16/2/26 – Whanganui: rest day
Waking up inside hearing the storm outside was quite lovely, again we were very happy with our decision not to tent and get a family room in Breamer house, it is such a beautiful old house. We had a very relaxing morning snuggling up on the couches watching the Winter Olympics. Rhys found a bike shop happy to squeeze in Oliver’s bike which needed a tune up, as his wheels have a bit of play in them. Rhys and Oliver suited up in their wet weather gear and braved the storm to ride his bike down to the shop.
By mid morning the weather had improved, slightly, so we all braved the weather and went for a walk into town. Far out the wind was so strong but this made the walk fun for the kids and surprisingly no one found it too cold. We found a great glassblowing shop which had two artists working, it was brilliant to watch them work for a while. Rhys then got the message that Oliver’s bike was ready so we walked up the the BikeShed and discovered Oliver’s wheel bearings are not in great condition and the technician was unable to fix it – hopefully it survives until we can claim warranty and have a new wheel sent. Oliver found a great set of blue pedals which we bought for him as a reward for riding 1000km, but more excitedly Oliver used his spending money to buy himself a cycling computer.
Hunger setting in we found a great old pub to get food before we discovered the brilliant museum. The museum had a great collection of Maori artefacts, animal taxidermy, Moa eggs and bones and the arrival of Europeans.
The walk back home was a little wet so it was nice to get inside, warm up and the boys watched another movie while I folded and put away all our clothes and Rhys started on dinner. The forecast is looking good for tomorrow so we got the boys to bed early ready for a big day of riding.
17/2/26 – Whanganui to Hunterville. 61.67km (1114.45km), 798m elevation.
With no foreseeable camping area between Whanganui and Hunterville we were resigned to pushing out a 60km day in order to make the distance between accomodation. The big plus was that we could get going early as there was no need to pack up a tent and sleeping gear, so just after 0800 we rolled out of the YHA and hit the road.
The highlight of the morning (and probably the day really) was riding through the 213m tunnel that led us to the Durie hill Elevator. This Elevator was built in 1919 and rises 66m through Durie Hill, arriving at the top and granting a great view over the city of Whanganui. We were able to put our bikes inside and the operator took us up the easiest 66m we would do today. All of the power and operating gear is still original, it was a bit mind blowing that the elevator was even here let alone that it was built in 1919!
After the elevator we ascended another 176 steps of the top of the war memorial tower, and got a final view of the city, picking out places that we had walked through or visited the day before. Finally it was time to hit the road proper and get some km’s under our tyres.
With 60km to do it was our aim to get as many done before lunch. Usually we would be doing a maximum of 20km before breaking for lunch, today however we powered through 40! It was incredible, everyone was feeling fit and motivated and not even the hill could stop us! Today was a real confirmation that we have been getting fitter and stronger on the bikes because when we finally rolled into Hunterville, for a total of 61km and 800m of elevation, we felt elated and looked forward to tomorrow already.
The damage on the roads was significant from the storm a couple of days ago. The further east we rode the more trees were down, most had been cleared however we had to pick our way through a few sections.
We chose to stay in some cabins again tonight (getting bit soft) – only due to us having the big day and being conscious of yet another big day on the bike again tomorrow – its always a bit of a juggle to manage everyones fatigue levels.
18/2/26 – Hunterville to Rangiwahia. 41.21km (1155.66km), 762m elevation.
It was a slower get away this morning for some reason, it could have had something to do with the fact the kids were having so much fun playing with the cat in the garden. When we finally got away we had to get onto the main road and ride for 5 or so kilometres before we turned onto the quieter country roads. Approximately 2km into the ride, Arthur noticed Oliver did not have his jandles on his panniers….realising both Oliver and Arthur had forgotten their jandles Rhys and Patrick rode back to the hotel while Arthur, Oliver and I continued up the highway to find a quiet spot to wait for them.
