Trip dist: 63.30km
Riding time: 4h56min
Avg speed: 12.82km/h
Max speed: 60.05km/h
Total Distance: 1333km
Yesterday it has been so difficult to reach my destination with the hills. In addition all night long a broken water pump was making a huge noise every 10 minutes… Hard to sleep well in those condition. After having breakfast and disassembling and cleaning one more time my stove I’ve met the lady who is cleaning the toilet. She told me that I wasn’t allowed to sleep here and all the usual stuffs but we ended up speaking together and at the end she apologise and wished me a good life. I love those moments. We start as strangers and finish as “friends”.
My little shelter under the Milky way
If I knew how hard was the road I was going to ride… I would still be at Pipiriki. Seriously, the sceneries were great but the road was such a hard time. After being tired from yesterday, I had now to climb for 2 hours. I felt like Disneyland… waiting in the queue for 2 hours and having fun for 2 minutes. Indeed, the road is in a poor condition and every turn was covered with gravels. So in every slope I wasn’t able to just go, I had to slow down before every turn. I’m sure in a car it might look like heaven because it’s seriously beautiful but on a bike it’s just like hell.
This view signs the end of the climbing part after two days of hills 🙂
I finally reached the top of this infinite hill and discovered Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngaruhoe sitting there side by side. What a reward after such a difficult part. I started then to remember my awesome adventures when I slept on top of both of these mountains. There is some pictures I took of both those places when I used to sleep there. Great memories. I remember that I cried when I woke up on top of Mt Ngaruhoe. Indeed it was my first adventure on my own and I realised, in front of this immensity, the purpose of my life. The biggest shift ever. This is maybe where everything started. On the Mordor. It’s definitely not in an office. It’s actually the first time since I left that, after two hours of riding, my average speed is below 10km/h.
First night by myself a year ago on top of Mt Ngaruhoe
Looks like waking up on the moon!
After a downhill of 5 minutes maximum, here we go again… climbing all the way to Raehiti where I cracked up… I ordered a steak sandwich with two eggs and fries. I usually never do this but I was in a bad condition… After that I ate two bananas, a whole biscuit packet, some chocolate, two nuts bar… I was impressed by all the things I was able to eat and wasn’t still feeling full.
Good views on the way
After that great break, I still had 36 more km to reach National Park village where I will book a campsite. I definitely need a shower after being covered of kerosene. The ride was hard and I thought about to just stop and sleep wherever even when the destination was just 2km away. I was totally out. My body is sore everywhere but the good thing is that I’m riding by Mt Ruapehu and that I found a good sitting position.
A slice of Mt Ruapehu… It might be nice over the clouds
I finally arrived at the hostel put my tent on the grass took a shower, cooked another meal and ready for sleep. I’ll sleep well. That’s for sure. Tomorrow I will just ride 40km to reach a library to finally post the last 5 days articles.
Curious cows as I’m having a break on the side of the road
One more thing, I knew that I was a facebook addict and decided to do something that changed my life. I uninstalled it from my phone. Feeling so much better. I don’t feel anymore the need to check my phone every literally two minutes. Such a relief.
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