3/2/26. Matamata – Arohena – 30.79km (666.72km), 365m elevation.
A feeling of trepidation and some slight apprehension was running strong this morning, knowing that our time in Matamata had come to a close, signifying the end of our North island family and friends stop off’s. In addition to this, it is infact that over the next couple of weeks that we will also encounter some of the more trickier sections of trail and track with consistent climbing each day and camping each night.
To ease us into things Neville had organised a tandem trailer to load our bikes into in order to safely traverse the 15min drive to the start of the Waikato river trails. We chose this option due to the level of traffic on the prescribed route and also that the offical TA route does not even go through Matamata any more. This was due to the death of a cyclist last year on this exact stretch of highway we were meant to be riding this morning. As far as we were concerned, driving it rather than riding it was an easy decision to make.
Driving to the start of the trails confirmed that the stretch of road was pretty ordinary and we were grateful for Neville and Maree’s help. After unloading the bikes then hitching the panniers in the carpark we said our big goodbyes and thank you’s to the wonderful Maree and Neville. It’s been a pleasure staying with them and also for the boys to be able to have that time with Oliver, Cooper and Imogen was really special.
Off we set on hardpacked gravel trails with the threat of rain not too far behind. Cresting a small hill we were surprised to see Maree again, until we saw she was holding up our sandwiches for lunch that I had left behind in Nev’s ute! Thanks again Maree. We continued onto the small township of Arapuni, the site of a dam and power station on the Waikato river. The power station was built back in 1927 but in order for the workers to reach the worksite, a huge 120m swing bridge was built in 1925. We walked across it and got a great view of the power station and river below. Quite the feat of engineering back in the day.
With the grade of the Waikato river trails becoming too severe for our heavily laden bikes we opted to join the road. The next 20 km was spent on quiet country roads. Riding side by side and chatting along the way. Oliver and Arthur spotted a hedgehog on the side of the road so we spent the next 10mins watching it, Oliver and Arthur held it but Patrick was a little too nervous, when we finally got them away from the hedgehog we rode another 5m to find yet more hedgehogs, which meant we had to stop again. The weather was a bit fickle and rain came to us in misting squalls that also meant a significant cross wind. Cross winds are tricky with the fully laden bikes, they catch a lot of wind.
Finally we reached our campground for the night – Arohena campground. Unfortunately it meant that we had to descend over 100m down to it, on a gravel road that became steeper the closer it got to the campground. A little disheartened but the prospect of a decent climb in the morning we also found out that the lake had a blue green algae bloom so we were unable to swim. Instead we found a huge apple tree that Oliver climbed to pick apples from and then we enjoyed the best daal and rice meal I’d cooked in a long time.
On my way back over to our tent I struck up a conversation with our friendly neighbours and broached the subject of possibly getting our panniers portaged up the hill in the morning. Remarkably they were more than happy to help!!! Incredible! I returned to the table and shared the good news, much to everyone’s joy!
4/2/26: Arohena Campground to Mangakino. 36.14km (702.86km), 640m elevation.
Last night was my best night sleep yet, no one woke up through the night and it was a little cooler which was lovely. I woke up to the silence of the lake and when I opened my eyes I could see Patrick sound asleep beside me looking so peaceful. Arthur was still snuggled up in his sleeping bag while Oliver and Rhys had already got up. When I joined them Rhys had the water boiling and Oliver was reading his book leaning against a beam looking out to the campground. It was a little misty over the hills and lake and as we drank our morning cup of tea/coffee we watched a few large healthy rabbits hop about, it truly was a beautiful morning.
We packed up and as Rhys and Marty portaged our panniers up the hill Dani arrived which was a great surprise for Arthur and Patrick (Oliver heard me tell Rhys last night Dani had confirmed she was meeting us). As we set off it started to lightly rain thankfully it didn’t turn into much as all our wet weather gear was up with the panniers…oops. As we started up the hill I suddenly couldn’t pedal anymore, my bike felt terrible. I had forgotten to remove the strap I use to hold on the back bag and it got caught in the chain. Rhys had to come back and help me take my back wheel off and remove the strap. Thankfully no permeant damage and before we knew it we were powering up the hill, its feels amazing having no panniers on the bike.