When we all reunited we continued along the lovely quiet road before turning onto the gravel road, unfortunately the gravel road was very corse gravel and had a lot of up hill. It was very difficult riding and drained our energy very quickly. Oliver learnt how horrible gravel can be and battled with the inner frustrations of hard riding as we slowly made our way along the 9km road. Spirits were lifted when we saw a large herd of deer then finally we hit the sealed road again.
The final bit of the ride along the sealed road was great and we rolled into a great little community campground next to a great playground. Within 1minute Oliver, Arthur and Patrick all ran to the playground and that is where they spent the rest of the afternoon while Rhys and I got stuck into the tent and cooking dinner. It continues to amaze us how much energy the boys all have at the end of a day of riding.
19/2/26 Rangiwahia to Ashhurst. 76.02km (1231.68km). 976m elevation!
From looking at the guidebook today, we were in for a predominantly down hill day. However we did have 32km of this on gravel roads….not our favourite surface to ride on that’s for sure.
Getting away we had only gone 50m when the boys remembered that they had left their playing cards in the playground, They all ran back and found what they were looking for, allowing us to get away just after 9. It was a chilly morning as we negotiated our way around yet more fallen trees, climbing up the first 2 decent hills in order to get onto the ridge road.
As we rode on, Raelene and I planted the seed in Olivers head that linking two stages and doing a 70km day was possible, and it would mean that we would get to spend an extra day in wellington in a weeks time. With the seed planted we continued to pick our way through the route, battling with ever increasing winds and finally, the gravel road….
Immediately we found that the surface was better than that of our gravel section 2 days prior. This kept Olivers mood fairly high as we ticked off the first 15km or so. Inevitably though, the length of time spend on the gravel exponentially decreased the general mood of the group! We found a place out of the wind and cooked up a few cuppa soups and enjoyed some crackers which helped lift our spirits for the final 10km gravel push back onto the sealed road.
As we left our lunch spot, Raelene lamented that this was the longest 19km of gravel she had ever been on. I replied to her “that’s because it’s a 32km section of gravel!” She had totally misread the guidebook….no wonder she was giving us strange times and distances to the mythical Downhill section that never came.
As I mentioned before, the guidebook showed a predominantly downhill trend for today’s stage. What it neglected to highlight was the undulating, steep and loose rolling sections thorough the ridge road, that continued to stop us from picking up or holding any speed, and then serving as brick wall after brick wall to scale in order to make any progress. More than twice I had to hook up Oliver to the tow rope and get him up a few of the climbs.
With around roughly 5-8km to go before we reached the ‘downhill’ stretch off the gravel ridge Poor Oliver was struggling – I say this but in all honestly we were all wanting to be off the gravel and back onto the sealed road. We were starting to wonder if we were going to make it today and if we did, what condition we would make it in….As we rounded the next corner a small whiteboard caught our eye – it read “TA riders, Hot and Cold drinks $2.50 each, 500m”. We couldn’t believe it, could this be true? apart from a few farms there was nothing else up here!!
Sure enough as we rounded a bend we saw a blue Subaru forester up ahead. A person opened the door and got out and waved to us as we approached. Patrick and I were first to arrive and as we did this wonderful person exclaimed “Hi, I’m Mary, I wasn’t expecting you all until tomorrow”. Mary is an absolute legend and her presence could not have come at a better time for us. With a bootload of cold soft drink and home cooked buiscuts, she waits up at this point for hours at a time, providing assistance to TA riders and raising money to rewild the valley forest with kiwi and other native animals. As it turns out Mary had been told of us by riders who had passed through in the preceding days and we all bought a can of drink and ate a cookie, feeling our energy and motivation returning. The boys enjoyed the stop immensely, Mary informed Oliver that he only had 5km of gravel left before hitting the long descent into the small village of Pohangina and back onto the sealed road.
Oliver was a changed boy. With a new wave of energy he was off, powering up the next few rolling hills and arriving at the top of the descent. We slowly picked our way down the hill and into the village of Pohangina. We all let out a woop of joy when our tyres hit the tarmac, marvelling how smooth it felt and how fast we were rolling.
