Per Kuhlwein

In the Intro-forum I promised to tell about good and bad experiences from my recently ended tour.
Iīm absolutely not ashamed of my age - 59 - related to the efforts during the tour. 2800 km round the North-Island, up and down and so on. I rode 120 - 150 km per day, sometimes my bicycle simply wouldnīt stop and sometimes I just had to go on to reach next possibility of accomodation.

I met a swiss couple touring on a tandem-touringbike. A very good idea, because you really have to be fit to handle the hills, and I can imagine how it is, if the guy is more fit than his girlfriend. Once it was confirmed, when I saw a couple, where the guy was carrying all the bags and his girlfriend was biking without bags - you are a gentleman, or what?

My touringbike without bags. I went around with 2 bags on the backrack, a saddlebag and a handlebarbag. The food I carried from day to day, I had in a "CamelbaK" backpack. (sorry I cannīt find out adding a picture)

Maps for touring NZ is really a problem. I found some good detailed in scale 1:250.000, but unfortunately without distances between the cities. They were published in 1987 and 1989, it means without important information about sealed and unsealed roads in the period upto 2004. Combined with AAīs maps with distances I handled the problems. But! but!
AAīs District maps are very good, but only for members!
Learning: It is a good idea to download maps from the net before going to NZ.

The Books, PedallersīParadise, by Nigel Rushton is worth buying. It is two small books describing North and South Island-tours with all the basic information you need and in addition you get a route-profile as a rough guide to the terrain. It is a must to only 12 dollar each.

I brought also Lonely planets, Bicycling New Zealand, but didnīt use it very much.

My very best routes which I highly can recommend when you are got used to the hills/mountains:
1. Rotorua-Taupo-Turangi-National Park-Taumarunui. (Breathtaking views to the three mountains in Tongariro National Park, but all the way was incredible beautiful).
2. Taumarunui-Whangamomona-Stratford. (Very beautiful nature with native forrest in the gorge. Limited trafic, but no less than six major saddles - it was damed hard - I remember, but also many lookouts, not least when you ride towards Stratford with Mt. Egmont/Taranaki in front of you.). The route include about 35 km of gravel road.
3.Wairoa-Lake Waikaremoana-Rotorua. Include 130 km of gravel road through Urewera National Park and Whirinaki Forest Park. Over all an incredible beautiful route with very little trafic, but very dusty when a car passing by. It took me 2― day to bike the around 211 km.

There wasnīt a day without annoying experiences: The incredible bad roadconditions, lack of signs, lack of poles to park your bike, lack of restplaces to take your lunch.

Be aware of "killer-drivers" i.e. truck- and cardrivers driving too close to you - it happens too often and itīs annoying, because you all the times have to concentrate on the road and your control over the bike. It means you in a way loose the possibility to enjoy the landscape and the nature - thats why you are there. All the crosses along the roads are speaking the very clear language.

Sometimes the crazy traficculture was quite obvious. Many tourists are renting a mobilhome, and when they on tour speed down to look and enjoy the nature the Kiwis are driving up very close to the mobilhome and in that way pressing them to speed up and drive in the same speed as they are doing, simply because there are no space or conditions to overtake. I saw many dangerous situations appear from that combination of tourism and local cars.

New Zealand isnīt that easy on touringbike, also because of lack of alternative routes. They are very few. But even then I enjoyed my stay very much - a very intensive hollyday.

Your coments are welcome
Per

funbun

Pictures man! Start a blog. Put your picetures there. It'll be cool!!

www.blogger.com

Per Kuhlwein

Pictures?? Iīll give it a try. I think I have found out how to do.

The Cannondale-way of making a touring bike is really excellent. I felt it immediately when I start riding it. In the different dimensions it has an incredible good balance. It is a bit difficult to explain, but a vissible ex. is the crank with the pedalarms. The force-transferring is 100% efficient. It is beautiful when you get such a feeling.

Look at the weldings

Itīs first time I was using a cyclecomputer and Shimanos Flight Deck is really a nice tool - easy to follow all your gearings and the other features.

Per

Per Kuhlwein

Hi again,
My best tours in New Zealand was on gravel roads, so I wants to show you a couple of examples.

