Time Out Drive/Cycling Exploring New Zealand 2021 - 2022

I'm spending the next few months exploring New Zealand. This index will update as that journey progresses with links to blog posts and other external resources.

'The Why' and 'The Plan' sections have an overview of how I got here and initial plans but will be blogging 'The Reality' in depth as it happens.

The Reality:

This is what I've been up to:

• Planning | July 2021 onwards

  • How the Raglan Karioi Classic 'Last Dance', a waffle, and a gravel ride changed my life [RPB]
  • Gearing Up [RPB]
  • Planning [RPB]
  • Giro Rob tune up [RPB]
  • Rapid Rob tune up [RPB]
  • A bit more gearing up, En-Trance! [RPB]
  • Regional restrictions? Not so much [RPB]

• Current Total:

  • 2022-01-17
  • Area Distance km Elevation m Time H:MM
    Auckland 2824 43426 168:04
    Waikato 300 3674 20:12
    Taupo 105 1595 8:49
    Rotorua 50 794 4:03
    Grand Total 3279 49489 201:08

• Auckland rides in COVID L4/L3 Lockdown | September 25 2021 - ????

  • Short Lockdown Loop TO2122-01 [RL]
  • Local Ranges Loop TO2122-02 [RL]
  • Filter Station Loop TO2122-03 [RL]
  • Waitakere Loop TO2122-04 [RL]
  • Nihotupu Dam Ride TO2122-05 [RL]
  • L3 Local Loop TO2122-06 [RL]
  • Lockdown Suburban wanders TO2122-07 [RL]
  • Monday Morning adventure TO2122-08 [RL]
  • Giro Rob to Service TO2122-09 [RL]
  • Westie Wander Ride TO2122-10 [RL]
  • Bike service swap ride TO2122-11 [RL]
  • Tailfin Aeropack Trunk test ride TO2122-13 [RL]
  • Waterfront wander TO2122-14 [RL]
  • Huia investigation TO2122-15 [RL]
  • Muriwai back roads TO2122-16 [RL]
  • Collect Rapid Rob from service TO2122-17 [RL]
  • First ride on En-Trance TO2122-18 [RL]
  • Wet Afternoon Ride TO2122-19 (Police incident Henderson) [RL]
  • Trail trials on the bouncy bike TO2122-20 [RL]
  • Huia again TO2122-21 [RL]
  • Shamed by Shackleton TO2122-22 [RL]
  • Anawhata gravel & trail TO2122-23 [RL]
  • Pipeline Rd and Trail TO2122-24 [RL]
  • Manukau Loop TO2122-25 [RL]
  • Breakdown (creaky bottom bracket) TO2122-26 [RL]
  • Try again (diff bike) TO2122-27 [RL]
  • Bethells (Te Henga) Beach TO2122-28 [RL]
  • Afternoon Waitakere Trails TO2122-29 [RL]
  • Helensville & Shelly Beach TO2122-30 [RL]
  • Giro's back roundabout loop TO2122-31 [RL]
  • To Whatipu TO2122-32a [RL] | Home from Whatipu TO2122-32b [RL]
  • Anawhata racing graders TO2122-33 [RL]
  • Better than listening to the neighbour mowing lawns TO2122-34 [RL]
  • Oraki Basin TO2122-35 [RL]
  • Whangaparāoa wandering TO2122-36 [RL]
  • Whatipu wandering TO2122-37 [RL]
  • Titirangi Afternoon Loop TO2122-38 [RL]
  • Waterfront Ride TO2122-39 [RL]
  • Hūnua exploring TO2122-40 [RL]
  • Muriwai TO2122-41 [RL]
  • Waiwera Loop TO2122-42 [RL]
  • Sunday Home Shore TO2122-43a | Sunday Shore Home TO2122-43b [RL]
  • Clevedon Maraetai loop + into the Hūnuas TO2122-44 [RL]
  • Puhinui Clendon Karaka Exploration TO2122-45 [RL]
  • Riverhead Forest with Akl Cycle Meetup to Waitoki TO2122-46a | Riverhead Forest Home with Akl Cycle Meetup TO2122-46b [RL]
  • Waitoki Pūhoi Gravel Loop TO2122-47 [RL]
  • ACG Eastern Beaches to meetup TO2122-48a | ACG Meetup ride TO2122-48b | To home TO2122-48c [RL]
  • Laingholm gravel loop TO2122-49 [RL]
  • Matakana Pakiri Leigh Loop TO2122-50a | Matakana Omaha Loop TO2122-50b [RL]
  • Westie Afternoon Ride TO2122-51 [RL]
  • Woodhill return TO2122-52 [RL]
  • Parau Armour Bay TO2122-53 [RL]
  • Back to Armour Bay TO2122-54a | Armour Bay home TO2122-54b [RL]
  • Afternoon Loop TO2122-55 [RL]
  • Coast to Coast Loop TO2122-56 [RL]
  • Āwhitu is awesome hilly TO2122-58 [RL]
  • Waiheke loop TO2122-62 [RL]

