Day 4 - January 14, 2023

 Day 4:  Rawene - Dargaville

The Kauri Coast cycle way fully immerses us into the far north - riding through the Waipoua sub tropical forest dominated by giant Kauri.  This is the epitome of the far north with quiet roads, quiet towns, wild beaches, and some great swimming opportunities.

I'm already beginning to have trouble remembering how the day started out......  First - a couple of shots from the front of my little cabin this morning.



This morning's ride was really pretty.  





At about 22 km we came to the town of Opononi and stopped in for refreshments at a cafe there.  I gotta say - riding mountain bikes is just plain hard work.  Although I felt a bit better than yesterday, I felt like I had put in a full day's effort by the time I was done that first 22 km.  And - the real climbing hadn't even really begun yet.  Oh well - beautiful views out to a huge inlet.  





The lovely scenery continued and then we had a long climb up into the Waipoua Forest.  



The humidity was very high again today.  Temps started out in the mid-teens C, but climbed up to 30C.  Thankfully the temperature dropped a few degrees as we climbed higher into the rain forest.  Once at the top it started to rain a bit, but that is actually a good thing for us as it cools us off a bit.  The highlight near the top of the climb is the Tane Mahuta - a ginormous kauri tree.  Believe me - the pictures do not do it justice!



We then had an amazing windy descent for about 10 km of easy cruising.  



Lunch was scheduled to be at about 70km.  Although I felt a bit better on the bike today, I had decided to call it quits at that point.  Most of the climbing was done by that point anyway.  I hate climbing in the van, but for the sake of my various tender body parts I'm hoping it's the smart thing to do.  Two others had the same idea, while the four UK folks are still gunning for EFIs.  

One more parting shot..................


We're staying in a little bit larger town tonight - Dargaville - and a few of us went out for dinner at an Indian place.  Very tasty, although a late night...................

Stats for the day:

Distance:  70.8 km

Elevation (Garmin): 4378' up, 3616' down

Elevation (RWGPS): 4740' up, 4084' down

Weather:  Started out beautifully sunny and a pleasant 16C.  It quickly warmed up to over 30C, but then fell to the low 20s as we climbed up to the rain forest.  Once it started raining the temperature moderated a bit.  Rain continued off & on for much of the afternoon.  




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