Day 3 notes

Opononi to Dargaville through the Waipoua forest stopping  to see Tane Mahuta,  Today was a 4:30 ride doing 91.6Km. The theme of the day was wet wet wet and I guess  the backup theme was hills, gone were the rolling hills through Waipoua forest there were some goodies, with a max speed of 72.7km per hour  (on a touring bike) and total ascending of 1179m, lets say it was a good workout.  Put on my booties for the ride to keep the feet dry.. well there is only so much rain they can hold out, feet were like prunes when I finally came up to the camping spot for the night. Which by the way is a “Night at the museum”. Having a self-contained camper we are perched on top of the hill overlooking Dargaville, very nice.

Full GPS data here

Saying goodbye to Opononi, the lookout is well worth a little detour.

The bike view

That rain is coming, started the ride with rain jacket on but with the hill I took it off as I was just getting too hot. 

Top of the first on many hills

Getting a look at the Tane Mahuta. They estimate that the age of the tree is 2000-2500 years old. 

First time I have seen a one way bridge for trees. 

Going off the beaten track on gravel across Donnellys crossing.

Into kiwi land on the last bit of gravel near Trounson Park, about 8km gravel. 

View from the museum where we camping for the night.