NZ '17...Beaches, Boulders + Bloody Good Times

asphalt

Tassie...where tyres are flat and nights are long
There was plenty to see on the ride North.



The mighty Maunganui Bluff, our exit from the beach.
I'd tramped over this in the Xmas of 86. It was a pivotal moment in my life.
I never went tramping again.

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Reports and Pics.... Pics.... Pics oh.... how I'm jealous:wot:
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
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The one that everybody missed, Poutu Lighthouse, up on the dunes.



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Do they still bite?

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Torpedo-fishing, eh? Wot'll they think off next?


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Stumping sand-formations galore... whole landscapes, really.
Some even look a bit like Utah's Canyon-Land.


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I envy the locals their sandbox....this is magnificent!! :drool::drool:



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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
One of the Kai Iwi freshwater lakes drains onto the beach, definitely worth another stop and look!! :thumbs:


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There's something brewing again :whistle:



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Most probably the end of Doug's hiking career...?


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Playing in the mud...



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The exit at Aranga looks pretty dodgy... some big, lumpy, loose rocks thrown in deep, loose sand with a steep climb onto some heavily eroded bitumen patches, powdery sand in between and a washed out trough for a steep, 90 deg bend.
Time's ticking... the tide is coming back in, Baylys about 30 mins back, but some of the DR's will not make Baylys and will have to park high, in the deep, loose stuff to wait for fuel to be brought back from Dargaville. Then a time-sapping slog to firm ground with the tide pushing us higher and higher into the deep stuff...might as well give Aranga a shot.
Tim and Faz do the monster part of the job to get one bike after another up there, the rest of us carrying the panniers and topboxes up, the sun is pelting down and the Camelbaks are already sucked into a crinkle.
After the first 2 bikes, a local on a quad comes up the beach to inform us that the road from the settlement to the hwy is blocked for roadworks at the moment....NOOOO!! :thun
I hope the others got pics of that hour of chaos, I haven't got a single shot :bang::bang:


Doug pops a cork....and decides to give the locals a show they won't forget in a hurry.


1) Droppa ya pants!! :eek:


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2).......3, 4, GO!! :watch:


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3) HEEEEEEEYYYYYYYY, MACARENA!!!!



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:bigrofl:lao :clap::clap:
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Laughing tears sniffled away (and pants pullled up :icon-maffick-:) ...it's a slalom around the barriers for a clean run towards the hwy, with an wobbling emergency U-ee
when flying past the "Monteith" Rd. turnoff.
Can't possibly pass on that one, aye? :woot:

A quick dogleg across the hwy presents some extraordinarily deep gravel of the 1"-1.5" sort.
More Macarena, this time : bikes included!:eek:
But what a cracker of a little road :drool: which really is an old railway terrace, part of which further south being used as a tourist attraction nowadays.
https://www.portdargavillecruises.co.nz/rail-tours



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The afternoon in maps and links

http://bit.ly/2huOsYg


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Aranga Station Rd. / Waima River bridge.


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A quick detour south onto the SH12 for some fuel and drinks, with a curious, little onlooker around. No idea what it is, but those "front-fangs" easily had a 5" span, the body about 40mm long and quite chunky.


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While doing my "homework" for the trip, somewhere the disused "Old Mill Rd." had appeared with a warning, that "possibly some stretches could get a bit damp and slippery"

Remember that earlier bit where some locals said that all was lush and green because it'd rained for the last 6 weeks?
Yeah, wellll....this dumbo forgot all about it :killingme

The comment mentioned a gate... this one?



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Naw, locked...try this one then :???::???:



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YummYumm!!



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They'd said "slippery"...



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Hmmmm...yah!




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Slippery it bloody is...but hey, it's MAGIC!! :glu:glu




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They didn't say anything about totally overgrown, mud-to-the-axle, single track and downhill bits?? :doh:
Ant bogging the DR...W-)




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A quick scouting mission reveals muddy and totally overgrown single-track....we're OUT! Already got away with testing our $2500 rental-excess on the bikes a couple of times today...W-)
The way back is just as gorgeous and mystical as the way in...it's win-win.:thumbs:
"Grip is overrated"....Yeah? :)


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Some incredible tight+ twisty stuff along that ~50km stretch through Waipoua Forest turns into a 3-bike pearls-on-a-string-run-in-the-zone, spitting us out at the mouth of the Hokianga Harbour and the overlook above Omapere and Opononi....with the glistening dunes of the North-Head seemingly close enough to grab + tickle.
BLOODY AWESOME!!
:drool::drool::drool::drool:




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With the back to the ocean...

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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
The Opononi Holiday Park is the first stop and comes good with a couple of cabin up on the hill...stumqer-views included!


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Can't find an expression in English...so French will have to do then:
Le Filou amoureux :bs

ANY prop will do...and baby-goats are a bullseye!

Hook, line + sinker for this Yank backpacker girl. :whistle: :killingme


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I mentioned the views?
Straight across the harbour-mouth...


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Only a short stroll along the water's edge to the pub....


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Getting the goss on the Day's Special


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Life's good at the Hokianga!! :clap::clap:



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Day3....bagging GOLD :glu
 

dougman1

Part of the furniture
The exit from Aranga was just a bit knarly..


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Not ideal if you have short legs. You had to gun it through the sand and then slow it down for the special Trials stage, to get the thing around that bend (above) and up to the top.


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There was movement on the lips, but no sound. Except for the noise of the air being sucked into the lungs. :bs

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That Mill road was a top spot.

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And there were all these polystyrene cups, dotted about 30 metres apart.
It wasn't until I saw the dead Possums, Oh SHIT! CYANIDE !

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But Ant didn't care about the CYANIDE. He was pre occupied with this...

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It was getting a bit like single track at times..

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Omapere at the bottom of the hill, The town ship of Opononi about 2 k up the road :glu

A slice of heaven just there

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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
There was movement on the lips, but no sound. Except for the noise of the air being sucked into the lungs. :bs

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Mate...there was only movement of the pucker and that roaring noise in my ears where there should've been a heartbeat.:bs :doh::doh:
To use Crusty's words: I was fooked!
Couldn't get the bike back on its wheels on the flat beach!
Great shot of the DR in the greenery....and I totally forgot the cyanide, too.
It just was time to leave, methinks :)
 

dougman1

Part of the furniture
The reception area of our digs at Opononi.

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It was a magical evening for a stroll around the road to the Hotel.

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Like greyhounds after a rabbit, this lot crowded the bar in a flash. Mind you to be fair, there was lots and lots of tasty craft beers to be had.

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As the evening cooled off, and the wind picked up. That Palm tree looked to be swaying quite a bit....:scull:

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The accommodation style at the campground, basic, but good.

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dougman1

Part of the furniture
Mate...there was only movement of the pucker and that roaring noise in my ears where there should've been a heartbeat.:bs :doh::doh:
To use Crusty's words: I was fooked!
Couldn't get the bike back on its wheels on the flat beach!
Great shot of the DR in the greenery....and I totally forgot the cyanide, too.
It just was time to leave, methinks :)

Ah, I see :clap: :devil: :devil::thumbs:

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dougman1

Part of the furniture
Leaving Opononi, our destination was Ahipara.

We stopped a few k's into the journey to check out Northlands round boulders.

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While these aren't round at all, check out the crystal clear waters.

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We then went for a nice bush walk,

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Ok, got it!

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Very pretty spot though.

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