The ride up out of the campground was so much easier than we had imagined riding down yesterday, a huge thank you to Marty! We picked up our panniers that were hidden behind a small mound of grass and continued riding. It was great having Dani with us, conversation flowed easily and the boys were in a happy, sometimes silly mood.
We stopped for morning tea in a driveway, Dani had made delicious pikelets with butter and jam, they were divine and we demolished them all so fast. Poor Patrick had got a small bug in his eye which took some time to remove, in the end we had to lie him on his back on the fence and has Rhys held his arms, I opened his eye and poured water into it – bug out and Patrick happy again we got back on the bikes for more hilly countryside.
We said goodbye to Dani at the start of the gravel road and at the top of a large descent, on the way down we were stopped by a herd of heifers being moved from paddocks. It was fun watching them walk up to us then as we slowly rode past they got scared and ran away splashing mud at us, Oliver and Arthur got covered which they thought was funny. Arthur said he got a drop of mud on his sunglasses that he couldn’t get off. I assumed it was only small so kept riding up the hill, 1km later we finally reached the top and when I turned around I had to laugh, the small drop of mud nearly covered half his sunglasses….the poor boy. We washed them in a puddle and had a giggle that it was lucky he was wearing them.
Oliver was starting to feel pretty tired and hungry, this trip has been a big learning curve for him in eating when hungry or before he gets too hungry. We have come up with a code word ‘Honey Badger’ which is a polite way to let him (or anyone else) when hanger has set it and food is required to reset the moot.
Thankfully not long after honey badger had come out we had a long fun descent down to the Waipapa Dam where we had a lovely lunch. Arthur found a swan’s white wing feather which he thought was pretty cool.
After lunch we had quite a few more hills to climb, Oliver used the tow rope for some of them and for others he chatted away to Arthur and I. Finally seeing the Lake at Mangakino was a welcomed sight, we rode straight to the lake and found a spot for our tent. The kids had a play in the playground then ran up to a man getting into a kayak to ask if the water was safe to swim in. He said yes, the algae bloom had not affected this lake, so they came running back to me yelling they can swim. Yippee we all went for a swim and had some fun on the floating pontoon which had a slide.
Rhys rode up to the takeaway shop to pick up dinner while I set up the tent then we enjoyed hamburgers and chips watching pukeko’s by the lakeside.
5/2/26 – Mangakino – Pureroa, 30.11km (732.97km), 598m elevation
Blue skies and a swim in the lake was the order of the morning. With only around 29km to ride today, and all on sealed road, we fancied our chances of a later getaway in order to enjoy the morning. Both Raelene and I had a go on the kids ‘waterslide’ off the floating pontoon, very good fun.
Inevitably though it was time to head off and we rolled back up the way we had come, thankfully on mild gradient climbs.
We changed out route today, Instead of taking the official TA, mountainous route, that would have taken us 2 days and added over 1000m of elevation on rough gravel roads, we decided to take the shorter sealed route via the state highway to Pureroa in order to start the Timber trail the next day. It was a tricky decision but one that we had to make. With the weight of our bikes we struggle to push them up steep hills when we get to them…We have to make allowances that suit the way we have chosen to travel and traversing huge mountains made for mountain bikes just didn’t make the cut.
Needless to say the ride up the State highway was relatively pleasant. The forest was beautiful and the traffic was mostly going the other way. Whatever cars and trucks passed us did so safely and for the most part there was enough shoulder to ride in, albeit fairly narrow. A highlight of today was the boys getting the trucks to toot their horns. All three of them would signal them with the customary right angled ‘toot toot’ arm gesture and the majority of trucks were willing to comply! One particular truck had a clear line of sight and continued to almost play a song as he carried on honking down the road, the kids loved it.
Raelene and I were both feeling a bit knackered today so we stopped on the side of the road to recharge with some lunch. Luckily we stopped right near a blackberry patch and the kids had fun picking oodles of blackberries for our lunch.
