Day 6

Distance Clocked Today: 62.327
Maximum Speed: 61 km/h
Average Speed: 13.1 km/h
Time pedalling: 4:40:57

Confident that i will reach Tongariro national park today, I manage to get in the zone pretty quickly and before you know it, it feels like I'm going a constant 20km/h! I'm concentrating much more on using the momentum from the downhills to get me up the uphills easier, and I'm actually using my left shifter, although it's making an nasty grinding noise.

I reach Waiourou, about 30km from the campsite, seemingly on the edge of Tongariro National Park. Tongariro Nat. Park is huge though, and I'm not sure if Waiourou is actually a point of entry or whether I have to go to one of these other towns all along the edge of the park. So I ask at the army museum, turns out I need to go to Ohakune, another 30ks. Okay, not bad. I stop for lunch & coffee and listen to a couple of bikers who've just come back from a rally in the south island. There are no supermarkets here, I don't ask whether everyone just buys their food from the garage (gas stations)

From dms

Heading off again, the scenery is very Lord of the Rings, I even catch my first glimpse of a north island mountain on right:


View Larger Map

I also pass the Tangiwei Disaster Memorial, a beautiful garden oasis on the side of the road. I wonder what kind of a disaser? Later I find out that Mount Ruhapeu (which is probably the mountain pictured) has a crater lake which overflowed and drowned a whole village.

I pause for breath near a truck depot and a trucker pulling out informs me that it's downhill all the way to Taupo!

As I get into Ohakune and am greeted by a statue of a big carrot. I wonder what they grow here. It looks like I shouldn't have used that left shifter after all, the chain has just popped off, as well as a little plastic guard.

From dms

I put the chain back on and leave the plastic guard off, I don't think it's actually necessary and I don't know if I have enough screws to put it back on anyway.

I buy a shuttle ticket to Tongariro Crossing at the isite, it turns out that the track begins and ends in different places, and you need someone to pick you up. I buy some thermal underwear (long johns) and nylon overpants to keep my jeans dry. I have no idea what the conditions up there are like but I'm prepared for the worst.

I pedal out to the DOC campground, it's really dark and I can't find the actual campsite so I just camp by the picnic area. Tomorrow I'll be hiking up the mountains!