Day 11

About 3am it absolutely bucketed down. I thought briefly about the river but then the rain became more normal and I went back to sleep. At 6am we started getting ready, and the rain had abated. However, the river level was now only a metre or so below our tent side!

The river was brown, massive and carrying whole trees – a spectacular site as we made our way down the Whanganui river road. It had been a pretty spartan breakfast (1 OSM) so we were looking forward to the promised cafe after 25km or so. One big hill was in the way but made easier by chatting all the way up.

Before I started TA, I though of it in the singular. But now I realise that everyone has their own TA. People just half a day behind us are having radically different experiences because of the weather (some stuck in the middle of the Kaiwhakauka track!). Whether you stay in hotels or camp makes a big difference to your experience, as does who and how you choose to ride. Riding alone would be a very different experience to the sense of being part of a team, which I’m really enjoying, in the same way I enjoy tramping more when I have companions.

Josh and I have noticed in the past few days, as we’ve been passed by the fast riders from wave 6, how they share a general intensity of focus and perhaps lack some of the joy of us mid-pack riders. They don’t have time to engage with the locals or sit for two hours on a beautiful lake shore eating burgers! But there are always exceptions, like Captain underpants aka Greg and his wingman Mark who I enjoyed chatting to at the Arapuni bowling green campsite – and the wave six riders we shared the jet boat with yesterday.

When we reached the cafe, we had the twin joys of hot chocolates and mobile contact with partners and the world, after what seemed a long time in the wilderness. I had the best ever French toast (but i was starving). We learned that the weather was causing havoc in a number of places and for a number of riders.

After the refuel, the remaining kms to Whanganui slipped away. We picked up some more food, some extra gas and BCCs, and some supplies from Ronnie’s bike shop where they were also kindly offering use of their toilet and track pump, plus water refills.

Then it was up the elevator and out if town. We even stopped to put on sunscreen – just before it started to pour down, which continued the rest of the afternoon. The southerly change meant it was a lot colder, so it was a struggle to keep up core temperature and my feet slowly became very chilled. It was a focused afternoon, with only one break to cower in a bus shelter. I also got my first tubeless puncture, which I was able to repair with my plugging tool, which was pretty satisfying!

It seemed like an eternity but eventually we were in Hunterville. The kind proprietor of Cranks cafe let us bring our bikes inside and we had a hot chocolate and some early dinner – fish and chips for me plus a toasted sandwich. We chatted to the proprietor, and also a woman who was trying to meet up with her TAing daughter and was a bit stressed out. After picking up a few extra supplies, we left town on SH2, heading for Vinegar hill. The traffic was pretty good and we completed the short section quickly, pulling into the campground in light drizzle.

As we set up our wet tents, a neighbouring camper came to offer us a sit down under his awning, next to his nice fire – and then extended this to a hot shower! This was too good to pass up and we appreciated John’s kindness and hospitality as we attempted to dry ourselves and our wet clothes. We could have tried to find (indoor) accomodation at hunterville but instead we had one of those unexpected encounters that is making the trip so awesome.