We made it to the Pureroa cabins in good time. Setting up on the grass and trying to find some shade as the sun beating down on us this afternoon. The cabins also had a washing machine so we got some laundry done and then cooked up some dinner – TVP spaghetti Bol……not everyone’s favourite…probably won’t buy TVP again and try and pretend its mince….
6/2/26 – The timber trail – Pureroa to Piropiro flats. 38.93km (771.90km), 764m elevation.
Overnight the night was full of stars and absolutely stunning however as morning approached clouds came over and we woke to a very misty and rather cold morning.
Not worrying about the wet tent (as we weren’t carrying it today yippee) we packed it away and made sure we were at the Timber Trail trail head well before 9:30 to meet our shuttle transfer for our panniers.
We waited a while for the bus, when it arrived they offloaded all the passengers and their bikes, it’s amazing how many e-bikes people are on these days, we then loaded and packs and it was finally the time for us to hit the famous Timber Trail.
We were immediately in the stunning forest riding along single trails, it was fantastic. Oliver sped off in front and was loving the freedom of his bike and the track. It didn’t take long for us to be passed by all the people of the e-bikes or faster mountain bikes but this did not worry us as we were loving the feel of our light bikes on the trail.
The morning disappeared pretty quickly as we climbed for 12km to the highest point, soon after we were had stunning views of Lake Taupo and then we made our descent. By this time the sun was shinning and we were all thoroughly enjoying the riding.
We stopped for lunch and while we waited for our rice to cook Patrick found a friendly bumblebee to take from flower to flower, it was very cute watching him play and hold this cute little bumblebee.
After lunch we continued to enjoy the trail, I was getting use to the rocks, roots and other obstacles however still found the riding took a lot of concentration and I was no where near as fast down hill as the others. Arthurs was incredibly supportive on the back, congratulating me every time I successfully got around a tight corner.
We eventually made it to our first swing bridge, wow they are amazing and so high! I was so nervous going over the first one, I couldn’t look down at all. Rhys made me cross it a second time to get a drone shot which was good for my nerves. Oliver, Arthur and Patrick thought the bridges were awesome and loved running across them making them swing a little. The day was getting on a bit so we continued along the trail, each km marker making us excited to get to our camp.
One the lovely descent Oliver got a flat tyre, he enjoyed fixing himself with a little help from Rhys and quite quickly we were on the road again. Close to the 40km mark we suddenly saw the Timber Trail Lodge on the side of the hill, we had one last steep hill to climb to collect our panniers, we then made our way down to the DOC campground. It was great riding into the open plain as there were so many people enjoying the campground. We found our spot and as Rhys, Oliver and Arthur cooked dinner Patick and I went for a walk to find the river. We did not find the river but we did find blackberry bushes full of fruit so we picked a whole lot for desert. Dinner was still simmering when we got back so we went off in a different direction in search of the river. We eventually found it and as Patrick stood guard I had a quick wash. Being a female living on the road camping can be difficult at certain times of the month so a wash in the very cold river was quite lovely for me today.
After a bit of an explore in the river we returned to have dinner, write diaries and settle in for the night. When the kids finally got to sleep Rhys and I enjoyed a cuppa outside as the stars once again filled the night sky. I am amazed at how trusting Arthur and Patrick are on the back of the tandems, today as we were riding the mountain bike trails I realised just how scary it could be to be on the back of a tandem with no control of the speed or direction.
7/2/26 – The timber trail day 2 – Piropiro to Ongarue. 51.44km (823.34km), 687m elevation.
Feeling relatively sore and tired after a big day of climbing yesterday we packed everything up and rode back up the hill to the lodge in order to drop our gear off to be transferred to the end of the trail. It was good to get the legs moving again and in no time we were excited to tackle the slightly easier terrain that today had in store for us.
Arthur was excited for his ‘birthday eve’ and we had many ‘last things as a 7 year old’ throughout the day.
The single trail dealt us a steep pinch to begin the day but was nothing that we had not managed before. Both tandems tackled the rocky terrain surprisingly well however Raelene and I both remarked how easy this would be on a mountain bike. On saying that we were shocked with he amount of e-bikes on the trail. Living in Nhulunbuy for the last 6 years, we seem to have missed the E-MTB revolution as I honestly only spotted around 5 pedal only bicycles on the trail all day. What was even crazier was that there were children on E-bikes, some as young as 10….I lamented that they would probably never know what its like to ride under their own power as its doubtful they would ever go back to a normal bike after starting on an E-bike….maybe I’m just getting old, or maybe I just like the idea of suffering a little bit on the bike in order to achieve the journey, or maybe I’m just getting old and cynical.
