A Life on the Edge: The Timber Trail part 1

A group of seniors ready to go

We were up at a bit after 6am and after shower, repacking and getting into our gear we had breakfast. For the most part we were out of the motel by 7:30am but did not get away until a little after 8am. We dropped Rob’s truck at Ongarue and got a lift from his brother to Pureora. I’ve never been that way before and the landscape is quite beautiful. Rugged land for farming and lots of pockets of bush. An hour later we were at the drop-off point.

When dropping off Rob's truck at the bike hire depot I had talked with the organiser to ensure that my bike was being transported to the head of the track. Yes, it had already been transported there with the other bikes I was assured. We arrived at the beginning of the trail just after a couple of the shuttles with all the bikes on the trailer. Mine was nowhere to be seen. There was another chap who was also looking for a bike. Then as I was thinking I would be waiting a while for my bike to my relief another shuttle turned up and my bike was on that one .

It was a big mountain e-bike. It was quite different to ride to my bikes at home and it took me a little while to adapt to the weight, maneuverability and the electric assist.

The track took us up and around Mt Pureora through a remnant of the original forest that had not been felled for timber. I remember protests in the 1970s with people sitting in old trees to prevent them being felled which resulted in the ceasing of any further felling of the virgin forest. Apparently many of the floors of NZ houses that were built in the early part of 20^th century were constructed from trees that were destroyed for building materials.

Initially the track wound its way through the forest climbing gently all the way. It was gorgeous, the only sounds being that of the birds in the forest and the occasional voice or the whine of the electric motor powering my bike. I fell in love with the e-bike as it made the climb that much easier. Then at about the 7 kilometre mark the track began to rise and the gradient increased quite considerably. Finally we reached the high point of the track from where it descended. It was a fast descent and one had to concentrate as in places there were muddy bits, potholes of indeterminate depth, sharp corners and other obstacles. It was quite hard on the shoulders as the track was quite bumpy so at speed the bumps were going through the shoulders.

Our group

I realised after a while how unfit I had become, at least on a bike.

We stopped for lunch at a very busy shelter where others were also stopping for a bite to eat and a rest. There both cyclists and trampers as the track is part of both the country long Tour Aotearoa cycling route and the Te Araroa Track, both about 3000 kilometres long.

An old tractor and skid with totara posts

The track continued its downward way, until we came to an amazing swing bridge over a wide chasm. The engineering of it was great. There was stream below; I could hear it but it was obscured by the bush. There was a woman who arrived who said to her partner she did not think she could do it. Later I spoke to one of her party whose view was that she was making far too big an issue of it.

The first of the swing bridges

A kilometre or so further on we came to another long swing bridge. Rob made the comment that he wondered why there was always a steep climb out of them, and I said it was all about the width of the valley/chasm that was being bridged and that they were trying to balance distance bridged with convenience to the rider. .

When we were high up on the mountain there were places where the moss seemed to be completely was covering the rather large trees. It was beautiful.

Trees covered in moss

Our overnight stay was in a place call Piropiro where we at stayed Camp Epic, a glamping place. By the time I got to about kilometre 40 I was somewhat tired and sore. The bike had a so called comfort seat. It was not so for me. My bum was really sore with chaffing caused by the seat. We had travelled along an old timber tramway for the latter part of the ride. Some our group turned off to the posh place and we wondered we had to go. Finally we arrived at Camp Epic ready for a shower and a beer.

Our accommodation

The camp was great. We had a comfortable bed to sleep in. There is a place to cook and and converse. . No traffic, just the sound of the birtds and the odd loud human.

Most of the people on the track seem to be visitors to the country. Many seem to be doing the Te Araroa walk and are from Germany and England.