Day 6

Sharon our host made me nice poached eggs for breakfast (I won’t mention the instant) and then we headed off along the rail trail again. Pretty samey with lots of cows. It was a novelty to see other non TA cyclists going for a Saturday ride.

I spotted a cafe from the trail as we headed out of Paeroa and was hopeful of better quality caffeine. One flat white and one date scone later, life was good.

The trail continued, a bit cross windy, and then we were on a relatively busy road where the winds were even less friendly. After a while I spotted another cafe at the side of the road and we had a break. I had a massive vegetable stack in an effort to inject some more nutrients. And an awesome piece of fudge. The proprietor was very friendly and knew someone who had done TA previously. We had quite a long chat and she offered to fill our water. It’s amazing how helpful people will be if you take the time to engage with them.

Josh got some chips to eat while he rode but confessed ten mins later that they were all gone! More roads, though quieter, and more unfriendly cross winds – and then we were at Matamata. Home of the hobbit hole shaped isite.

We were a bit wasted by now and dithered around about what/where to eat, settling on expensive but large smoothies from Tank, continuing the day’s nutrition theme. At the same time, we had a look at the rest of the day and the next day, as soon we’d be entering a more sparsely settled part of the route and would have to carry more food. But we could get dinner at a cafe tonight in Arapuni, which I texted ahead to confirm.

We had a little stock up at countdown then headed out of town, on roads but finally with a tailwind! There were a couple of busy sections, and we got close passed by an Intercity – thankfully the shoulder was wide.

I ate the salad sandwich I had stashed from one of the morning cafes, suddenly feeling starving. We arrived at the start of the Waikato river trail (I ate a banana and a peacherine) and it was great to be away from traffic again.

The trail was more interesting and flowy than the rail trail, with a few ups and downs, including some brutal ones near the end! We arrived at Arapuni around 530 and went to see if we could camp at the backpackers. The owner wasn’t keen on that but he did agree we could have a shower for $5, which was awesome. I wanted to start camping again given all the energy I’m spending transporting my camping gear around, Josh likewise, so we decided we’d pitch our tents at the bowling club where we knew TA riders were welcome.

Before that though, we set off for dinner at the cafe, which has had rave reviews from other riders. We met up with Barbara and Russ, who were staying at the backpackers, having come from Te Aroha today. We all enjoyed awesome burgers (a vege one for me, continuing the theme) and I had a Magnum for dessert.

While we were there, two speedy riders from Wave 6 arrived, and they’ve now camping at the bowling club too (after copying our shower idea!). Captain underpants and wingman, aka Greg and Mark. They’ve promised they won’t get up at 430!

So today was 120km, 6.5 hours of actual riding – interesting to think whether all the food items listed were sufficient! Maybe not but hard to eat more. At least I tried to drink more today so will hopefully sleep better. We’ve decided to head for Pureora forest tomorrow, so we’ll need to do a big food stock up Mangakino mid morning.