We hit the old timber trail tramway after around 10km, meaning that the next 30k’s would be on tramway grade trail! No more steep rocky climbs. Gentle it was too, we loved rolling through the old tramway and learning about its history in the timber industry. We rode through incredible cuttings framed by moss and ferns and over more incredible suspension bridges. Stopping for lunch we got chatting to some riders whom we had met the night before. The extolled the benefits of canoeing the Whanganui river and got us thinking that maybe we could get our bikes portaged down river and we could paddle the for 4 days instead of battling over hills in order to hopefully make the jet boat by a previously booked time….
We headed up one more very gentle rise and then were treated to one more historic feature of the tramway – the Ongarue Spiral. This was a section of track that effectively looped back under itself in order to keep the grade manageable for the old tramlines. We first crossed a bridge then looped through the forest before riding through a tunnel that had been carved through the hill, pretty cool. Finally we were treated to a ripping 10km of downhill that effectively finished our time on the Timber trail. The ride had been fantastic and we were all really happy we had decided to do it rather than skipping the section. It was only made possible though by the Lodge being able to take all out gear for us.
We rode for what seemed like an eternity through Ongarue to retrieve our transferred gear then loaded up for the ride back into town to free camp in a little roadside park, opposite some stock sale yards. A local came by and sparked up a chat, getting me to jump in his car to fill up our water bottles at his place! He then gifted me a packet of Raro for the kids and drove me back to our tent site. What a legend!
8/2/26 – Ongarue to Taumaranui. 29.64km (852.98km), 277m elevation.
Arthur woke up a few times through the night and struggled to get back to sleep as he was so excited for his birthday, it was lovely having a snuggle with him before everyone else woke up. Not exactly sure of the time but it wasn’t long after sunrise and we were all up wishing Arthur happy birthday and giving him the presents we had hidden away. We then moved to the undercover area beside the saleyards (thankfully as it lightly rained on and off for the next hour) to start cooking pancakes for breakfast. Arthur was playing with his new puzzle Aunty Nicola had given him on the deck and unfortunately dropped a piece down the planks of wood…we then spent the next 15mins working very hard to retrieve it.
We stacked the pancakes into a cake and sang Happy Birthday to our gorgeous 8yr old. While we packed away our gear Arthur chatted to Granny, Grandad, Aunty Nicola and Walter, it was a great morning seeing Arthur so excited for his birthday.
Unfortunately we still needed to ride today, but Arthur was happy to hear it was only 24km which in his words is ‘not that far’. The first 11km was a little tricky as it was up and down and poor Oliver was beginning to struggle so to avoid full honey badger we stopped in a drive way to have a cup of soup and tuna on crackers. While eating I phoned a canoeing company to enquire about the Whanganui river journey, BlazingPadddles were very keen to help us out and gave us a good deal and after a quick family meeting we decided to switch the bikes for canoes for 4 days.
The food stop did the trick and the next 13km was great, Oliver rode beside us and chatted the whole way to Taumarunui. Pukeko poo was the snack of the day, Arthur had fun sharing them out to everyone. The first shop we came too happened to be a McDonalds so naturally the kids were pretty keen to have a cheeseburger and Arthur thought it was a good place to have his birthday lunch.
After lunch we picked up supplies for a yummy birthday dinner and continued riding to our campground. Everyone was pretty knackered by this stage, we had a lovely chat with Grandma then Oliver enjoyed quiet time listening to Harry Potter, Arthur and Patrick had fun playing in the playground while Rhys and I relaxed in the sun. We then wandered down to the river for a swim, Arthur and Rhys had a float down the rapids while Oliver and Patrick played on the bank in the sand.
On Arthur’s request we enjoyed steak and salad for dinner followed by cake, a great way to finish off a lovely day and more exciting we have a rest day tomorrow.