• Waikato Rides | Jan 2022

  • Port Waikato to Nikau Cave Café TO2122-57 [RL]
  • Waikato riverside roll (Hamilton) TO2122-59 [RL]
  • Waikato River Trail Arapuni leg TO2122-60 [RL]
  • Putaruru Blue Springs Walk TO2122-61w [RL]
  • Paeroa to Wāihi TO2122-61 [RL]

• Taupo & Rotorua Rides | Jan 2022

  • Taupō Hūka Falls Aratiatia Loop TO2122-63 [RL]
  • Rotorua Forest Loop & City Thermal Path TO2122-64 [RL]
  • Taupō Kinloch Otaketake K2K trail TO2122-65a [RL]
  • Taupō Kinloch Whakaipo W2K trail TO2122-65b & c [RL]

• Nelson | Confirmed Jan 2022

  • More to come when it happens!

• Golden Bay | Confirmed Jan/Feb 2022

  • More to come when it happens!

• Queenstown / Otago | TBC Feb 2022

  • More to come when it happens!

• West Coast | Booked March 2022

  • West Coast Wilderness Trail | Booked with Cycle Journeys
  • Punakaiki / Paparoa | Day rides or trail if hut bookings free up
  • Old Ghost Road Trail | Booked with Adventure South
  • More to come when it happens!

• Other Indexes

  • All the posts tagged TO2122 [PB]
  • All the photos on Flickr [FLK]

---

Codes in the Index: RobiNZ Personal Blog RPB | RobiNZ CAD Blog RCB | Flickr: FLK | Twitter,: TW | Relive: RL | FB: Facebook | Ride Number: TO2121-## | Social Media Tag: #TO2122

---

The Why:

On July 26, 2021, at 12:41 I stopped cycling, snapped this photo (how I know the time), absorbed the view and decided...

A few weeks before, July 9th, I saw Kiwi (albeit US based) musician Greg Johnson at the Powerstation; a stunning evening:

Since then, I have been listening to his ~200 Track 'Box Set' on repeat or shuffle. At 4:32 on August 3 I was wide awake, thinking about some upcoming work changes, and the phone shuffle playlist picked one of my favourite tracks, from the early 'Vine Street Stories' album:

'Don't Wait Another Day'

Taking that advice, I picked up my phone, fired up OneNote (how I know the time) and wrote what I said at work later that day:

Thanks for sharing the new tribe/chapter/squad design with me yesterday (Mon 2nd). After due consideration I have decided, although included, I do not see a place for me in it.

What next?

I've yet to visit Europe, had saved for that but then COVID-19 changed the world. With no desire to travel anywhere for a long time, even though fully vaccinated, I'm taking this opportunity to invest some of that locally with a summer break in New Zealand.

It will be from October to at least the end of March. Then I will decide what's next, find my Lemonade Stand?*

* Greg shared how hearing wealthy friends talk about their retirement plans (shares, investments etc) made him think about his own...

---

The Plan @ 25 Sept 2021 (COVID-19 status permitting)

I have no firm plans for the next few months but have put together an evolving list of things to consider:

(re)Connecting

With myself, people, activities I have drifted away from...

