Day 14: Matamata to Ngongotaha
March 11th 2014
Distance cycled: 60 km
Total distance to date: 781 km
I don't even know how to classify this day.
It started out good, got really awful, and ended well. During the awful part I thought it was the worst day of my life. And now, looking back, it's alright. Again, it's crazy how things can turn around in a single day...
I decided this morning to go to Rotorua instead of Cambridge. In retrospect, I should have just gone to Cambridge, on merit of the easy cycle paths that lead in and out of there.
Instead, I decided to make up my own way. Go "off book", as it were. How bad could it be?
It started off alright. Pretty great, actually. Apart from a short 500m stint on a highway with no shoulder, I had a nice backroads ride into Te Poi, where I stopped for a coffee.
A man at the cafe said the hills leading to Rotorua weren't bad. Great! So I started out. According to Google Maps, there was a road that would run parallel to SH5 and take me all the way to Rotorua. So I took it. Turns out it was a logging road.
Apart from a lot of uphill and the occasional logging truck, it wasn't a bad road. Actually quite pleasant, well-paved with only a little traffic. But the turnoff from the main highway said "No Exit", which meant that I was taking a gamble: if the sign was right, I'd be back this way lickity-split. I kept going.
About an hour in, I figured I was home free. And then the road turned to gravel.
Gravel roads are not my friend but I hoped this particular road would revert to a sealed road soon. This was not the case. In fact, it got worse. And worse. Parts of it were so rocky and so sandy that I had to walk the bike.
I spent maybe 3 hours navigating this road, not knowing when it would get better, not knowing if I could actually get through to the other side. I had blind faith in Google Maps, which earlier in the day had sent me down a road which turned out to be a private dead-end road. There were times when I thought I should turn back, times when I thought I'd have to camp up there for the night, times when I thought I might have to call the NZ emergency helpline. But I didn't do any of that. I soldiered on, even when it made no sense any more to do so.
The hot sun blared down on me, and I thought constantly about having to retrace my steps should the road end or become impassable. The thought was not a happy one.
After hours of riding on the impossible road in the impenetrable forest, I finally saw signs of life. Discarded mattresses, empty cans of Monster. Hope swelled up within me. The gravel path became a proper gravel road again. Then came a person, then another, then a sealed road, all of which I could have kissed, so joyous I was to see them after being alone so long on a scary path in the woods. It was a bit narrow and dangerous, that road into Ngongotaha, but I was so happy to see civilization again, I didn't care. It was mostly downhill so the ride went quickly, which I was also grateful for. The scenery was also amazing - farmland with little hills that gave Hobbiton a run for its money.
Ngongotaha is 6km north of Rotorua, which is where I had planned on ending the day. Once I got to Ngongi (as the locals call it for short), I went to the grocery store to buy myself something comforting. I settled on a pack of potato chips. The guy in front of me at the checkout had dreads and was on a bike too. Outside the store, I complimented him on his bike. We got to talking and before I knew it, I had an invitation to stay at his house he shared with his roommate.
Staying with Sjors and Dez was a dream. Not only did I have my own room with a real bed, they cooked me dinner and we shared some beer and watched a movie together. I also got to see their workshop, where they are working on racing cars. It was interesting to see a slice of local Kiwi life. I could have stayed as long as I wanted, but I felt like I needed to keep pushing on. It was a nice stay though.
posted by Kyla @ 16:40
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