Taupo to Rotorua
Our first and only disappointment for the day was that there was no café in Broadlands. This was to be our first stop for the morning at 32 km into the ride. The sun was out, although it was still quite cool at 9 AM, so cool that I borrowed Rita’s jacket having packed mine away in an overly optimistic moment. We had already ridden by numerous steam plumes coming out of fields and small lake sides.
A short 23km later we were at the lunch stop and major sightseeing spot for the day, the Waimangu Thermal area and site of many hydrothermal eruptions. The biggest of the recent activity was the 1886 Tarawera Eruption which completely obliterated all vegetation seen in the posted photo and for miles around. The hydrothermal activity present today and seen in the pictures started after that explosion. There is much more detail available and if you want to learn more you can check out www.waimangu.com.
The whole group took the self-guided trail down to Lake Rotomahana some 4 km away and not only saw but also felt and smelled the thermal activity. Inferno Lake is the hottest having a surface temperature of up to 80C. All were impressed by this awesome display of nature in this unsettled area.
The remainder of the ride was about 20km with the last 10-12 sloping down to the tourist mecca of Rotorua. This town has its own more compact geothermal park and also a Maori cultural center; around all of which a thriving tourism industry has been developed.
Tomorrow, Easter Sunday, we will attend a local church, where I hope to meet up with an old friend through work Alex Wood who some of the blog readers also know.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Taupo
I ws not going to post today but here I am.
Eleven of us went on a 5 hour cruise on Lake Taupo today. The weather was magnificent as was the scenery. I have posted 3 pictures but as usual we saw many more cliffs and beaches. This lake is actually a volcano crater formed 1900 years ago by the biggest explosion know from such a source The volume of rock and earth moved was about 100 cubic kilometers (1oo km x100 km x 100km) Mount St helens was a puff compared to this. The lake is approximately 40x 60 km and over 1km deep in some places. It was formerly a mountain.
After the cruise we went to the hot stream comming into the main river from the lake. It was in a natural setting along the river. Sorry no pics of that, my batteries werre flat. We will have several more in the coming week.
Happy Easter to all. Kirk got home safely. The Tsunami (sp?) didn't affect us.
Eleven of us went on a 5 hour cruise on Lake Taupo today. The weather was magnificent as was the scenery. I have posted 3 pictures but as usual we saw many more cliffs and beaches. This lake is actually a volcano crater formed 1900 years ago by the biggest explosion know from such a source The volume of rock and earth moved was about 100 cubic kilometers (1oo km x100 km x 100km) Mount St helens was a puff compared to this. The lake is approximately 40x 60 km and over 1km deep in some places. It was formerly a mountain.
After the cruise we went to the hot stream comming into the main river from the lake. It was in a natural setting along the river. Sorry no pics of that, my batteries werre flat. We will have several more in the coming week.
Happy Easter to all. Kirk got home safely. The Tsunami (sp?) didn't affect us.
Napier to Taupo
The Indonesian dinner was great; 16 courses of various dishes including beef, pork, vegetables, mangos, bananas and rice. It had started raining before dinner but stopped in time for some to walk to the restaurant.
In the morning the skies looked rather threatening so we all prepared for rain before leaving the prison (see photo). We actually did sleep in the old cells for the night.
Everyone packed a larger than usual lunch and had more breakfast than normal in preparation for the 143km ride which I figured would take 7-10 hours depending on the rider and break frequency. We were the last to leave the jail at around 8:30. The road followed the ocean for the first 15 km before turning inland. Soon after changing direction we noticed the climb starting although it was irregular at this point. The winds were not in our favor at this point so we hunkered down for a long hard day.
My theory is that you should eat at least every hour starting an hour into the ride so that you don’t run out of steam. This has severed me well on the long rides across Canada when I used to eat every ½ hour. Rita however thinks you need to be hungry to eat and that is true under normal circumstances but this is far from normal. As a result I’m force-feeding her all the time and I get the usual protest every time “but I’m not hungry” and I say, “eat” in response.
The café at the first stop, 44 km out, was closed so we ate in the cold clouds outside. The next stop was at the top of the second major climb another 20 km down the road. They were open and we had our first lunch there shortly after 12 along with a flat white.
