Day 15: Raetihi - Whanganui
The Whanganui River Valley has a climate of its own. Take your time rolling up and down (it's got to be more down than up, right?) through this lush river valley down to Whanganui.
I really enjoyed our stay at the nurses' residence - Snowy Waters Lodge. Even though I was nursing my cold and pretty much isolating from the main group. I'm not sure why the average tourist would have a reason to be in the neighbourhood, but a good place to stay if they are.
We were on quiet roads all day and although we climbed about 4000 feet, the overall trend was definitely downhill. I love the morning light on the hills. Here are a few random shots from this morning.
The terrain kind of reminded me of cycling through the hollows of eastern Kentucky on TA4 last year. Really closed in hillsides. But - not a single loose dog and very little in the way of civilization.
We were definitely still in logging industry country. Thankfully I didn't see a logging truck until we were in our destination city of Whanganui.
At about 15 km our downhill started in earnest. I think we lost about 1500 feet in about 10 km on a beautiful winding road. It was heaven! And the ferns were magnificent. I just couldn't get enough of them. Here is a sampling..............
At about 27 km we bottomed out and turned left to follow the Whanganui River for the remainder of the day - all the way to the city of Whanganui on the Tasman Sea. This is part of the Mountains to Sea cycle route. Looks like we'll have to stay alert!
It was a beautiful ride through the river valley. Steep hillsides on one or both sides the river most of the way. We weren't often right beside the river, but did often get good view of it. The road was "fundulating" - little bit up, little bit down, with an overall downward trend. I find that undulating terrain much easier to ride on this bike that the flat stuff. So, I was a happy camper. We got a bit of rain along here, but nothing very much.
No time for a religious experience.............
Coffee and scones at 40 km in the village of Matahiwi in a small cafe that used to be a school.
Horses frolicking nearby.
More views along our river valley route.
With about 10 km left to go we got onto a bit of a cycle path and this lovely bridge for cyclists to cross the river.
Yes, those black clouds did open up for a bit of a shower before getting to the hotel, but it was brief enough that everything had dried out by the time I pulled in at the end. I believe this is our largest city to date, other than the outskirts of Auckland. Population is about 42,000 and we have a rest day tomorrow to explore at bit. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. The river flows into the Tasman Sea. Not sure how much walking my hips are up to tomorrow, but I hope to get out to explore a bit.
Stats for the day:
Distance: 102.3 km
Elevation (Garmin): 3931' up, 5654' down
Elevation (RWGPS): 5905' up, 7618' down. Once again my vote goes to Garmin for the more accurate numbers
Weather: 11C - 32C. Scattered cloud most of the day. More sunshine than we expected, and the few rain showers we had were brief. Of course the highest temperature was during the last big climb near the end of the day. My eyeballs were drowning in sweat!
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