We had the option of staying here for the night but as we got to the T-intersection and found that Ashhurst (and the promise of a takeaway burger) was only 14km away, Oliver yelled out “We can do it! Let’s keep going”. It was beautiful to see his motivation. We quickly smashed a bag of chippies then hit the road, enjoying a negative gradient and a tailwind, making us travel at fair clip towards our final destination.
We rolled into Ashurst feeling absolutely over the moon and incredibly proud of ourselves. 76km and nearly 1000m of elevation was by far the biggest day we have ever had on the bikes. As we enjoyed our burgers and chatted with a lovely Italian couple, we all reminisced on the challenges of the day, but most of all we remembered Mary, her timely placement on the trail, and her boatload of treats. Thanks Mary and well done Roarpedallers!
20/2/26 Ashhurst to Pahiatua. 37.21km (1268.89km). 683m elevation.
It was no surprise the boys were all up and in the playground before Rhys and I even got out of bed. Making the most of the quiet tent we packed away before venturing out to make breakfast and a cuppa. Taking it pretty slow this morning due to our epic day yesterday we let the kids play while we enjoyed a second cuppa then Rhys decided to ride into town to get bakery treats for a second breakfast as we were all hungry again already.
Finally we hit the road and were welcomed with the worst wind we have experienced so far! We rode along an awesome new bridge and bike path across the Manawatu river. Thank goodness the wind was behind us as we climbed the big hill and at one point Oliver was literally pushed up the hill due to the strength of the wind. Unfortunately while going up the hill I lost Arthur’s large feather which upset him quite a lot, thankfully the peacock feathers survived the wind. As we got closer to the top the wind turbines were pretty neat to look at, they are so loud.
Over the top of the hill we enjoyed a fantastic down hill ride then we stopped to work out some directions we were nearly blown away with the crazy wind. We decided to keep going and while riding the gusts got so strong we were nearly blown off the road. Feeling rather nervous about being in this weather I did have a thought we should stop however we had no where to go and we were soon turning off to ride down a valley. Braving the wind we continued, on the way Oliver found another number plate which Arthur picked up.
As we turned off the main road we crossed a bridge and once again were hit but large gusts of wind, poor Oliver got blown so hard he ran into the side of the bridge and scratched his new pedals. Thank goodness his bike handling skills are so good he stayed upright and continued along the bridge. Finally we were in the protection of the valley and we had a great tail wind all the way to Pahiatua.
Riding into camp was a very nice feeling! We had survived the wind and we had survived Oliver’s frustration of wind and hunger, today was another huge learning experience for Oliver and we are extremely proud of how he is handling everything. Arthur and Patrick also handled today very well, I am very proud of how Arthur dealt with his huge disappointment with losing his favourite large feather and Patrick was a trooper for dealing with the gusty wind so well behind Rhys.
The sun was shinning so as Rhys went into town for curried sausages supplies I did the washing and the boys enjoyed more Winter Olympics.
21/2/26 Pahitua to Eketahuna, 36.84km (1305.73km), 361m elevation.
With only 35 odd km’s to ride today we had a pretty lazy morning, getting the tent dry and making use of the camp kitchen to cook up omelettes and fried eggs on toast. passing them through the old school servery window much to the delight of the boys who called me ‘chef dad’. At around 10 we finally rolled out and waged a battle with the wind for the day.
Luckily, the wind direction was predominantly W to NW meaning that we were able to cover some km’s rather quickly with a cross-tail wind. We were rolling through a valley with beautiful rolling hills either side, happy that we didn’t need to climb anything significant today!
As we rode along we saw paddock after paddock of intact male Friesian cattle. At our little lunch stop a farmer on a quad bike stopped for chat, turns out we had picked his driveway for our stop today. We had yarn and we took the opportunity to ask him about the the fact there were so many ‘bulls’ and not many ‘steers’ in the paddocks. He went onto explain about the absence of a meat grading system in NZ which resulted in farmers being able to capitalise on the by product of the Dairy industry i.e. Bulls. He said that farmers were getting paid good money for Bull meat/mince and the absence of a meat grading system meant that it was just as easy to grow and sell dairy bull meat than Angus or other beef cattle.
