Lord of the Rings country

As a cycling tourist you have to be strategic about the places you travel when you are on a time plan. You cannot make the odd side trip at will as you can with a car. I'd heard about the must see 'three volcanos' park in the middle of the north island.

'Mount Doom'

I can hear the Uruk Hai coming over the hill

I'd just clocked up 600 NZ kms ion the north island and decided to rest for a few days, albeit hiking up Mt Tongariro in the Tongariro National Park just south ot Lake Taupo. It's pretty much the dead centre of the north island and Mt Nguaruhoe just a few kms to the south of Mt Tongariro was used by Peter Jackson to represent Mt Doom in the LTR trilogy.

It took me two years to read the full LTR trilogy as I read it on the weekly bus trip to my classical guitar lessons in Adelaide in the early 1980's. This followed a reading of the Hobbit which my friend at the time, Anne said it was perfect for me and my 'space'.

It certainly has an eerie quality and looks impressive against Mt Tongariro which is currently emitting sulphur clouds from its Te Maari crater.This walk has been promoted as one of the best in the world and is certainly spectacular especially on a clear sunny day.

 

 

Oh, and by the way I saw The Hobbit in 3D in Wellington, this city being the 'home' of the LTR journey, so I could not miss it really.

Tonight's music Walter Piston - Violin Concerto No 1.

 

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Bay of Plenty and rail trails

One of the drivers for choosing places of interest when travelling by bike is the distance or terrain you have to encounter. New Zealand's north island is approximately 1000km from top to bottom with plenty of significant slopes to ascend and descend. I'm glad I took local advice and headed out of Auckland straight for the Coromandel Peninsula.

 

It's a great introduction to the flora, fauna and towns with a strong history of expats from the UK. They do like their sheep and dairy here and European travellers tell me that NZ lamb is highly sought after in Europe, especially France.

 

Bay of Plenty

A 'sticky' situation

The Bay of Plenty was next on my list so I headed down the east cost to the Hot Water Beach. By the way, the weather has been superb for cycling. This will be my first paid camping night as I prefer to camp in a quiet forest and can easily manage without hot running water or a shave for a few days, provided there are good water sources along the way. Along some roads clean water has been flowing down spring fed holes in the hillside and it's nice and cold for the morning wash.

The Hot Water Beach is named for its hot water pools sourced from Earth's hot crust rising to the surface just off shore in this spot. You can hire a spade or take your own (though not likely to have one) and dig a hole in the hot spot and enjoy the warm sea 'spa'. It can reach temp of 65 degrees Celsius so be careful or you'll get more than a warm backside.

 

 

 

Thankfully there is some relief from the horrendous constant traffic on the north island as you can use rail trails for some of it. I think there are as many cars on the road here as there are sheep but sheep do not overtake on double lines on blind crests or bends and in some cases nearly collecting oncoming traffic. The drivers appear to have complete disdain for cyclists as if they were an unrecognizable foreign object. Local cyclists agree with me and shake their heads in dismay.

 

Cycling the rail trail at Karangahake Gorge

Maggie and Daniele

Anyway this provided me with great relief and finally able to relax and enjoy the sublime scenery and listen to peaceful classical music on the IPod. I met up with fellow cyclists Daniele and Maggie from Germany who joined me for some flat km's before we parked for the night at the next town.

Tonight's music - Bach Brandenberg Concertos

 

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Nau mai, Auckland tornados and Coromandel Peninsula

Nau mai is Welcome in Mauri language and the native New Zealander's have been very welcoming and provided wonderful tips and directions along the way. Auckland has quite a mix of Mauri, Chinese/Asian and Indian/Fijian Indian along with the European settlers. It's no different from the melting pot of major Australian cities and there is always plenty of choice for food, especially up the top end of town at the hilliest part of Collins street.

Wild rosé everywhere but stunning

The metro bus or train is easy to use but interestingly the trains are pused or pulled along by diesel locomotives, no electric trains here. Auckland is a big city with a large wharf promenade and interesting maritime exhibits. I actually arrived the same day as the tornado but found shelter in a campsite south and east from the tornado. I recently avoided large bush fires in Tasmania so I hope no volcanoes erupt in NZ as I head south soon.

My little hobbit hole in the forest

At the moment I am travelling through the stunning Coromandel Peninsula which is about one and a half hours driving south east of Auckland, or in my case a good day's ride but worth it.

Riding north up the Coromandel Peninsula

Across the top - up and over the mountains

It reminds me very much of Vancouver Island due its rugged coastline with weathered pine trees clinging to the rocks and ancient forests coming right down to the water line. Aucklanders head for this space just like Canberrans takeover Bateman's Bay for the weekend and holidays.

Tonight's meal - Fish and chips at Hot Water beach.

Tonight' music - Scubert's 'Death and the Maiden'

 

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