TA Day 10: A Day of Two Halves
Distance 153km, Elevation Gain 1890m
Today was a day of blue ducks, single track, mud, farm tracks, steep hill climbs, even steeper descents, lost Hansel’s, found again, bridges that went nowhere, bridges so narrow one had to wheel bikes over by standing them on the rear wheel, jet boats, kayakers, the Whanganui River, steep gorges, and at last Pipiriki.
We left Blue Duck Station before the cafe opened for breakfast on the understanding that it would take seven hours to get to Johnson’s Landing for the jet boss as t connection at 4pm.
From Blue Duck it was a nice ride down a farm road until we hit the single track, then 6k of on bike off bike slog through bogs, sharp corners, tiny briges, fallen trees, you get the picture. Andy did not enjoy this section (just saying). Alastair admitted it was by far the most technical he had ridden with a fully packed bike.
The single track over we had a nice uphill ride to the trig station on a 4WD road where we met a bunch of fellow retirees on ebikes having a ball riding in the back country.
On then to a looooong steep downhill and to the bridge to nowhere. Strange to see the concrete structure in the middle of nowhere!
Having arrived earlier than expected we asked to catch the 1:30pm jet boat which was fine with Whanganui Adventure Travel (nice people) which brought us to Pipiriki at 2pm. Lunch was ready for us as we placed our orders mid jet boat ride (slick service!) so lunch devoured Andy opted to continue on to Whanganui rather than pitch his tent and have another sleepless night. Alastair will report tomorrow on his experience at Pipiriki. The 77k ride to Whanganui took 4hours to complete given that Andy had no lights set up on the bike so twilight was going to be an issue particularly on SH4. The motel bed beckoned as did the pub dinner and beer. Tomorrow Andy will spend the day on bike maintenance and physio on his painful knee.
A great day all round.
On the trail just before 8, aiming for 4pm jetboat down the Wanganui river from Mangapurua Landing to Pipiriki, and having been advised the ride could be 7hrs. Initial pleasant climbing soon gave way to over 10km of challenging single-track on the Kaiwhakauka track - great relief when that became 4WD track and much easier (though steeper!) Eventually summited at Mangapurua trig - spectacular views all round, with Mt Taranaki looming in the heat haze. Then rich reward with loooong downhill, gradually levelling out to beautiful single-track - so good that Alastair got distracted and nearly faceplanted a fallen tree across the track! - all the way to Bridge to Nowhere, and jetboat waiting just 2km further on - the 1pm one! Hugely enjoyable blast down the river for 40mins, and arrived at Wanganui River Adventures HQ for pre-ordered lunch. Andy decided to go on to Wanganui (only another 70-odd km!) to get his bike to hospital for drivetrain repairs, where Alastair will join him tomorrow (as he'd had enough for today!)
