Travelled: 374 kms (Total 4,380 kms)

After an amazing week with Roger and Laura it was back out on the road.

This is the first time we had ridden with others and it was lovely to chat and share our last moments in Rotorua with them.

An added bonus was the expert guided tour through Rotorua and Kuirau Park showcasing some of the city’s thermal activity.

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Through Ngongotaha, and then stopping at their son’s place for a goodbye photo, we head off up and over the Mamakus.

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Passing through peaceful Hamurana, and onto Okoroire where we decided to treat ourselves, staying in-house at the historic Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel.

As part of the accommodation we had use of the hotels hot springs just a short walk away.

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Like Goldilocks, we tried the 3 pools of varying warmth and settled on the hottest one. So delicious to be soaking in the hot water.

A cloudy day dawned providing great riding conditions for our short rolling ride to Matamata.

Stopping at the library on our way into town, Greg completed his application for next years course at the Centre for Fine Woodworking.

Off to the Hobbiton i-site to pick up some brochures and maps for the Hauraki Rail Trail and then off to my Aunty Sally and Uncle Richard’s place for the night.

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An avid follower of our travels, Aunty Sally made sure their gate was bike friendly for us!

I haven’t been good at keeping in touch with the wider family, and it was heartwarming to be so warmly welcomed. We enjoyed our evening, full of family history and chatter.

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Today we started the Hauraki Rail Trail, which we take us through to Kaiaua and so nearly home. Riding back through Matamata’s main street, we stopped to admire the artwork of the racehorse. Created by sculptor Adrian Worsley from scrap metal and old tools and farm implements, it is beautiful!

Finding the trail, we were off, luxuriating on the flat sealed trail, and being watched by the changing landscape of the Kaimai ranges to our right.

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Te Aroha was tonight’s destination, although the ominous cloud was suggesting that the weather was a changing.

Deviating from the trail, we headed to the Te Aroha Holiday Park, which was 3km from town. This was to be our last couple of days in the tent. It has been the best home on our journey, and I have thoroughly welcomed settling into it at the end of day, but the inclement weather has taken the shine away of late.

With tent all set up for the next couple of days, we rode into town to have a look around.

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With a day in hand, we rode back into town the next day for more Te Aroha culture, including their historic i-site. Opened in 1894, it is New Zealand’s oldest purpose built tourist /information bureau.

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And the very very delightful Villa Nine cafe. With my usual question, “What is gluten free?”, the reply was “Everything”, I was in heaven! And the food, it was heavenly! So delicious, that I could barely take the time to put the spoon down to take a photo before it was all gone!

The English Skyline kitchen implements around the walls were a collection years in the making. The different handle colours representing different eras of production. The wall of hanging cookery books bought back childhood memories of some of the books in my Mum’s kitchen. And full of organic treats and supplies. Just heaven!

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The rain had now set in and we cosied ourselves in the library until closing time. The darkness, wind and lashing rain made for an exciting adventure back to camp. Surprisingly though, by the time we had ridden the 3km back to the campground, the rain had passed leaving the light bouncing on the skyline. A serene end to our Te Aroha day.

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The new day dawn overcast, as we were back on the trail to Paeroa. The trail passed through the flat Hauraki Plain, with lush verdant pastures for our viewing. Not an irrigator in sight, quite different to the South’s irrigated pastures.

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We had another day to rest up, as we waited for our friend Andy to join us to finish the last couple of sections of the Hauraki Rail Trail.

And although the option of riding through the Karangahake Gorge was enticing, we spent our spare day back in the library and meandering through the town’s antique shops. These days are no hardship, and small-town New Zealand never fails to delight.

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With the new day overcast, it was very similar to our ride into Paeroa, with wide green pastures and cloudy skies to accompany us.

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A few bridges gave us a change of pace as we rode to Thames.

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Well setup in our Airbnb in Thames for the night, and with the weather clearing we had a short stroll back into town for a rummage in Mainly Books, a great second hand book store. We all picked up some good reads, (The Little Breton Bistro by Nina George for me, Snow Falling on Cedars by David Gutterson for Greg and Andy, a collection of short stories by Jeffery Archer), and then on to dinner.

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A bright new day, was a great start to our last day on the trail.

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Back to Kopu, to cross the Firth of Thames, we had a better sight of the 2 bridges at Kopu. The original bridge, called the Hauraki Bridge, was opened in May 1928 replacing waka or steamer traverses of the Waihou River. A single lane bridge with 5 passing bays, it also had a swinging central portion to let the boats pass through. Traffic lights were installed in 1975 (when traffic volumes become so heavy) with the cattle crossings now banned.

