Day 2: Waitiki Landing to Lake Ngatu
Feb. 26th 2014
Distance cycled: 70 km
Total distance to date: 100 km
Today I decided to take the road, as the beach had left me demoralized, and my bike all sandy. The road was much better! Hilly, sure, but at least hills offer some variety. Oh yeah, and traffic. But the Far North is so isolated that it wasn't an issue. The motorists were nice and even the logging trucks gave me a wide berth.
The water isn't safe to drink this far north, so I had to buy water a few times at $4 for a 1.5 liter bottle. Highway robbery! But other than that, it was smooth sailing today. I really got into a groove and was able to put quite a few kilometers behind me. I also got to look more closely at the scenery that Ollie had pointed out yesterday. For example, the sandy soil that can still be seen in places that shows how this part of the island used to be all sand dunes:
Then came Pukenai with its beautiful harbor, from where the gumdiggers used to ship their gum (amber):
And finally, Mt. Camel, so named because Captain Cook thought it looked like one:
Camp tonight is at Lake Ngatu just a kilometer off the main road. It's beautiful and delightfully devoid of the mosquitos that ate me alive last night. Yikes, that was bad! They were all over my tent this morning when I woke up, as if they'd been watching me all night just waiting for the moment when I would emerge from my cocoon so they could continue their feast.
This isn't an official campground - neither was the one last night - because New Zealand has a wonderful thing called freedom camping. This basically means that you can camp on any public grounds, unless there is a sign expressly forbidding it. So I have used this to full effect, with the lake serving as my bathtub tonight.
There is a Dutch couple staying here too, Harry and Olga, and Harry measured the temperature of the water at 22C (after I swam in it!). We sat outside their campervan for a few hours. They shared their wine and snacks with me and I gave them a few avocados from the bag I bought at a roadside stand today for $3. All in all, today was more successful than yesterday. Tomorrow I'll hit up the library in Kaitaia so I can upload these updates and charge my chargables, and then swing down to Ahipara. I could take the beach instead but we all know from yesterday's post that there is no way on God's green earth I'm trying that again. I'll try to make it the 88km to Rawene so I can see and possible stay with Margie, my bus friend from a few days ago.
posted by Kyla @ 19:33
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