Day 16

Mangahua Campgound to Ranana(London) 85 km

The road out of Mangahui was pleasant all the way to National Park, only a few drops of rain along the way. Then I turned south on S4. Fortunately this road was also nice and deserted. After the busy highway around the bay of plenty I'm not too keen on automobiles and large trucks. The views of Tongariro park to the west were awesome except Mt. Reapehu remained shrouded in clouds throughout the day as apparently it is want to do, refushing to submit to a photo. I got one from about 10km away on the way to Taupo and it looks like that may be the only one.

I arrived in Raetihi at about 45km into the day and had a choice of sorts. One directions Peddallers' Paradise described as "lacking in accomodations and attractions". The remote Wanganui river road was billed as "24km longer and much longer in time", but "often spectacular". Sounded good to me. I collected what supplies I could at the one and only store open in Raetihi, a town that had clearly seen better days and headed west.

During the early part of the last century the Wanganui river was apparently a main route into the central north island. Perhaps this was when Ratehi was in its prime. Now the area is a remote wilderness. I made my way up the hill to the pass leading to the Wanganui river gorge and there was definitely the feel of outback NZ. At the top where I usually look forward to a rapid descent the road turned to gravel. A steep gravel downhill on the fully loaded touring bike was quite difficult. At the bottom my hands were numb from gripping the brakes and handelbars. However the spectacular scenery together with the fact I was going down--up looked nearly impossible--made it worth the effort.

At about 65km I arrived in Pipiriki ready to end the day. Peddallers' Paradise promise "informal camping" there but I couldn't find it or really anything else. Pipiriki looks to be populated entirely by cows. So I reluctantly continued on down the gravel road, actually up out of Pipiriki. The scenery along the river was amazing and I got lots of pictures. I was also quite tired and started examining flat spots next to the road for potential camp sites. These were very few and far between as the road clings to a steep incline (as in cliff) following the course of the river down towards the Tasman sea. I did eventually come across a scenic turnout where I unpacked the bike and cooked some pasta. The food re-energized me and I decided to press on to Harahuma where there is a convent that doubles as a backpacker hotel.

On my way along the gravel road which thankfully tended down at a reasonable incline, I ran into a couple of cycle tourist from Engalnd going the other way (up!). I stopped to talk briefly to the guy while his girlfriend tried to pedal up the road towards us. She was clearly not having a great time of it. When she got to us I asked how much gravel remained and she assured me I did not want to know. It seemed a kindness not to mention the impossible gradients after they made it to Pipiriki, which was their destination for the day. I hope they had better luck finding the "informal camping" than I did.

A few kilometers later I found the convent. Sadly when I arrive there was no room at the inn. The sisters kindly offered a cup of tea before sending me on my way 7 km down the road to Ranana where there is a family campground my books said was closed--but thankfully was not. Fortunately the final leg of the journey was down hill. Not too downhill and the gravel wasn't too rough. I had my tent up and the rest of dinner cooked by the time the misquitoes arrived. On the whole a great day.