Was looking forward to seeing/doing more with Alfie which wasn't to be but (if anything) it reaffirmed this move.

Cycling/Drive Touring

Visiting parts of NZ I haven't been, or which have changed since last visited. I have travelled/cycled most of the South Island but that was before most of the cycle trails were established. Have yet to visit Golden Bay/Farewell Spit or spend much time on the Wairarapa Coast so those go on the list.

• Italics are tentative, removed if completed or confirmed.
• Links in this section will go to resources, like area or cycle path sites, not my content:

Local

• Woodhill MTB
• Day/overnight trip | Any time
  • Waiheke
  • Great Barrier
  • Manukau South Head
  • Kaipara North Head (Pouto)
  • Kaipara South Head

North Island

• Northland Revisit | 2021-12 | Cancelled due to COVID lockdown and area vaccination status (purple)
  • Whangarei Heads
  • Twin Coast (Hokianga to Bay Of Islands) reprise
  • Waitangi MTB Park

• East Cape/Napier Revisit | | Cancelled due to COVID lockdown and area vaccination status (orange)  
  • Napier Hawkes Bay Trails
  • Motu & East Cape reprise

• Wellington | 2021-12 | Cancelled due to COVID lockdown might do in Jan or March Return (light blue)
  • Hutt / Rimutaka Trail
  • Pencarrow Coast
  • Wairarapa Coast

• Waikato/Central/Taranaki | 2022-01 
  • Waikato (pink)
    • Waikato River Trails
    • Rotorua
    • Taupo
  • Central/Taranaki (magenta) Cancelled due to COVID lockdown
    • Timber Trail
    • Mountains to Sea (Ruapehu - Whanganui)

South Island

• Upper South | January/Feb 2022 (yellow)
  • Nelson Coppermine and Queen Charlotte Reprise
  • Golden Bay & Farewell Spit (Booked)

• Otago & Southland Revisit | February 2022 (red) 
  • Queenstown (visited lots but never cycled the trails there) & Around the Mountains
  • Roxburgh Gorge & Clutha Gold Trails
  • Lake Dunstan Trail
  • Oamaru & the new leg of A2O (Omarama to Kurow was not built when did the A2O)

• West Coast Trails Revisit | March 2022 (navy blue)
  • West Coast Wilderness (Booked)
  • Paparoa Track (if hut allows or as 2 day rides from ends)
  • Old Ghost Road (Booked)

Reading

This is a few of the books I own, but haven't had the motivation to read... now with time...

• Read

  • rich enough? | Mary Holm
    • Lives up to its tagline, "Read this one book, set up your money, and get on with your life!". Simple financial advice from starting out (Kiwisaver, first home) to retirement and beyond. You can hear Mary on Radio NZ, but this book is a good easy to read summary of the practical advice shared there. Recommended!

• Reading

  • Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science | Lawrence M. Krauss

Listening

I haven't listened to much music recently. if did it was just a background shuffle. Now I'm listening to music, not tracks, not shuffled, albums, as the artist intended. 

Work through my backlog of thirty-One episodes of Matthew's brilliant "Ice Coffee: the history of human activity in Antarctica', and about 30 hours of Sean Carroll's excellent, but demanding, Mindscape podcast.

Gear for the trip

• Tailfin Aeropack Top Bag: This adds to my existing Tailfin rack. I got as found in wet weather opening the panniers for 'mid ride' stuff, like camera or money, let in the wet. Having that sort of stuff in the top bag will be much better. Also allows a more 'bike packing' (rear bag only) setup for tighter trails.
  • Tailfin AeroPack Review: A premium, rigid seatpack - BIKEPACKING.com
• Personal Locator Beacon: For when I get lost.
• Full Suspension Mountain Bike: Recommended, strongly, for the Old Ghost Road Track. I could either rent, just for the track, or buy...

And whatever else comes to mind...

Another view of where that photo was taken. Waikawau Stream Valley, Limestone Downs, about 8km South of Port Waikato.