By lunchtime we had already climbed around 1100m. It turned out that the second part of the first climb was the steepest, a steady climb for over 3 km in the lowest gear at 7-8 kph. The second climb was about 400m high but we managed to go up it in second gear at 8-9kph. The total climbing I use is only the major climbs of the day not all the little undulations in between of which there are many as you can see from the various photos. Very little of this country is flat. The decent from the first climb was rather steep. I had my drag brake on full and if I released the hand brakes the bike was soon going over 60kph and my stoker starts to complain over that. It was not safe going into turns at that speed on a wet road not knowing what is around the corner either. With the bike stationary it is very difficult to turn the rear wheel with the drag brake on so it is quite effective.
The second part of the ride had one remaining major climb at 300m high but was not a continuous climb, more insteps of varying steepness. The wind direction changed from here on to a tail wind of about 20-25kph, which helped on this climb. We followed along the plateau for a while till we got to our second lunch stop (the café here was also closed!) at the 105km mark. After eating copious amounts of peanut butter sandwiches we set off again. We had met up with Bernie and John at every stop and they had gone off ahead of us here. Another 10 km of fairly flat road at speeds of around 45-55kph (see what peanut butter will do for you) before the gradual decent into Taupo over the remaining 30km. The Rumba has excellent gearing for speed, with 60kph being quite doable in the highest gear and I used all of it.
When we entered town Bernie and John were waiting for us because Bernie had changed shirts part way through the ride and left his directions in the wet shirt. Together we made our way to the hostel where we are staying for the next two nights. Total riding time 6:24 and total elapse time about 7:15, average speed 22.2kph.
The other Rita decided quite early in the day to let her husband Peter have a more challenging day on his own so Peter rode with Joe, Ton, Dora and Adrian for the rest of the day.
Tomorrow we have a day off. Some of us will take a boat cruise and others will find other sights to see.
I do not expect to post tomorrow.
The Indonesian dinner was great; 16 courses of various dishes including beef, pork, vegetables, mangos, bananas and rice. It had started raining before dinner but stopped in time for some to walk to the restaurant.
In the morning the skies looked rather threatening so we all prepared for rain before leaving the prison (see photo). We actually did sleep in the old cells for the night.
Everyone packed a larger than usual lunch and had more breakfast than normal in preparation for the 143km ride which I figured would take 7-10 hours depending on the rider and break frequency. We were the last to leave the jail at around 8:30. The road followed the ocean for the first 15 km before turning inland. Soon after changing direction we noticed the climb starting although it was irregular at this point. The winds were not in our favor at this point so we hunkered down for a long hard day.
My theory is that you should eat at least every hour starting an hour into the ride so that you don’t run out of steam. This has severed me well on the long rides across Canada when I used to eat every ½ hour. Rita however thinks you need to be hungry to eat and that is true under normal circumstances but this is far from normal. As a result I’m force-feeding her all the time and I get the usual protest every time “but I’m not hungry” and I say, “eat” in response.
The café at the first stop, 44 km out, was closed so we ate in the cold clouds outside. The next stop was at the top of the second major climb another 20 km down the road. They were open and we had our first lunch there shortly after 12 along with a flat white.
By lunchtime we had already climbed around 1100m. It turned out that the second part of the first climb was the steepest, a steady climb for over 3 km in the lowest gear at 7-8 kph. The second climb was about 400m high but we managed to go up it in second gear at 8-9kph. The total climbing I use is only the major climbs of the day not all the little undulations in between of which there are many as you can see from the various photos. Very little of this country is flat. The decent from the first climb was rather steep. I had my drag brake on full and if I released the hand brakes the bike was soon going over 60kph and my stoker starts to complain over that. It was not safe going into turns at that speed on a wet road not knowing what is around the corner either. With the bike stationary it is very difficult to turn the rear wheel with the drag brake on so it is quite effective.
The second part of the ride had one remaining major climb at 300m high but was not a continuous climb, more insteps of varying steepness. The wind direction changed from here on to a tail wind of about 20-25kph, which helped on this climb. We followed along the plateau for a while till we got to our second lunch stop (the café here was also closed!) at the 105km mark. After eating copious amounts of peanut butter sandwiches we set off again. We had met up with Bernie and John at every stop and they had gone off ahead of us here. Another 10 km of fairly flat road at speeds of around 45-55kph (see what peanut butter will do for you) before the gradual decent into Taupo over the remaining 30km. The Rumba has excellent gearing for speed, with 60kph being quite doable in the highest gear and I used all of it.
