DAY TWENTY-FIVE: TAKING THE CYCLE OUT OF CYCLE TOURING

Day 21 (Tongariro Alpine Crossing)
Day 22 (National Park to John Coull) Daily Distance: 44.50 kms (canoe)
Day 23 (John Coull to Tieke) Daily Distance: 27.50 kms (canoe)
Day 24 (Tieke to Wanganui) Daily Distance: 97.06 kms (22 km canoe; 75.06 km cycle)
Day 25 (Wanganui Rest Day)
Total Distance: 1,232.46 kms

 “Tongariro National Park is New Zealand's oldest national park and a dual World Heritage Site ... it ranks among the top ten single-day treks in the world."

--TongariroCrossing.org.nz

 

"Reputedly the best one-day walk in NZ, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing traverses spectacular volcanic geography, from an active crater to steaming vents and beautiful coloured lakes."

-- Lonely Planet

These quotes really say it all.

And so does this.

The Te Mari crater erupted in November 2012 meaning that the second half of the crossing is currently closed (grumbles are still heard almost every day), but it was still possible to do the first half of the crossing and then return to the beginning, while apparently still seeing all of the highlights.

A quick walking pace meant that we had a bit of extra time, so we took a side trip up to the top of Mt Ngauruhoe, also known as Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings. It was a steep 45◦ climb with no track and little to get a solid footing on, meaning that we had to scramble up on a thick layer of loose volcanic ash as it slipped down the mountain, with every step forward being followed by big slide backwards. The views from the top, however, made this more than worthwhile:

 

Coming down the mountain was equally challenging – it was literally a case of skiing down (but on scree rather than snow) as each step created a mini avalanche down the mountain on which you could ride for three to four metres. Good fun, although given this is a National Park, it made me feel bad, and left me wondering how long the mountain will exist if people like me do that hike each day.

This was all done with Fast Rene, named as such because he is constantly amazed at how slow everyone else rides (and lives life in general), and Left Side Ride (LSR), who now deserve proper introductions given that they have suddenly become central characters in this Kiwi adventure of mine.

LSR is made up of Brian, Mark, Devin and Lex, four Americans who worked together in Event Marketing which saw them travel across their entire country representing different companies at events like Nascar, the PGA Golf tour and Army recruitment drives. Like my most recent job, this provided them a varied, exciting workplace and allowed them the freedom to travel, have amazing experiences and meet lots of new friends. Also like me, though, this didn’t afford them the chance for a settled lifestyle so they decided to quit their jobs and cross the globe … with their bikes. After NZ they are continuing their adventure through Australia, Indonesia and Thailand. You can follow them at www.facebook.com/LeftSideRide.

There were two pick-up times to take us back to the hostel, and sure enough after running in the hot sun for 30 minutes, we arrived about 4 minutes after the first bus left, leaving us waiting for an hour and a half for the second. It reminded me a lot of missing a certain boat some months ago.

On recommendation, I’d wanted to do a small section of the Tip to Toe journey on the Whanganui river by canoe, and after all the cycling and hiking my legs needed a break anyway. Both Rene and the LSR boys expressed interest in joining me on this leg of the journey, so at last minute we managed to organise ourselves and we started the following day.

 The canoeing was absolutely spectacular – deep in a fern-lined canyon with waterfalls and wildlife everywhere but humans not so, the scenery was equally stunning for every one of the 88kms that we travelled. It never got old.

 

We camped on both nights, and being on ancient Maori land that has recently been under dispute, the second night we were invited into a local marais for a pōwhiri (welcome ceremony) to learn about the Maori culture. Local Maori leaders Wai and Munaki were very welcoming and invited us for breakfast before he officially farewell us from their land with the blowing of a ‘pukaea’ (Maori trumpet).

We were all mauled by sand flies, Lex and Devin managed to fill their canoe with water after hitting a huge rock during one of the larger rapids, and we were late for the pick-up, but otherwise we managed to stay out of trouble.

 

On arrival in Pipiriki we were met by the canoeing staff who swapped our bikes for their canoes before sending us on our way. Less than 5 minutes into the ride to Wanganui Rene and I managed to lose the entire LSR team, so continued on ourselves via the scenic river road on one of the official NZ Cycle Trails, arriving in Wanganui 76km later at 9.30pm. LSR, in the meantime, chose a less direct route on which they apparently endured a horrid 28km climb, and then a 100km ride the next day, arriving in Wanganui about 24 hours after Rene and I. They were sorry to have missed a trick on this occasion but glad that they survived to tell the tale.

Having not showered or washed clothes in days, I took the opportunity to freshen up in Wanganui before the final push to the bottom of the north island. That, and I had to re-learn how to ride a bike after taking the cycle out of cycle touring.