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2024-10-08T00:00:00.000Z • Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand / Aotearoa

New Zealand - Northbound North Island

A fun little taste of the North Island by bike. The first part of the trip took me from Wellington to Havelock North, mostly on gravel and paved roads. The second part of the trip was from Taupo to Auckland, almost entirely on bike paths.

Michael Kohn

Bike

Day 01: Wellington to Martinborough

Started the day (and the trip!) with a short ferry ride on eastbywest.co.nz from Wellington to Days Bay, to cut off a bit of busy road miles. They allowed bikes, though it was a bit precarious as they flopped around in their storage bay. But it was super convenient and cheap. Once we arrived in Days Bay, there was a great bike lane hugging the coastline right up until the gravel route started. From there… it was nothing but bikes past the Pencarrow Lighthouse and the wreckage of an old boat.

The wind was pretty crazy but mostly at my back! I passed through a couple of easements and arrived at the Baring Head Lighthouse. The long ribbons of gravel roads through the grasslands with the coastline as a backdrop were absolutely stunning.

But the further along the coast I got, the more rough the track became, some sandy sections meant stretches of hike-a-bike, and I saw some signs saying it was not possible to connect the western side of the cape with the eastern side due to landslides. Things were also getting more and more remote, if I had to turn around it would have been a very long day, I would be pedaling against the wind, and I would have most certainly run out of water. But prior to embarking on the ferry I asked about it at a bike shop in Wellington and the guy made it sound like it was possible, plus there was a pretty solid Strava heatmap in the area so I was fairly confident I’d be able to get through, though I’d also heard that you might need to call the land owners to get permission.

At some point around the bend I found a German hiker who had hiked in from a campground I knew to be right near the end so I new I was home free and would be able to complete the section around the cape. Gravel and sand turned into pavement and it was a relatively easy flat ride to my BnB in Martinborough. It was a cute little town in a wine region with a cheery pub serving up some pretty decent grub.

While it was not without stress, I was very happy I continued on and was able to ride this entire route because it was absolutely stunning and quite an adventure!

Bike

Day 02: Martinborough to Masterton

I’m not doing huge days and the daylight hours are decently long this time of year so I’m hitting the road around 10am. The BnB I stayed at was run by a semi-retired couple and had a fantastic little continental breakfast meant for two (I ate it all) which consisted of muesli, yogurt, milk, bread (and a toaster), OJ, and some “bread spreads”. I gobbled it all down, hit a bakery in town to grab something for the road, and set off on my way.

The direct route to my next destination would have been pretty short, but I found something more interesting on Bikepacking.com that would take me into the countryside and on some gravel roads with some decent hills. It did not disappoint. I did get sprinkled on a bit first thing in the morning, but not enough to actually get wet.

The animals on all the farms don’t see many people, and it’s kinda freaky when you go by because you’ve got like 45 cattle just staring at you. At one point there were two in the middle of the road that were very reluctant to move, then I noticed a calf off to the side of the road and realized why.

Anyway… the sheep kinda run from you in all the same direction, bunnies sprint away in all directions like the Big Bang, and the magpies dive-bomb you. But… the beauty is that there are no dogs, no offense to dogs, but they can be really annoying when they chase you.

Climbing out of this remote valley, you drop down a pretty long hill that is just surrounded by green and still quiet as can be.

I finished the day in Masterton where I stayed with a Warmshowers.org host named George. He’s an 80yo retired widow who has travelled the world, still gets out for rides a couple times a week, and cooked up a seriously delicious Sri Lankan lentil curry and an awesome salad.

Bike

Day 03: Masterton to Pogaroa

It was a bittersweet departure this morning… I really enjoyed my time hanging out with George, my host. Besides just being such an interesting and generous human, it reminded me of the days in Italy when Linda and I hosted cyclists, often multiple times per week during the summer.

I left around 10am and it was all road today, but beautiful lush green hills the entire time. The most surprising thing was actually the distinct lack of services. ~50 miles of great roads but no gas stations or water fountains the entire time. I did pass a school, but it was totally fenced all around. On the 4ish hours on the road today, I probably got passed by fewer than 10 cars.

I got swooped by a bunch of magpies again. They never actually made contact, but damn did they get close a bunch of times.

Pongaroa is a pretty tiny village of about 100 people, but there was a restaurant, gas and convenience store, and a few other municipal buildings.

My accommodation for the night was a $39 room in a lodge, and I was the only one here. It was actually a bit spooky… but much nicer than I expected!

Bike

Day 04: Pongaroa to Waipukurau

Today was a bit longer day, but I knew there would be two or three options for resupply. Pulling out of Pongaroa, it was the typical lush green hills, but then I got into a logging area. It was a bit of a strange feeling because it is pretty stark and ugly, but then we must be aware of the realities of the relationship between this and homebuilding. Yes there are other more eco/sustainable materials to build homes from, but they are not mainstream yet (and still likely rely on harvesting natural materials).

A nice surprise was pulling into Wimbledon, where there was a little tavern that was actually open. I rehydrated with a Bundaberg Ginger Beer.

A bit further down the road I arrived at Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu. The name, of Māori origin, roughly translates to "The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his kōauau (flute) to his loved one".

A bit further down the road was Pōrangahau, another small township with a population of around 160 people, but there was a little convenience store where I rehydrated and grabbed and ice cream... though not from the fridge library!

I finished the day at an AirBnB in Waipukurau where I wandered into town and found some pretty tasty Indian food.

Bike

Day 05: Waipukurau to Havelock North

Today is my last day of cycling for a couple of days as I will spend a few days in Havelock North visiting my old primary school friend / college roommate Duncan. It was a pretty short day but as usual, beautiful.

Heading out of Waipukurau or "Waipak", there was a great little trail system that helped me avoid a section of busy road and dumps you out in Waipawa where I found a cute cafe and demolished a delicious quiche.

Along the route I met Merve, a Wellingtonian who was doing a pretty similar route as me (for the first half of my trip). He was going to have a day off in Napier and then head back to Wellington. It was fun to connect with Merve.... besides being a great guy, he was really the first touring cyclist I met and chatted with on this trip. We ended up chatting for a while and swapping phone numbers before taking different forks in the road.

After Merve and I parted ways, I had just a handful of miles before meeting up with Duncan, an old friend from primary school, who has lived in New Zealand for 7+ years.

Bike

Te Mata

On another day off in Havelock North, I did some exploring up on Te Mata peak. It was a short ride from town and absolutely stunning. One one side it looks down into Hawkes Bay...

...and on the other side were some great hiking and biking trails.

On one of my other days in Havelock North, I also met up with Chris... an old friend and roommate (along with Duncan) from university that just happened to be in town for business. We did a great hike in Te Mata as well.

Bike

Day 06: Taupō to Mangakino

The distance between Havelock North and Taupō is about 100 miles with no services between and a pretty busy road. It would have been a long hard day and no option to split it up so Duncan and I drove to Taupō and stayed the night. Duncan brought his bike and we got out for a short ride on some awesome trails.

The next day I headed out and joined the Great Lakes trail system, part of NZ's Ngà Haerenga "Great Rides".

The route followed the shoreline over to Kinlock and it was one of the prettiest sections of my trip so far.

After a brief rural road section, I joined up with the Waikato River trail and finished the day in Mangakino where I popped over to the grocery store, grabbed some goodies, and cooked them up at my lodge.

Bike

Day 07: Mangakino to Te Aroha

Today was one of my biggest days of the trip mileage wise and followed two different NZ "Great Rides". The first part of the day was a continuation of the Waikato River trail that I was on the day before, and the next section was the Hauraki Rail Trail.