When we entered town Bernie and John were waiting for us because Bernie had changed shirts part way through the ride and left his directions in the wet shirt. Together we made our way to the hostel where we are staying for the next two nights. Total riding time 6:24 and total elapse time about 7:15, average speed 22.2kph.
The other Rita decided quite early in the day to let her husband Peter have a more challenging day on his own so Peter rode with Joe, Ton, Dora and Adrian for the rest of the day.
Tomorrow we have a day off. Some of us will take a boat cruise and others will find other sights to see.
I do not expect to post tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Ormondville to Napier
First let me appolgize for the lack of road picture for yesterday. The day before I had set the camera for movie mode and forgotten to rest it for still photos so all my shots were movies with poor reolution and not worth posting.
Ormondville to Napier
Dinner last night was enjoyed by all. We had a lamb roast; which Val explained was a meal eaten here on special occasions, much like we have a turkey meal in Canada. Dessert was Pavlova; which is basically egg white whipped and a topping added. We met and talked with a few of the locals in the adjoining pub before and after the meal. The picture shows the room and everyone eating.
We were warned that the trains would be running throughout the night and at several intervals the cabin along the platform would start rumbling as the trains rolled through. This made the experience all the more authentic and didn’t keep me awake long.
The sun rose around 6AM and the sky was quite nice; the close-up picture of the station was taken shortly after that time. We said goodbye to our hosts after taking another group picture and set off for the day.
The route today was somewhat complex and all made notes on which way to go at the first coffee break. Rita and I were among the last to leave and found the correct road off of SH2 but we never passed any of the others. Ton was following us after making an incorrect turn and then retracing his steps. As it turns out all the others that left before us missed the turn and so were off the route. Bernie and John were behind us and did find the correct route. The 5 of us met the van at the designated spot outside of Hastings North, had lunch and continued with the van ahead to guide us through the town as planned. The van filled with anxious wives went on a search and rescue mission after that and managed to locate the other riders in two different places. All eventually arrived at the Napier Prison where we are staying for the night. The accommodations tonight are in the actual cells of this old prison. Dinner tonight is in another restaurant, this time Indonesian food, and a favorite of people of Dutch background as most of us are.
Tomorrow will be the toughest day of the whole tour. It is long at 140 km but also has by far the most climbing. From the coast we climb 700m then drop down into a valley 400m deep then right back up the 400m again and then down again before climbing back up to a plateau at around the same height. A total of 1400m of serious climbing! At least the route is simple and no one should get lost. Judging by the determination I have seen so far in this group I expect all will make it to the end. More on that tomorrow.
Ormondville to Napier
Dinner last night was enjoyed by all. We had a lamb roast; which Val explained was a meal eaten here on special occasions, much like we have a turkey meal in Canada. Dessert was Pavlova; which is basically egg white whipped and a topping added. We met and talked with a few of the locals in the adjoining pub before and after the meal. The picture shows the room and everyone eating.
We were warned that the trains would be running throughout the night and at several intervals the cabin along the platform would start rumbling as the trains rolled through. This made the experience all the more authentic and didn’t keep me awake long.
The sun rose around 6AM and the sky was quite nice; the close-up picture of the station was taken shortly after that time. We said goodbye to our hosts after taking another group picture and set off for the day.
The route today was somewhat complex and all made notes on which way to go at the first coffee break. Rita and I were among the last to leave and found the correct road off of SH2 but we never passed any of the others. Ton was following us after making an incorrect turn and then retracing his steps. As it turns out all the others that left before us missed the turn and so were off the route. Bernie and John were behind us and did find the correct route. The 5 of us met the van at the designated spot outside of Hastings North, had lunch and continued with the van ahead to guide us through the town as planned. The van filled with anxious wives went on a search and rescue mission after that and managed to locate the other riders in two different places. All eventually arrived at the Napier Prison where we are staying for the night. The accommodations tonight are in the actual cells of this old prison. Dinner tonight is in another restaurant, this time Indonesian food, and a favorite of people of Dutch background as most of us are.
Tomorrow will be the toughest day of the whole tour. It is long at 140 km but also has by far the most climbing. From the coast we climb 700m then drop down into a valley 400m deep then right back up the 400m again and then down again before climbing back up to a plateau at around the same height. A total of 1400m of serious climbing! At least the route is simple and no one should get lost. Judging by the determination I have seen so far in this group I expect all will make it to the end. More on that tomorrow.
