6/1/26 Ahipara to Broadwood – 36.92km (149.52km), 631m elevation, 3h 17min.
After our horrendously expensive stay at the holiday park the prospect of sealed roads and country views motivated us to get going. Following ‘school’ for the kids – their journal writing (which Oliver likes to inform us that it is still school holidays and that he doesn’t need to do it yet…), We hit the road out of Ahipara.
Oliver really wanted to stop off at the shop to buy some dates – which turned out to be prunes – and lucky he did as it provided him with an incredible amount of energy today to ride up all the big hills.
The riding today was in stark contrast to the scenic monotony of 90 mile beach. Rolling green hills, farm animals and houses made for a fun ride with the boys enjoying yelling out ‘Hey Cow!’ to see how many cows turned around to see them.
Today was not without its climbing though and we were found ourselves cycling over 600m of cumulative elevation. It was positive to see Oliver handle the hills well and both Raelene and I felt as if we were beginning to regain some of our ‘misplaced’ cycling fitness from years and tours past….its just like riding a bike hey?
We stopped off for lunch on the front porch of a youth hall, cooking up cuppa-soups, Nutella crackers and a cheeky coffee. Raelene door knocked a few houses to find someone who was willing to fill our water bottles while I found a potential campsite for the night in Broadwood – a further 15km down the road. We made contact and confirmed our stay via Facebook messenger.
Setting off again, with the boys in high spirits we counted off the hills and km in the guidebook. Radiata pine forestry dominated this part of the trip and we all had discussion around the pro’s and con’s of planting and harvesting pine forests.
We enjoyed a final descent and rode into Broadwood with tired legs and tired boys. They rewarded themselves with a bottle of soft drink from the general store and then we headed up to out acomodation location. On route we met our host Deena, who asked out the car window if we were Rhys and Raelene! Turns out we stick out like sore thumbs!
Deena occupies a gorgeous little section in Broadwood and grows an organic garden on a once overrun slope of wild ginger and Pampas grass. She has a couple of cabins onsite and a couple of areas to pitch a tent, which we were super grateful for. Kindly Deena ran us back down the road in the car for a swim in the water hole in Broadwood. It was glorious and we hiked back up the road to her place smelling a bit fresher.
Deena had cooked rice and beans for the Woofers who were also staying and helping her around the property and she kindly offered to feed the kids so we could get them to sleep. Raelene and I then stayed up and enjoyed a relaxing night with like minded people, in a super tranquil piece of paradise that was Deena’s property.
7/1/26 Broadwood – Kohukohu – 30.95km (180.47km), 264m elevation, 2hrs 34mins
I was the first up and had a lovely cuppa before the boys all crawled about of the tent and instantly started chatted to Deena about magic card tricks and all the birds around the property. Arthur and Patrick loved feeding the thrush which was quite friendly. Oliver started to cook scrambled eggs then got too distracted with his card tricks. Rhys had a lovely sleep in until I woke him up around 8:20 as we needed to get moving. As Rhys and I packed away the kids helped out around the property with weeding the pond, they had a ball and spent over an hour putting weeds and loading the wheelbarrow.
Deena’s property truly revitalised us and it was the most wonderful stay, wish we could have stayed for long. I loved the outdoor kitchen/dining space and the general energy of the property. As we rode away we were all in very high spirits.
Today’s ride took us past gorgeous farmlands and many paddocks of cows, which again meant ‘hey cow’ was yelled out often – even if the cows were way over on the hills. Poor Oliver was beginning to feel very tired and needed a bit of encouragement/distraction. Rhys, Arthur and Oliver rode together most of the morning talking about a mountain biking computer game they were making up. I was feeling great on the bike today so Patrick and I rode a little in front enjoying the views, spotting ducks and playing hey cow. We didn’t have many hills today which was a relief and the undulating landscape helped roll the legs over perfectly.
We made it to Kohukohu for lunch much to Oliver’s relief. Very proud of him for pushing through and not giving up. Oliver, Arthur, Patrick and I enjoyed a well deserved ice-cream and I must admit it was the most delicious ice cream I have ever eaten. Rhys enjoyed an L&P then we fueled up on tuna/sardines on crackers before Oliver, Arthur and I decided to jump of the jetty for a swim. It was great fun and the water was beautiful.
After a great break we got back on the bikes, visited New Zealand’s oldest bridge. Apparently the footbridge was the first stone arch bridge built in New Zealand, built sometime between 1843 and 1851.
