TA day 04 - Through the city of Orcs from Robert and Marianne on Vimeo.
How convenient that it just happened to be a Sunday as I journeyed through the land of orcs (Auckland). No peak hour traffic and not even busy weekday traffic to deal with.
I spent a comfortable night camped outside the Kaipara Cruising Club in Helensville. They opened their clubrooms to us TA riders for a minimal charge. I thought the tent a better option than dossing down on the floor inside due to the high risk of the other riders being snorers and early risers!
My journey into the big smoke began in hills to the north of Auckland. It looked like lifestyle block (hobby farm) country with lots of horses, alpacas and goats. It might not surprise you if I confessed that my legs felt a little sore today, and some small early morning uphills through the rolling countryside felt too much like hard work! But I kept the wheels rolling as I had a brunch date with Auckland friends Trish and Stephen.
These friendly orcs met me atop Mt Eden, a dormant volcano in amongst the more central Auckland 'burbs. This was my 5th "photo checkpoint" of the journey. We had brunch at a quirky Mt Eden cafe called Circus Circus (all decked out like, you guessed it, a circus). My burger was superb (mind you, most food is tasting great to me at the moment).
The route out of Auckland took me through Manukau where the airport is and I saw many planes landing over my head. When the route passed the Totara Park mountain bike park, I couldn't help myself to try out some of the trails. The map showed that if I joined two of the mountain bike trails, it would take me to the same place my gravel road was going. To me it seemed a no-brainer, with fun mtb tracks being the winning choice over a boring gravel road. But alas, after descending the first of these tracks I discovered the second track was designated as a one way track. Sods law it was marked no entry for the way I wanted to take it. So back up the first track I went, wishing I'd just focused on the main task at hand... making more progress in riding to Wellington!
My route turned east towards the Firth of Thames, which put the wind at my back and I made good time after all the navigational issues were behind me!
When I reached Kawakawa Bay I was heading straight to the icecream shop when who should appear - Trish again! She'd decided to go for an afternoon ride to meet up with me again (her bike has a 300cc motor). The timing was perfect. In the end she had the icecream and instead I had a pie and thickshake. I'm so indecisive about food - it all seems so good! We sat on the beach gazing out towards Waiheke Island and putting off the inevitable remounting of our steeds!
Only a decent hill climb and a brief thunderstorm stood between me and camp at Orere Point.