Masterton to Ormondville
Masterton to Ormondville
The sun was already shining brightly when I awoke. We spent the night on the second floor of a large building in the center of town. The tandem was supposed to be ready around 8:30. Now I can use the complete set of gears in the low range, something that will come in handy for the big climbing day coming up on Thursday. By 8:40 we were ready to start riding, all the others had left already.
Outside of town we were introduced to the wind for the day, a rather strong headwind, in fact we had trouble staying at 20kph! First break was at a bird sanctuary where they have successfully reintroduced some of native birds back into the wild. This includes the Kiwi bird and several other non-flying species, which were almost wiped out due to habitat loss, and non-native species hunting them or eating their food supply.
After that the wind was more from the side, the flat white kicked in and we were rolling along at over 30 kph. This got us to the lunch stop rather quickly. After lunch we weren’t as energetic or maybe it was the wind change again but the speed was definitely down. At 100km we had been riding for 4 hours. The contours here are pretty flat except for Mount Bruce just before the bird sanctuary. Ice cream, beer or coffee was enjoyed at Dannevirke. This left us with 15km to go and once we found the secondary road to Ormondville it was a pleasant change from the constant traffic on Highway #2. There were a few anxious moments as we tried to find the station, but following the tracks was the right thing to do an eventually after passing through some pretty valleys Ormondville and the station appeared.
We are sleeping in the old railway station and some workers huts situated around it (see photos). The trains still rumble through here but there is no longer any passenger service. Everyone loves the place even though there is only one shower. Dinner tonight will be prepared for us, an authentic NZ lamb dinner.
The sun was already shining brightly when I awoke. We spent the night on the second floor of a large building in the center of town. The tandem was supposed to be ready around 8:30. Now I can use the complete set of gears in the low range, something that will come in handy for the big climbing day coming up on Thursday. By 8:40 we were ready to start riding, all the others had left already.
Outside of town we were introduced to the wind for the day, a rather strong headwind, in fact we had trouble staying at 20kph! First break was at a bird sanctuary where they have successfully reintroduced some of native birds back into the wild. This includes the Kiwi bird and several other non-flying species, which were almost wiped out due to habitat loss, and non-native species hunting them or eating their food supply.
After that the wind was more from the side, the flat white kicked in and we were rolling along at over 30 kph. This got us to the lunch stop rather quickly. After lunch we weren’t as energetic or maybe it was the wind change again but the speed was definitely down. At 100km we had been riding for 4 hours. The contours here are pretty flat except for Mount Bruce just before the bird sanctuary. Ice cream, beer or coffee was enjoyed at Dannevirke. This left us with 15km to go and once we found the secondary road to Ormondville it was a pleasant change from the constant traffic on Highway #2. There were a few anxious moments as we tried to find the station, but following the tracks was the right thing to do an eventually after passing through some pretty valleys Ormondville and the station appeared.
We are sleeping in the old railway station and some workers huts situated around it (see photos). The trains still rumble through here but there is no longer any passenger service. Everyone loves the place even though there is only one shower. Dinner tonight will be prepared for us, an authentic NZ lamb dinner.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Wellington to Masterton
What a difference a day makes! The old Cambridge Hotel was in the middle of the Saturday night revelry that surrounds an international ruger game here when New Zealand is playing, especially on a Saturday. Never the quietest corner of town this past evening was particularly boisterous till late at night. Rita uses earplugs to sleep because if the noise isn’t coming from outside it is from snoring on the inside when in dorm facilities (not from yours truly) so the noise didn’t bother her at all. As for me, I can sleep through almost anything. Last night, Sunday, the hotel was quiet with only the inner city garbage pickup occurring during the middle of the night.
April 1 brought out some fools in our group, but the debate is who the fools were. Dora has had the pleasure of choosing between three different men to sleep above most nights for the last few weeks. She usually takes the upper bunk you see. Well Anna and Dora decided to do some room cleaning yesterday in Dora’s dorm and make out like all the stuff had been removed from their room. The guys came home and were a little upset, so much so that the front desk person told them their stuff was safely stored. John and Adrian quickly picked up the gag and played along, got into bed and pretended not to notice anything was wrong. Now Dora’s stuff had also ‘disappeared’ but she couldn’t get into bed, having no nightclothes. When I met them in the lobby Dora and Anna where trying to figure out what to do next. The tables had been turned, how could they salvage some self-respect out of this? Dora finally found her stuff but the boys couldn’t get out of bed claiming nakedness so Dora finally had to get their stuff too. The problem with all this is that there are two more weeks to go. Who will get the last laugh?