After that little fact file we continued on and reached Eketahuna in good time. We found the giant Kiwi on the Main Street, got a photo, and then rewarded ourselves with a meal at the pub before heading down the hill to find our campsite for the night. For $20 we pitched our tent and enjoyed a protected sunny site for the afternoon. I took the opportunity for some bike maintenance and found that Raelene’s Dynamo light and wiring had suffered some significant damage, some of it had sheared off and a spade bit was missing/had been ripped off the base of the wiring loom. Unsure of how we were going to fix that one, I removed it all and saved that as a future Rhys problem.
22/2/26 Eketahuna to Masterton. 45.48km (1351.21km), 339m elevation.
We woke up to a very uninviting day, we had on and off rain and the trees were moving a fair bit which did not motivate any of us to get out of the tent. However on we must go, we got our wet weather gear on preparing for some rain and started our day of riding.
We had decided to follow a slightly different route to the guide book to avoid another large gravel road section but to our surprise our other route took us on gravel roads anyway. Remaining optimistic we continued and weaved our way through the countryside, the rain held off but the wind was still a little strong. We found shelter in a cute little cemetery strolling around looking at the headstones for a snack break. The boys enjoyed reading the dates and working out how old everyone was. After our break we continued along the beautiful valley towards the sunny weather. Oliver was very excited when his cateye reached 300km, this milestone was timed perfectly as we were riding past a vineyard so we thought it was fitting to stop in for a drink.
It was a lovely ride into Masterton, arriving at our first warm showers stay. George welcomed us into his lovely 100year old home, the house smelt delicious as he was cooking us spaghetti bolognese. The boys made themselves at home very quickly and found the comfy couch to watch the Winter Olympics. After a little rest we all went outside to help George cut up and move a fallen tree, he was very grateful for the boys enthusiasm in doing hard work.
With most of the tree cleaned up George spoilt us with a beer, delicious dinner with wine topped off with homemade apple pie. Conversation flowed easily and before we knew it, it was quite late and we called it a night. A wonderful first warm showers experience.
23/2/26 Masterton to Martinborough. 51.79km (1403km), 338m elevation.
The wonderful George cooked us up a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, Kippers, bread rolls and chocolate croissants. We all sat around the table in his kitchen enjoying the morning sun streaming in through the window and feeling very lucky to have stayed with George.
It was quite beautiful, as we were getting ready to go he kept dropping hints that we could stay longer if we wanted to and that he had really enjoyed having us stay. We felt that he really enjoyed our company and that he loved having the boys in his house. However we were on a schedule and we needed to get rolling towards Martinborough and towards our final destination on the North island – Wellington City!
After a few more stories shared and a couple more logs stacked on the pile by Patrick, we reluctantly rolled out of George’s house with promises to send him a post card from Sri Lanka when we were there. Thanks for everything George!
The ride out of Masterton and towards Martinborough was once again through relatively flat valley roads with wonderful rolling hills flanking us as we enjoyed a sunny, wind free day. The km’s rolled by quickly and before we knew it we were nudging the 30km for the day mark and stopping for lunch.
At one point during the day we came upon a large Australasian Harrier that had been hit by a car but was still alive. The poor thing was in pretty bad shape and the boys were worried about it however it was an unfortunate case of it needing to be put out of its misery rather quickly. Dad got the call up…dispatching the poor old Harrier while also trying to avoid its rather sharp beak and talons. The boys were a bit sad that the bird was unable to be helped but quickly recovered when they realised that it was possible to pluck a few souvenir feathers….
In honestly no time at all we were rolling into Martinborough, a beautiful little town nestled in wine country at the base of of the large Reumataka ranges. With the only place to camp being a top 10 park, we forked out the exorbitant fee for 1 night in an unpowered site ($126!!!) and got the tent set up. To make ourselves feel a bit better we rode back into town and went to Martinborough brewery for a couple of craft beers and some ‘special drinks’ for the kids. The brewery had a heap of outdoor games set up so the boys were happy playing cornhole and bucket ball while Raelene and I sampled a few of the brews.