The last 5km to our accomodation tested Oliver’s legs also, Patrick and I distracted him with Harry Potter adventures and before we knew it we were turning into The Treehouse. It is a beautiful backpackers with a great reading nook for the kids which they took advantage of straight away. It was nice to have time to relax before dinner preparations had to start. I cooked up a hearty pasta meal and during diner Patrick said it was pretty cool we made it up all the hills today without pushing our bike, and he is right – today was the first day I felt strong on the bike and really enjoyed the feeling. After dinner we all went for a nature trail walk. Oliver enjoyed spotting native trees, Patrick lead the way and Arthur loved seeing the birds, he made friends with a fantail which was cute. We had great views of the harbour and could see the ferry we plan to take tomorrow.
After the walk Rhys put the kids to bed as I did some yoga looking out over the harbour with so many fantastic fantails flying around, then I brewed a pot of tea for Rhys and I to enjoy watching the sunset on yet another great day on the bikes.
8/1/26 – Kohukohu to Omapere. 28.93km (209.4km), 367m elevation, 2hrs 37 min.
Today we had the treat of a tailwind the 1.5km back to the Ferry at the narrows that was to take us the 1.5km across the Hokianga harbour to Rawene. This was where the benefits of the tailwind stopped…because after disembarking the ferry we were subject to a blustery, incessant headwind that threatened to finish poor Oliver off for the day….
Back to the highlight of the Ferry though, upon embarking the boys were invited up to the skippers cabin for a bit of a look, they were super chuffed and went up with Raelene. The skipper was lovely and tooted the horn for them before they had to rush back down and get on the bikes due to the very short trip across the harbour.
Rawene seemed like a really beautiful quaint little town but we felt we could not dwell as we wanted to make it to Omapere to enjoy our rest day, planned for the following day. Although there was no issues with getting on the bike in the morning, it soon became apparent that the cumulative fatigue, coupled with the strong headwind, was causing Oliver (and his parents) some real fatigue.
Approaching the first climb of the day Oliver simply could not get into a rhythm so for the first time on the trip, the emergency bungee cord was deployed. This revelation was designed for mountain biking in mind however we are putting it to use towing touring bikes up a hill! Incredibly, Oliver continued to pedal while I pulled him and it actually wants too much more work for Arthur and I. We navigated the first of two climbs like this then had an extended break in an enclosed bus shelter. Oliver rested then it was off again, up the second climb which had a very rude, very sustained section of 14% gradient!!!!
Spirits were bolstered though when around a corner we saw a glimpse of blue ocean and giant sand dunes. This scene continued to morph and materialise through the next few km’s until we were riding right beside the ocean with e most amazing view of the Sand dunes over the other side of the Harbour. Everyone was energised and we made it to our planned campsite in good time, rolling in just before 2 Canadian cyclists Mel and Kahung.
As it turned out it was Kahung’s birthday and we all hit it off immediately, swapping stories of travel, cycling and also….you guessed it….a few magic tricks! We all wandered down the road and treated ourselves to the most amazing meal of fish, chips and burgers, in hindsight there was really nothing special about it but man it tasted good after a week on the bikes. While waiting for the food we bought a bag of lettuce and ate it straight from the packet, crazy how quickly you crave greens when you have had a few days without any.
The kids were tired and it didn’t take long for them to nod off for the night. Raelene and I stayed up with Mel and Kahung, reflecting on how far we had come in the week, how it marked a real start of the journey, and how we had a heck of a lot more to come!
9/1/26 – Rest Day – Omapere – 6.43km (215.83km)
Woohoo it’s a rest day 🙂 everyone had a lovely relaxing morning, we cooked up a delicious fry up with Mel and Kahung, the kids preferred to play in the hammocks – lots of laughs heard. After a hearty breakfast Rhys did a bit of bike maintenance, we had washed our bikes pretty well after the beach but to be on the safe side we lubed the chains again. We then went for a short ride into Opononi to have a look and restock with food for the next few days. Oliver and Arthur were very excited to spend some of their money on a new set of cards each to continue on their magic card journey. Arthur is now enjoying practicing but has not got the confidence up yet to show other people.
Back at our little oasis we cooked omelette for lunch then everyone tried to have a rest, thankfully Patrick and Oliver both fell asleep. Arthur couldn’t so we played cards instead and Rhys napped before also joining in on the card game.
We spent afternoon at the beach, it is a stunning location. The sand dunes across the harbour are beautiful. Unfortunately we could not get over to them as the only company who use to take people across for sand-boarding stopped approximately a year ago due to the skipper being unwell. I love a bit of jetty jumping and I convinced Oliver and Arthur to join me which was great fun!
We fuelled up with a huge BBQ dinner and fresh fruit then the boys tried to fall asleep in the daylight. Bedtime is probably the most challenging thing of this trip so far, due to it being light till 9pm the kids really struggle to fall asleep even though they are shattered.
