Taranaki Tour, December 2003 - January 2004

On December 28, 2003, I left Waiheke Island on the 7 a.m. car ferry to Halfmoon Bay, then cycled over to the Great South Road to make my way to Hamilton then on to Te Awamutu for overnight.

From here I stayed on the blue highway through Otorohanga until the 8-mile turnoff south of Te Kuiti. Here I branched into the hills to head south west to Awakino for a night in the Awakino Hotel, then down the coast to New Plymouth the next day.

From New Plymouth I biked west, south, and east around Mount Taranaki (Egmont) through Opunake with its picturesque buildings, then over the cow-speckled hills to Stratford, staying in a backpackers at the intersection of Portia and Romeo streets. (If you know your Shakespeare it's hard to get lost in Stratford.)

 
Limestone cliffs near 8-Mile Junction Tongaporutu river empties into the Tasman Sea Mount Taranaki in the early morning Looking toward Cape Egmont, the furthest west in Taranaki A picturesque building in Opunake At Wiremu (Maori for William) Road you have to decide where to go These cows appear content with the view of Mount Taranaki

TARANAKI TOUR

Next day I was on the "Forgotten Highway," heading east towards Taumarunui, two days hard cycling through the hills. Soon after halfway at Whangamomona, at Tahora I had a pleasant campsite on a knoll from which the distant volcanoes of Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu could be seen on the eastern horizon. The following morning I completed the ride to Taumarunui.

The next day's ride north to Hamilton was a 160-km endurance test under a bright sunny sky. After resting overnight in Hamilton, I was on my way early in the morning back to Auckland and the Waiheke car ferry. Altogether, a very scenic but strenuous eight-day tour.

The pictures show highlights along the route. (For captions put the cursor over the pictures.)

Time for tea at Whangamomona Hills upon hills at Tahora Saddle Distant hills above the cornfields near Taumarunui
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