At the time of its closure is was the longest, oldest and busiest single land bridge in the country. The much welcomed new bridge was opened 2011.

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The trail took us alongside the Firth of Thames, passing through Pipiroa and Waitakaruru, before heading northwards to Miranda.

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Faithfully following the trail, it took a turn for the worse, as the trail disappeared and left us on a soft shelly surface, locked between the sea and a roadside stream. Being too far along to really consider retracing our steps to the start of this area, walking it was to be.

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While I struggled with inside my head for most of the day, even pulling out Eckhart Tolle’s audio book, The New Earth, to help me ground me again, the arrival at Kaiaua was a very welcome sight. Stopping at the famous Kaiaua Fisheries, for a very delicious serving of fish (with gluten free batter on offer), and chips (of course!), before finding our cosy resting place for the night.

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The weather forecast was not good reading. We were expecting to have very heavy rain as a storm came through, and decided to wait as long as possible before setting out the next day.

It was to absolute delight the next morning, to watch the storm pass us by, as it rolled over to the Coromandel.

We are heading back into Auckland today. It seems surreal to think we have this nailed.

It will be a big day ahead, 64kms, and grateful for my better head space, we continue up the Firth of Thames, with Andy leading the pack and taking the brunt of the wind.

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The expansive coastal views provided good space for riding. There is a certain calmness in a view of the water, that I like.

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We headed inland over a couple of hills, and into Kawakawa Bay for a coffee and cake stop at the Church Yard.

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And then before we knew it, Clevedon was here and Andy was saying goodbye.

Less than 20km to go and we will be back with my Mum and Dad’s place in Wattle Downs. Very much looking forward to seeing them and the welcome was beautiful, smiles all round. To be able to give them a hug was very special!

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The last of our rest days gave us time to get some washing done and clean our bikes ready for our arrival back home at Earthsong.

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Auckland gave us a sunny day, as we rode through to Hillsborough to spend the night with Greg’s Mum Gwen.

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And then the last day of our adventure has arrived, with another glorious Auckland day to welcome us home. Familiar sights and motorway signs, we know our way from here.

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With a bit of timely communication, and a couple of minutes wait up the road, we arrived on time to a wonderfully warm welcome home, complete with a finishing line and plenty of noise-makers!

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The warm welcome was so incredible. Thank you to Yuki for the communication with us, and to everyone who came out. It really was more than we could have wished for.

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And then home, complete with a basket of deliciousness, and time for a community welcome later in the afternoon.

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And a month on, how do we feel…

Jeanette – It has been adventure plus. The slow changing landscape, and small town New Zealand has been a wonder to me. I delight in a random memory springing to mind or hearing about a place that 6 months ago would have meant nothing to me. Now there is pure joy in knowing that place and the reminiscing of our time there.

The people we have meet along the way made this time incredibly special. From the short campground meetings to the wonderful warmth and open-heartedness of those strangers that had us stay. Your are all treasures and our spare bed is waiting, so we can reciprocate and share our home with you!

I loved our tent, our low to the ground home. Even the night time adventures of wandering bleary eyed to the bathroom and back.

Do I miss it? Not really, the freedom maybe, but it’s time for a new adventure. I’ve got 3 jobs and a passion to learn to weave which are offering lots of new adventures. Our house is warm and cosy and it really is luxury to go to the bathroom without any unzipping.

I would love to continue our adventuring and maybe even adventure to Europe in time. But now it’s home time and I couldn’t be happier.

Greg – Jeanette says it so well. So lovely to spend time poking about in our beautiful country at the pace cycling affords, not quite the essential simplicity of walking, but close.

I had three things in mind at the start: I wanted to live low to the ground, to try and strip my life down to some basic essentials and to inhabit that space as fully as possible, I wanted to gain some kind of insight into how this final third (if I’m lucky) of my life might unfold, and I wanted to enter this chapter by crossing some kind of threshold, putting down some kind of marker, something to look back at and say to myself “that’s the point, there, that I decided to take this road.”

I also wanted to be unattached to the outcome . . . things can change in an instant.

I feel so lucky to have done what we have done, the trip feels like a dim memory, as these things do until moments are reawakened from time-to-time. The adventure feels complete though.

What has changed for me is my relationship with adventure. My existence, on this planet, in its perfect orbit, 13.8 billion years after this all started is unfathomably lucky. I’d better take advantage of it eh?

What we are reading Greg – My Father’s War by Adriaan Van Dis (abandoned) and Jeanette – The Washerwoman’s Dream by Hilarie Lindsay