Oh Yah the ride! I put the fear of the Rimutaka hill into the others Sunday night; steep, narrow, winding, windy, trucks. Oh did I mention it was long?
It was a nice sunny morning with a few clouds and not the strong winds we had the last two days. We had to reassemble the bikes (photo 1) first. Then the tandem led the bikes through the early morning rush hour traffic in downtown Wellington, along the 4-lane highway through Lower Hutt and eventually Upper Hutt, all the time holding a speed of about 26 kph (see photo 2). After 30km it was our intension to have another flat white but the support crew couldn’t find the coffee shop so we had a stop along the highway. This spot was strategically chosen because it was just a few km from the start of the big hill.
Refreshed we set off at our own pace for the hill. Now from this side it comes in two stages, the first being only a climb of 150m then going down 50m and level for a bit before starting the real climb of 330m. As I told Rita the secret to a big hill is finding the right gear so that the work you do is sustainable for a long time. The difference is that for strong riders this is faster than for others but if you have the right gear you climb virtually anything. Also don’t let the hill intimidate you. Signs like these…….
Mind over matter or in this case mind over hill!
You can see that weather was excellent and the view outstanding as we climbed higher and higher. The other traffic on the road was very co-operative and because of the curves it was not moving too fast either. Rita and I set an easy pace so that my breathing was no harder than it had been on the ride earlier in the morning. The contours varied so that I was switching between my lowest 3 gears during the climb.
We were all looking forward to a coffee at the café at the top but it was closed on Mondays much to our disappointment. We ate lunch and waited for the others to arrive, cheering them to the top.
In preparation for the descent Rita and some others put their jackets back on. I set the camera for ‘movie’ mode, set the drag brake and away we went. A larger freight truck had crested a few minutes before we set off and part way through the 7.5 km descent we caught up to it and the cars behind it. Bernie and Joe were also in the pack. John had passed it earlier. At a wider spot the truck pulled over momentarily and the two of them slipped by but the cars ahead of me did not. Later at another wide spot I got by too. Rita had been only too glad to be in the traffic behind the truck at the slower pace. Now wind in the helmet and both hands firmly on the brakes to control the speed in the corners we sailed down what was left of the hill. It was all too short although the brake hands didn’t mind that the road straightened out and the highest gear was engaged for a run out at 55kph. I did manage to shoot a few movie clips, a couple of which are posted.
We had agreed to meet in Greytown, about 14km from the bottom. Coffee time was now over and we enjoyed a cool Oranjeboom beer (Dutch beer what else?). After relaxing for a while and waiting for the others to catch up we set off again toward our final destination some 25 km away riding at a steady (in several ways) 30kph.
I decided to take the Rumba (tandem) into the bike shop there to have the chain shortened some so that I could use more of the gears in my low range. The shop owner is a tandem rider who has a racing tandem with aero bars (not something you eat but use to lower your wind resistance). This gentleman, now about my age, is the holder of the time record for biking from Auckland to Wellington in just over 19 hours at a speed of over 34 kph that is over 600 km!
Everyone made it all the way, and felt real good about the accomplishment. Rita confesses she had nothing to fear after all those restless nights. With another perfect cycling day behind us; we ate too much at dinner as usual.
April 1 brought out some fools in our group, but the debate is who the fools were. Dora has had the pleasure of choosing between three different men to sleep above most nights for the last few weeks. She usually takes the upper bunk you see. Well Anna and Dora decided to do some room cleaning yesterday in Dora’s dorm and make out like all the stuff had been removed from their room. The guys came home and were a little upset, so much so that the front desk person told them their stuff was safely stored. John and Adrian quickly picked up the gag and played along, got into bed and pretended not to notice anything was wrong. Now Dora’s stuff had also ‘disappeared’ but she couldn’t get into bed, having no nightclothes. When I met them in the lobby Dora and Anna where trying to figure out what to do next. The tables had been turned, how could they salvage some self-respect out of this? Dora finally found her stuff but the boys couldn’t get out of bed claiming nakedness so Dora finally had to get their stuff too. The problem with all this is that there are two more weeks to go. Who will get the last laugh?
Oh Yah the ride! I put the fear of the Rimutaka hill into the others Sunday night; steep, narrow, winding, windy, trucks. Oh did I mention it was long?
