Day 21 - January 31, 2023

Day 21:  Greytown - Wellington (Petone)

After a warm up on flat farm roads we meander up the Remutaka Cycle Trail through disused rail tunnels and take in other cool history.  Then it's down, down, down into the Hutt and cycle trail it all the way into the big smoke.  

First some pictures from my walk into town last evening.  Tons of historical plaques.  Seems it was quite the happening place in the mid- to late-1800s.  

Probably a good thing they closed at 4:30






Dinner was Thai curry from a food truck in the garden of a hotel establishment.  It was actually very good..........  Our hotel last night.............



On to today..........  We did indeed start out on very flat terrain.  Good farming land, apparently.  I think the surrounding mountain scenery would have been lovely if we'd been able to see it.



Lots of gravel and other unpaved surfaces on today's ride.  Early on, we came to a low spot on the gravel road and there was a bit of a river flowing through it.  Dick walked on through with his shoes on.  Richard took a run at riding his bike through - that didn't work so well as both he and his bike got pretty wet.  Myself, Jane & Colin were next and we removed our shoes and walked through.  Best option, in my opinion.  I forgot to take a picture of it, but Jane was on it..........




We eventually made our way to the start of the Remutaka Rail Trail at about 27 km, where we waited for the van to catch up with us.  Here are Dick and Richard drying out their shoes/feet.


  



As was the case the Timber Trail, I found the access ride to the actual rail trail to be tougher than the rail trail itself.  It was more like single track and once on the rail trail it was a nice wide path with a reasonable grade.  I'm pretty sure that a mountain bike career is nowhere in my future!  Here's a mellow section of the access trail.


The rail trail was one of the steeper ones that I've ever been on.  Usually they max out at about 2-3%.  This one was a pretty consistent 6-7% grade for about 5 km.  While not particularly tough, I do sweat an incredible amount in this humidity!  






Justin photographing Richard The Poser, and Alex getting set to ride across.




There were a number of tunnels to negotiate on the route.  The longest was over a half kilometre in length.  A headlamp was a definite asset, not to mention a lovely fashion accessory.




At this lookout we met one of the women who will be joining us on the South Island.  Apparently we rode right by her house this morning, and she came out to ride the first part of the rail trail with us.  Strong and experienced rider; will be great to formally meet her tomorrow.

Not long after was "the summit".  All downhill from here.  A much gentler descent all the way to lunch at 44 km.











In the afternoon we were  on and off of cycle paths of every description right into the Wellington suburb of Petone.  Although we were off major roads, we were in or near civilization pretty much the entire time after lunch.  Not my favourite part of the day and the instructions were a bit tough to follow at times.  






We're staying the night in a Top 10 Holiday Park in Petone - in 4 separate cabins.  This concludes our tour of the North Island.  In the morning we'll be shuttling to the ferry.  The trailer is all ready to go with all the bikes secured.


We'll say goodbye to Zoe (one of our guides) tomorrow and pick up a new guide, Tom.  We'll also welcome two new participants - Sandra from New Zealand and Robyn from Australia.  I guess I'll have to re-learn how to share a room with someone.......  Sure hope they pack light, as our little luggage compartment on the trailer is pretty full!

The four Brits who are committed to EFI'ing the trip rode to the ferry terminal at the end of today's ride so they can shuttle to the ferry in good conscience tomorrow.  Good on them, but 80 km was lots for me today.


Stats for the day:
Distance:  84.2 km
Elevation (Garmin):  1912' up, 1917' down
Elevation (RWGPS):  2860' up, 3038' down
Weather:  16C - 28C.  Overcast all day but no rain until after I was in the cabin at day's end.  Headwinds for the last stretch into Petone.














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