1. The last 20 km to the very top, Cape Reinga is gravel road, but only the first 200 meters was very bad. The rest was even better than the paved roads in NZ. (pict. 1)

2. The start of the 130 km of gravel road through the national parks to Murupara (pict. 2). It was just as "bad" as it looks like, all the way, up to 900 meter, down again and up to 600 meter . There was even a crossing of a stream where you get wet (pict. 3). But the beautiful nature and the sunny weather made it a great trip.

3. The gravel road through the gorge towards Stratford, about 30 km, was in same condition as the 130 km. Arrival to Stratford with Mt. Egmont (pict. 4) - it was also a day with sunshine and temp. about 17-18 degress.

Pict. 5,6, and 7 ex. of the native forrest in the parks.

Per

Merriwether

Wow. I remember that haul to Cape Reinga, down that dirt road. There are some tough climbs right toward the end, too.

I had to contend with the tour busses roaring toward me, taking up the whole road. Maybe you arrived at a better time of day.

Great place to camp. Amazing to see the currents from the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea mingling off of the point.

Perhaps you didn't notice, but the "world distances" post at the lighthouse has *no* American cities on it....

Per Kuhlwein

Hi Merriwether,

Jah, I fought against both the climbs and the busses. The latter was terrible, they didnīt even take off the speed when they passed me. I went there in the morning to be back at Waitiki Landing in the afternoon.

I was a bit disappointed because when I and a couple of busses arrived, the area from the parkplace and down to the lighthouse was fenced. A lot of tourists were standing there just They had paied a lot of money to go there and then they was not allowed - just because of repairring the path - It looked really a bit ridiculous

Jah, you are right about the "world distances" post at the lighthouse, and I noted that at another place too, I was wondering why and then just concluded it was one of the many doublenesses you find in NZ

cheers
Per

Per Kuhlwein

A little about my route north of Auckland. To get rid of the worse Auckland-trafic I was recommended to take the train to Swanson and from there I went north to Helensville, Wellsfort. Highway No.1 is terrible bicycling, so I turned right towards Mangawhai, Waipu and again No.1 to Whangarei.

It is a really good idea to go north along the eastcost and down the westcoast instead of crossing over to the westcoast from Bryndewyn. I can imagine the wind against me as I had in the back from Ruawai to Bryndewyn – huh.

From Whangarei along No.1 to Whakapara. Here you get an alternative route to Russell and Paihia. Less trafic but also less information. I had decided to cross the mountain shortly after Tutaematai, to enjoy lookouts over the area, but lack of signs resulted in missing it. It meant about extra 15 km.

I was told that I should go by ferry from Russell to Paihia. At the T-junction 5 km before Russell I met the sign to the ferry showing me to turn left – so I did. But it was the carferry and meant 5 to 6 km extra bicycling, starting very steep uphill. At the T-junction there was no signs telling folks, that there was a passengerferry in Russell taking you directly to the city of Paihia. I was very disappointed and tired when I arrived to Paihia.

Paihia is a popular place, so if you are going up there as I did, go all the way to Russell to the passengerferry! The maps I have seen do not show the ferries except the AA-map of cource only shows the carferry. It is just a couple of ex. of sign-problems, which mainly appears at alternative routes.

From Paihia back to the highway – no alternative routes - to Waipapa, Mangonui, Awanui and Pukenui. From Cape Reinga I went down to Kaitaia.

I followed the alternative route out to Wainui, Herekino, down to the ferry to Rawene and went on to Opononi. A fantastic beautiful scenery appeared all the way and it continued down to Dargaville where I crossed over to Bryndewyn via Ruawai. The Highway back to Auckland via Warkworth was just terrible. A lot of trucks driving in a "crazy speed" destroyed what should have been a nice ride in beautiful nature.

I have almost forgotten to tell there is a lot of long and steep hills.

After that first part of my tour, I had seen a lot of beautiful nature but I was very disappointed. I had expected must more respectful traficculture. Many dangerous situations appeared, and Iīm lucky to be back without being hidden and hurted.

Best wishes
Per