Day 9: Ōmapere to Dargaville . . .

December 13, 2022

. . .and end of tour

The day dawns fine and clear for our last ride. It's an early start again because slower riders have been encouraged to begin as soon after breakfast as possible.

We're sorry to leave Ōmapere and the Hokianga. It's a very special place, and not overly populated by . . .gasp! . . .tourists. Yesterday's relaxed itinerary - a short coffee ride, followed by a water taxi to take us to surf the sand dunes and a hangi meal in the evening - was a welcome break from Eat, Sleep, Ride, Repeat. And of course, our tourist dollars were very welcome. It has been a tough three years for small tourism businesses in NZ.

From Ōmapere we ride on SH2 all the way to Dargaville. Hard to believe it's a state highway though. Though shoulderless, we have the route all to ourselves for the first part. After some serious climbing (6km of uphill, though at a manageable gradient) we enter the Waipoua forest, part of the largest tract of native forest in Northland.

Specifically, we have stopped to visit Tane Mahuta, NZ's largest living kauri tree and well-known as the god of the forest. We are walked through this experience by a local guide, who weaves the tree into the Māori creation story. It's hard to comprehend the numbers. Tane Mahuta is 51 metres tall, with a girth of 17 metres, and is believed to be 2,000 years old.

After paying our respects to this ancient god, we continue to ride through the rest of Waipoua forest. There's another long ascent before lunch, around 5km long I think. (My new-found Zen approach to hill-climbing is hanging on . . . just!). By the time we reach the 50km mark after the lunch stop, the hills are behind us. The change in gradient also marks a change in scenery. We've exchanged golden sands, sparkling waters and kauri forests for scrubby farmland, grazing dairy cows and their attendant bovine smells.

To be honest, there's little pleasure in the remaining kilometres. A persistent cross-wind has come for the ride, and the road surface is in poor nick, broken up and potholed by logging trucks.

So it's a relief to roll into Dargaville mid-afternoon after nearly four and a half hours of riding and 1,262 metres of elevation. The rest of the group is predictably already across the road at the pub when we dismount and congratulate ourselves on finishing the tour.

This tour has been a wonderful experience and one that we wouldn't have attempted on our own, given the state of roads and attitude of drivers in this country. The advantage of an organised group is being shuttled from overnight stay to quieter roads, keeping us off the busy main highways.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Loading the bikes one last time, with a flowering pohutakawa as backdrop.

Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 439 km (273 miles)

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Rich FrasierThanks for the journal! It was fun to come along to part of the world I’ll never visit in person.
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1 year ago

Suzanne GibsonThanks for sharing a beautiful and challenging ride. I enjoyed very much the background you provided on the historical sights you visited.
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1 year ago

Robyn RichardsTo Rich FrasierThanks, Rich. Actually that's a good point. I probably won't get to ride in the US but enjoy reading about other people's adventures there.
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1 year ago

Robyn RichardsTo Suzanne GibsonThanks, Suzanne. This trip was steeped in history, which I found fascinating. Glad you did too.
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1 year ago

Tricia GrahamSounds a great ride but unfortunately rather challenging weather. What company did you do this with we would like to ride in Northland but the dodgy roads and drivers put us off doing it by ourselves
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1 year ago

Robyn RichardsThanks, Tricia. The company is Ride Holidays, who do a fantastic job. There were three e-bikers on this tour.
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1 year ago

Carolyn van HoeveSorry about all the bad weather you ended up with! It's been endlessly raining in Auckland. Nice to finish with a sunny day though. I was about to ask if you would attempt this ride without the shuttle van but you've already answered that question. So disappointing that drivers still have such a bad attitude. Let's hope the cycling infrastructure improves. Have a great Christmas and thanks for sharing!
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1 year ago

Robyn RichardsTo Carolyn van HoeveHi Carolyn
You're correct. We wouldn't cycle tour on our own up there. Nor anywhere else in NZ to be honest. Having said that, we saw quite a few Tour Aotearoa riders just starting out from Cape Reinga.
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1 year ago