Uphill to Pureora Forest Park

Last night it rained quite a lot and I got little sleep, not because of the rain but because I'd lost my beloved Gallipoli cap - it's a perfect fit for my tiny melonhead! I searched all through my gear and couldn't find it. After packing up and saying goodbye to the man from Manchester I headed back to the i-site (visitors' centre) and hallelujah they had my cap - I;d left it there yesterday while doing some email. Whew!!! Oh the relief.


I went to the local library and spent an hour mapping my ride sop far - mapmyride is quite slow on some connections - and then headed to the local DOC office to find out about visiting the Pureora Forest Park and also the Forgotten World's Highway.

I finally left Te Kuiti about 11.30am for a hopefully gentle climb to Pureora. Not far out of town I decided it was time to get a photo of some sheep, this being shearing territory. There may be some truth to what the Aussies say: "New Zealand- where men are men and sheep are scared." because as soon as I pulled up they started to run off! Or maybe a group of Welshmen had just passed through...



It hadn't rained all morning and then within a quarter of an hour it started. Just brief showers at first then about 12:30pm a front came through from the west. I battened down the hatches and rode on. It was cold.

I got to Benneydale for a late lunch of chip butties. While munching away I chatted to a local Maori boy about our bikes; his was red and has three wheels.

A road crew I'd passed on the way called in for their lunch and one of them, after asking where I was off to, told me I only had "two big hills to go, but you'll get a good downhill in between." After the first big climb (of more than two!) it started to rain really heavily and the wind picked up. This was not going to be fun. Getting to the Pureora Forest Park 1.6km sign buoyed me only to have a sign at the turn-off "Pureora Park Headquarters 3km" and the wet gravel road shatter that. (I hope I don't sound too much like Ellen MacArthur here - she got slated for moaning on her round the world solo yachting blog.)

The wind died and the rain stopped as I arrived and I picked out an incredible campsite tucked in against the bush. I lit a fire and made a cuppa.


After dinner cooked on the fire (why does it feel so much nicer to cook on an open fire than a stove?) I headed to bed early just as the rain started again.


Today's myPod classic: Four Seasons In One Day by Crowded House.