Coromandel to Whitianga

Yesterday we spent the whole day watching the rain fall out of the sky and there really is not much more to tell so what follows is the story of our journey from Coromandel to Whitianga.

After spending a whole day in the rain, wondering around in a deserted Coromandel town we were more than keen to get back on our bicycles and see some of the Coromandel Peninsula. We still hadn´t decided on taking the highway or the 309 gravel road when we were already cycling through town. Vanessa and I were literally asking each other which road to take and we just couldn´t decide. We had the highway on our left when we were still undecided on the issue. While Vanessa kept asking me what road to take I kept replying I did not know. We passed the highway arguing and ended up laughing as we realised the highway was now behind us. 309 it is then.

We would not regret it, although I was very nervous as we were told this route was tough, steep and unsealed. The first part up to the Waiau waterworks and falls was not too bad and the track reminded us of our hometown training grounds in Spain. The gravel road and gradient were surprisingly similar to the mountain tracks back home.

The Waiau Waterworks is a funny place. The artwork is very touchable and appealed very much to us. The sculpture of a huge spider against the side of the road announces the entrance. You don´t want to miss this. We stopped at Waiau Falls where Ella had a field day. She loved the ice cold water and she indulged in her favourite passtime - throwing stones in the water. By now the sun stood high in the sky and it was hot.

The 309 got steeper and steeper and the gravel got wetter, turning to mud. It felt as if we were cycling on a spunge. The trolleys sunk into the mud and at times it was just impossible to stay on our bikes.

Closer to the top the scenery is quite impressive with mountains dressed with ferntrees, Kauri and other huge emergent trees everywhere you look. I think it is Manuka with their flowers in bloom that looked like a white carpet far up the mountain. Plenty of birds here. Fantail, tui, whitehead were amongst the birds we recognised.

The descent into Whitianga must have been the slowest we have ever done. I soon lost Vanessa as I constantly had to hit the breaks. The trolley would slide from one side to another and I thought it was best to secure the buggy and go slow rather than risk a major breakdown. I did most of the downhill at 10 km/h; I would have loved doing this one at full speed but going slow meant I enjoyed the scenery all the more. Crossing the Coromandel Forest via the 309 is quite an amazing experience and only the photos can give you a little clue of what it is like.

I would advice everyone to cycle the 309, alhough not with a roadbike.

Once you are at the bottom of the valley, there is a lovely recreation area besides the river, a perfect spot for lunch. As we had our food nicely laid out on some rocks, and Ella was running around happy and naked, she suddenly stopped right in front of us and while we were having our well deserved sandwiches, she started to go really red in the face. Vanessa and I knew what that was all about. NOOOOOO!!! Ella, not now. Yep, you guessed it, Ella just did a poo-poo all over our lunch. Nice one darling. Some flies didn´t even wait for it to cool off and we know why. These were NZ flies waiting for a Spanish paella! Anyway, enough talk about the indigestive system of our daughter. She loved it here by the river and we struggled to convince her she had to do another 5 km in the buggy.

Whitianga is a nice town with a beautiful beach. We couldn´t be bothered to cook tonight so we all had fish and chips. Gastronomic off road cycling, the new hole in the tourism market! At night the wind blew very strong and the tent got a good quality check.