Finally we all had a long individual shower in order to get our moneys worth from this damn campground….and the TV doesn’t work.
24/2/26 – Martinborough to Kaitoke regional park. 49.6km (1452.6km). 534m elevation
Not wanting to spend more time in the Top 10 we quickly packed up, enjoyed a change on the breakfast menu of crumpets and rode away before 9. We said goodbye to the rolling hills as we approached the Reumataka range. It was a beautiful morning of riding, at one point we had a butterfly ride beside us which was quite beautiful.
Turning once again onto a gravel road we were kept entertained by a water crossing and playing on silage bales before we hit a horrible headwind along a long straight section of the road. Finally we reached the start of the Reumataka rail trail, already we had ridden over 24km so were feeling a little tired.
The start of the trail was a very narrow single trail with cliffs to one side and a drop down to the river on the other side, to say I was nervous was an understatement. I was so tense going up and down the small hills, some sections were quite steep and being so worried of falling off I was unable to speak to Arthur. Oliver, Rhys and Patrick rode off well ahead of Arthur and I which I was completely fine with. In a lovely shady section they waited for me and due to my stress levels I panicked telling them I didn’t want them to wait for me as having them just in front of me made my riding worse. If I see someone else on the trail it distracts me and I loose my concentration which makes me even more nervous – argh.
So letting them go ahead again I took a few breaths, thanked Arthur for being so encouraging and continued along the trail. To my relief at the 2km mark the trail opened up and for the remainder of the day we were on wider, less steep rail trail.
The Reumataka Range is stunning, its amazing the trail was established in 1878 to assist passengers up the steep incline from Remutaka summit to Featherston, the tunnels were built in 1955 to allow the trains to get to Kaitoke. The tunnels were neat to ride through and the single swing bridge reminded us of the timber trail. At the exit of one tunnel we came across a car which gave us a huge surprise, the driver had his dog running beside the car and for some reason was not keen to stop to let us past. Giving us very little space and the dog jumping on Arthur giving him a huge fright (Arthur and Patrick had run through the tunnel hence they were not on the bikes). Feeling a little annoyed at the driver when he was on his way back Rhys, Patrick and Oliver took a while to get out of his way then as he passed Arthur and I we let him know that the dog had given Arthur a fright and maybe next time give us more space to pass.
After the summit tunnel we had a brilliant 10km descend, during which a bug got caught in my eye which Arthur successfully removed. At the bottom of the descent we came cross the same driver who ran up to us to once again apologise for giving Arthur a fright and offered all the kids a free drink. He admitted to feeling a little stressed due to a client falling off her bike further up the track.
Making great time we rode into Kaitoke reserve just after 4pm meeting up with Rob and Di (we met Rob and Di 5 years ago in Nhulunbuy while they were travelling around Australia). It was wonderful seeing them again and we sat in the sun catching up while Oliver, Arthur and Patrick ran around chasing ducks and playing well into the evening.
25/2/26 – Kaitoke to Wellington!!!!! 59.61km (1512.21km). 364m elevation (A total of 5155m climbing in the last 9 days!).
When we woke up this morning, it was FREEZING!!!!!! Well not actually freezing but the GPS thermometer said it was 6 degrees….I am inclined to believe it. The park we woke up in however was beautiful. As the sun rose over the trees and slowly warmed us up we quickly packed the tent and all our gear into our panniers so that Rob and Di – who were leaving at 0800 – could transport our stuff 15km’s closer to Wellington in order to make the morning easier.
We bid goodbye and a huge thank you to Rob and Di, looking forward to catching them again Ove the next few days. Then we slowly rolled out of Kaitoke regional park and back up the highway to rejoin the Reumataka rail trail. As we zipped through the trees and shady sections the chill kept us alert and before long we found ourselves on the outskirts of the Hutt valley and at the beginning of the Hutt river trail that would nearly lead us all the way to Wellington.
We called into Totara Park and picked up our bags from Rob who had taken them to his sisters house and dried out the tent in the driveway for us! thanks Rob. More importantly though he had taken Raelene’s knackered front Dynamo light and was already thinking of ways to repair it.