It was a nice sunny morning with a few clouds and not the strong winds we had the last two days. We had to reassemble the bikes (photo 1) first. Then the tandem led the bikes through the early morning rush hour traffic in downtown Wellington, along the 4-lane highway through Lower Hutt and eventually Upper Hutt, all the time holding a speed of about 26 kph (see photo 2). After 30km it was our intension to have another flat white but the support crew couldn’t find the coffee shop so we had a stop along the highway. This spot was strategically chosen because it was just a few km from the start of the big hill.
Refreshed we set off at our own pace for the hill. Now from this side it comes in two stages, the first being only a climb of 150m then going down 50m and level for a bit before starting the real climb of 330m. As I told Rita the secret to a big hill is finding the right gear so that the work you do is sustainable for a long time. The difference is that for strong riders this is faster than for others but if you have the right gear you climb virtually anything. Also don’t let the hill intimidate you. Signs like these…….
Mind over matter or in this case mind over hill!
You can see that weather was excellent and the view outstanding as we climbed higher and higher. The other traffic on the road was very co-operative and because of the curves it was not moving too fast either. Rita and I set an easy pace so that my breathing was no harder than it had been on the ride earlier in the morning. The contours varied so that I was switching between my lowest 3 gears during the climb.
We were all looking forward to a coffee at the café at the top but it was closed on Mondays much to our disappointment. We ate lunch and waited for the others to arrive, cheering them to the top.
In preparation for the descent Rita and some others put their jackets back on. I set the camera for ‘movie’ mode, set the drag brake and away we went. A larger freight truck had crested a few minutes before we set off and part way through the 7.5 km descent we caught up to it and the cars behind it. Bernie and Joe were also in the pack. John had passed it earlier. At a wider spot the truck pulled over momentarily and the two of them slipped by but the cars ahead of me did not. Later at another wide spot I got by too. Rita had been only too glad to be in the traffic behind the truck at the slower pace. Now wind in the helmet and both hands firmly on the brakes to control the speed in the corners we sailed down what was left of the hill. It was all too short although the brake hands didn’t mind that the road straightened out and the highest gear was engaged for a run out at 55kph. I did manage to shoot a few movie clips, a couple of which are posted.
We had agreed to meet in Greytown, about 14km from the bottom. Coffee time was now over and we enjoyed a cool Oranjeboom beer (Dutch beer what else?). After relaxing for a while and waiting for the others to catch up we set off again toward our final destination some 25 km away riding at a steady (in several ways) 30kph.
I decided to take the Rumba (tandem) into the bike shop there to have the chain shortened some so that I could use more of the gears in my low range. The shop owner is a tandem rider who has a racing tandem with aero bars (not something you eat but use to lower your wind resistance). This gentleman, now about my age, is the holder of the time record for biking from Auckland to Wellington in just over 19 hours at a speed of over 34 kph that is over 600 km!
Everyone made it all the way, and felt real good about the accomplishment. Rita confesses she had nothing to fear after all those restless nights. With another perfect cycling day behind us; we ate too much at dinner as usual.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
The Big One
We had a nice relaxing day off, found the local Reformed church and
talked with a lot of people there after the service, wandered around
this windy city on a nice sunny afternoon. Tonight most of us went out
to a Malayan restaurant for a nice meal.
After church we talked to people and they asked are you going up the Rimutaka Hill? There is that word again Hill; used rather loosely around
here I'm afraid. This is the 500m climb 40 km outside of Wellington. I
wrote about it on the way down. It is a twisty narrow bit of road which
climbs over a 7 km stretch of road and then goes right back down again
for over 500m. This is probably going to be the toughest climb of the
trip. Will everyone make it up? How long will they take to climb it?
What will the weather be like at the bottom or the top?
talked with a lot of people there after the service, wandered around
this windy city on a nice sunny afternoon. Tonight most of us went out
to a Malayan restaurant for a nice meal.
After church we talked to people and they asked are you going up the Rimutaka Hill? There is that word again Hill; used rather loosely around
here I'm afraid. This is the 500m climb 40 km outside of Wellington. I
wrote about it on the way down. It is a twisty narrow bit of road which
climbs over a 7 km stretch of road and then goes right back down again
for over 500m. This is probably going to be the toughest climb of the
trip. Will everyone make it up? How long will they take to climb it?
What will the weather be like at the bottom or the top?
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