Day 5 - January 15, 2023

 Day 5:  Dargaville - Parakai

What a clever way to get to the centre of Auckland while avoiding the traffic!  We head south down the remote and quiet Pouto Peninsula through farmland and the mouth of the Kaipara inland harbour.  We cross the harbour by boat (3 hours, tide dependent) and pedal into Parakai.

Another long day for us.  It's after 11pm now as I start this blog entry.  I'll have to finish it up later - maybe tomorrow.  The day started quite lovely as we pedalled away from our overnight accommodation in Dargaville and down the Pouto Peninsula.  Nice reflections in the Wairoa River as I pulled out of town.  




The terrain was quite flat for about the first 25 km.  Lots of agriculture - mostly cattle, but some sheep, horses, and crops.  The road itself was very quiet.  Someone had built this little park by the roadside and it also contained a building that claimed to be New Zealand's smallest church.  



As the day went on we found more hills to climb, but the agricultural theme seemed to stick with us.  For the first time on the trip I noticed some hills that looked like they might be a bit brown.  








The peninsula we were riding down was reasonably thin, so we often enjoyed views over to the water one way or another.  I thought it was quite a pretty ride, but challenging once again.  And finally - at the end - the beach and the wharf under construction.







Although the itinerary called for a three hour ferry ride, we had a three hour van ride instead.  The ferry was not available.  I'm guessing that was due to the wharf construction currently underway.  In any case, we had a goal to be at the beach by 2:30.  Everyone was there in good time.


It took us over 3 hours of driving to get to the town of Parakai, which is close to where the ferry was to have landed.  We had an extra passenger and bike on the shuttle - Tracy, from Vernon, BC.  We ran into her a few days ago and is riding the whole thing self-supported.  She was happy for the help when the ferry was not running.  We arrived at the hotel about 6:20 and we had dinner reservations for 6:30.  We had a great meal, but I do long for the WomanTours routine of our own chef preparing the meals and not wasting so much time sitting in restaurants.  We didn't get back to the hotel under after 8:30, then it's time to shower, do laundry and all the other little tasks that need to be done each day.  And on that note - good night for now!


Stats for the day:  

Distance:  70.2 km

Elevation (Garmin):  3021' up, 3072' down

Elevation (RWGPS):  3211' up, 3211' down

Weather:  Fine (a Kiwi term for nice weather).  Temps from 17C to 22C.  A bit of wind, but nothing to complain about.  








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