By the time we headed out to rejoin the Hutt river trail, we were all getting really hungry, especially Raelene and I who had forgone breakfast in order to get away earlier. We had hoped to call into a bakery on the way but due to us following the Hutt river trail we found ourselves away from town and on the opposite side of the highway. This meant we had to pull out all of our food rations we had left in order to get us through…we had peanut butter wraps, honey on crusts of bread, crackers with a random avocado I found stashed in a bag and a couple of stale ginger nuts to cap it all off. Suitably full we continued.
The Hutt river trail was incredible, rolling beside the river we smashed out the km’s until we found ourselves in Patone and on the foreshore. Looking to our left Wellington was in sight! We joined the highway and found the cycle path, thanking the weather gods for sunny skies and no wind as we completed the final 16km into the city. We were riding parallel with the new cycle trail they are building, we all remarked that it would be incredible when it was finished, allowing cyclists to commute into and out of the city with ease or just enjoy a ride by the bay.
Picking our way through the outskirts of Wellington we happened across iRide bike shop. We had also found an issue with Arthurs handlebars where the stem had cracked. The team at iRide located a replacement stem that would work and retrofitted it onto the existing part, meaning for a whole $40 we were back on the road!
The bike shop recommended Duck island ice cream….Why not celebrate arriving in Wellington with an ice cream? And Celebrate we did! We arrived at the Ice cream shop, in the middle of the city. We parked out bikes up and all ordered a double scoop, cheers’ing to our efforts Over the last 2 months in reaching Wellington and cycling the length of the North Island of New Zealand!!!! WOOOHOOOO!
With our moods buoyant, we headed to our accomodation then hit the waterfront for a celebratory drink for not only reaching Wellington, but also for Susans birthday today too! However there was something else that needed doing…Crackers, peanut butter and wraps is not enough to sustain oneself…Raelene and I were both so hungry we were having trouble thinking of coherent plans to acquire food. We bounced back multiple ideas without settling on anything, until we wandered past sweet mamas kitchen, It felt right. We rolled in and absolutely inhaled 5 plates of food….it was bliss.
With full bellies and absolutely chuffed that we made it to wellington we got back to the hotel and the kids crashed out. Raelene and I weren’t too far behind.
26/2/26 – Wellington: Rest Day – Zealandia
Today is the day – Zealandia here we come! Arthur was so excited and thinking we would have a slow morning we were ready to go at 8:30. Unfortunately Wellington has not decided to play nice with the weather and it was a little windy and rainy but not letting that dampen our spirits we put our coats on and walked to the cable car to catch the free shuttle bus to Zealandia.
The cable car was fantastic, built in 1902 the historic car takes you up the hill to the botanical gardens. After a short wait for the shuttle bus we were finally at the entrance of Zealandia. It is fantastic the people of Wellington have this amazing sanctuary for birds and tuatara’s. Over 20 years ago a pest proof fence was built around 225ha of land, over the years a wetlands area has been created and the population of tuatara’s has flourished.
We spent the next 5 hours walking around the park being surrounded by birds and the most beautiful bush. The walking trails were fantastic and there were heaps of information signs and interactive things for the kids. To my absolute amazement we spotted over 15 tuatara’s! it is incredible to see these prehistoric creatures in their natural habitat. We all absolutely loved our day exploring Zealandia and we were lucky enough to spot so many endangered and rare bird species.
With holiday spending money burning a hole in the kids pockets, we left the park and the boys each bought a souvenir from the gift shop. The day had improved so our way back down on the cable car gave us lovely views of the harbour.
Rob and Di met us in town and we had a lovely afternoon/evening catching up and eating the most amazing Vietnamese meal followed by delicious duck island ice cream. We had given Rob a small task of fixing my dynomo light which he did – thank you so much!!!
On saying see-you-later to Di and Rob we got the kids into bed then Rhys headed out to the laundromat to do the washing. With a few interesting characters in the laundromat he was relived I did not go.
