some big climbs up and out of the coastal bays, before I turned inland to visit the toilet. But this wasn’t just any toilet, this one was made famous by its designer, Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

If any exist, avid PPFP blog followers will recognise that name from a previous blog (Day Eighteen: No Room At The Rainy Gasthof). So it seems every touring trip I take must at some stage include some of Hundtwasser’s work. A quick Google search tells me that he designed a shack somewhere in the middle of Malawi, so I think it’s a sign … anyone keen?

Not long after that I saw a roadside sign advertising caves with glow worms, and given that I’m on holiday and can do as I please, plus the fact that I knew my route wouldn’t take me to Waitomo where the famous version is found, I turned off the road and paid the little suckers a visit. And wasn’t I glad that I did – it was probably the highlight of the trip to that point. It’s an amazing sight, seeing thousands of them trying to out-glow each other to attract the mozzies (i.e. dinner) as they weave hundreds of strings that hang below them to catch the insects before reeling them in – their version of a spider web, I guess?

What this all meant was that my arrival into Whangarei was slightly later than planned, but good friend Jason Milich still happily gave me the grand tour of the city, complete with an introduction to the breath testing procedures of Whangarei police and some good Kiwi beer (unfortunately those events happened in the reverse order; fortunately Jason was on light beer!). The following morning Jason returned to pick me up but this time he brought with him his wife, Hannah, and their very cute 7-month old, Isla, who didn’t wail when I held her for a photo. Winner! (I think she only likes me because she knows her Dad is the one person that sticks it to me EVERY SINGLE time Australia loses in some sport. Which is all too often these days.)

 

From Whangarei I continued south to Wellsford, but in between these two are the rather large Brynderwyn Range, rising 850m above sea level, and therefore 850m above my preferred climbing height. Immediately following the horrendous climb, two generally well accepted rules were proven: one, that very steep climbs are soon followed by very steep descents; and two, that very steep climbs are highly correlated with the number of empty water bottles being carried. Thankfully a third (admittedly not so well accepted) rule was also proven to be true: that when all water bottles become empty, it starts hammering down with rain.

You see, given many cyclists complain endlessly about their encounters with pouring rain, you can tell I’m a glass half-full kind of guy – even if I am a bottle fully-empty one.

Wellsford deserves no space on this blog. Unbelievably shitty hotel. Boring main street. Random hobo inspecting my bike (i.e. establishing thievery potential).