Te kuiti to some where

Te kuiti to some where

After spending the last 4-5 months staying in one place with no bike touring over that time I’m finly back on another adventure by bike  - it’s been very odd to be staying in one place for so long after spending most of the last 10 years or so on the road by bike or on foot around nz – so why have I been in one place for so long?  Well it’s been a number of different reasons.... To spend some time with my mum – because of a few reasons including that I’m lbgt+ the rest of my so-called family won’t have any thing to do with me anymore so she is the only one out of my so called family that I’m in contact with anymore – I do talk with her over the phone about every 1-2 weeks or so depending on cell phone reception and see her a few times a year but have not spent that much time with her in the last few years   also I had some Dr suff to deal with including a lot of Dr appointments both in otorohanga and Hamilton so had to stay in one place for that  (the Dr suff was for a few different reasons what I won’t go into) 
I also had to fixed up my bike and trailer as well as replacing /repair some of my other gear – long term travel by bike is hard on bikes and gear

As much as I like to spend time with my mum the road is calling....
The plan  is to spend a few days riding down to taupo using back roads on the recumbent trike (and the bike trailer from my bike Friday folding bike) to spend a weekend helping at a horse event in taupo (a eventing show) then head for rotorua and see some friends there before heading back to te kuiti (well that was the plan any way.....)

After spending the last few days getting things together and testing out different bits of outdoor gear – including my camping hammock what I’m taking with me on this trip as well as my tent  - it gives me a few different options where to sleep each night on the road – as I was testing the hammock one night I found out that my self inflating sleeping mat was self deflating during the night – so was a bit of a cold night that night – because of air moving under the hammock tends to take the heat away faster than in a tent (good in summer – not so fun in winter) a good sleeping mat is needed – one can get a winter kit for colder times of the year for the hammock but I don’t have it – it’s been a few years since I last used my hammock (last used on Mt te araoa walk – I used it from camp reinga to te kuiti where for different reasons I swapped to using my tent on that walk)  - both the hammock and the tent have they pros and cons  so I’m taking both with me on this trip  - I end up picking up a cheap close cell foom sleeping mat – not as comfortable as a self inflating sleeping mat but a lot cheaper and at least they don’t go flat even when a friends cat use it as a play toy....
Packing up the last of my gear (and it’s a lot of gear – to much but after a few days of using suff I will just post back or something the suff I decided I don’t need – it’s a common problem when over time one picks up suff along the way until it’s time to go through every thing and though away /post off all the extra suff that’s no longer needed : )

After a bit late playing with the trailer and final packing of the bike and trailer I wheel the trike out from the carport (where I been packing it under cover as its raining) before turning on Strava on one of my phones (I have 2 phones with me – a Samsung S7 (main phone) and a older Samsung s5 (backup/used for Strava) and heading slowly down my mums rough farm drive way (she lives on a small lifestyle block about 5-10 km from te kuiti) and up the first hill of the trip – the first of many to come : ) and it’s still raining on and off as I take back roads to otorohanga – a bit more hilly this way and so more slower but much more nicer then the busy S. H. 3 main road.

So if I’m heading south to taupo why am I first heading north? Well it’s because the back roads that I’m taking to stay off the busy main roads start from just north of otorohanga – even just the few km that I do on the main road just north soon has me thinking “get me off this crazy road “   - since I did my food shopping the day before I don’t need to stop in otorohanga for any thing so I just keep riding

After a few km on the busy main  road I soon (and happily) reach to turn off on to more back roads – the roads can mostly be described as rolling. at one point I stop to see if I can lift up the trailer frame so it sits higher off the ground – after a bit of thinking I soon work out how to do it (the trailer frame would hit the ground on a few rough bits of road) back on the road I follow the directions that my friend from rotorua has given me (Erik loves to find new back roads to explore so is good to ask for help with finding a good route to ride – I first met him when I was doing the tour aotearoa ride a few years ago)

As I was on one of the more fun bits of road  one of the tires goes flat (and it’s still raining) as I’m checking the tire over I see that it’s the side wall of the tire that’s the issue – the sidewall of the tire has come apart – luckily I have a spare tire (it’s a very cheap one from the wherehouse but as there’s no bike shops as such in te kuiti or otorohanga that’s all I can find as a spare so it’s going to have to do to at least taupo – now lets see if it will in fact fit... And it fits  : )  as I’m pumping the tire up a passing car stops to see if I’m OK  before driving on  - back on the road I keep riding until I find a place to set up my tent just before it gets Dark and head off to sleep for the day