Cycling the East Cape

Cycling the East Cape In the Lonely Planet Cycling in NZ book, parts of the 473km East Cape cycle ride from Opotiki to Gisborne and back to Opotiki are described as some of the best coastal cycling in the world. Having just cycled the West Coast of the USA a few months earlier, I was keen to see how it compared.

The East Cape region is ideal for cycle touring. The road is relatively quiet all year round and the tourists really haven’t yet discovered the region in great numbers. The route itself passes by a wild coastline of rugged little bays and inlets with the spectacular backdrop of the rugged Raukumara Ranges and some flowering Pohutukawa trees. Coupled with all this, is the rich Maori history and small Maori communities that exist in the area. Having driven the route a number of times it was great to explore it in slow time (you can see heaps more from a bike than you do in a car and its heaps more fun).

We all assembled at Opotiki after over-indulgence in our Christmas lunches. Maybe I ate more than others for Xmas because I only lasted about 9km before my first puncture of the trip. Yep that Xmas lunch was a good one. Despite this early annoyance, the coast was fantastic – great views out over the open sea towards White Island in the distance, pohutukawa trees and a stunning coastline. That night we camped out on Maori land at Omaio, having done a pleasant 55km of riding for the day.

Our second day was just as good as the first. We had more great views of the coast and some rolling countryside. Yep I was thinking, this is some of the best coastal scenery in the world. At lunchtime at Whanarua Bay we found a place that sold home Checking out the unusual Maori carving that includes Maori soldiers from the war (Wayne Stevens)

Tramping & Mountaineering 2004

Wayne Stevens grown macadamia nuts – very nice. Swimming in the sea was also great. The weather was fantastic and we passed a number of stunning bays and isolated Maori villages along the way. The total distance covered for the day was a leisurely 69km and we camped for the night at the side of the road at a bridge inland from Whangaparoa. That night we had an experience with one of the locals who we think had overindulged in one of the East Cape’s pastimes – drinking. It was rather weird when at 1am this bloke stopped in the middle of this one-way bridge and just sat there for a few hours with his engine running. We began to wonder whether we had encountered some psycho from the Coast, but after awhile another local came along and tried to get this guy to move – apparently he had been sleeping, pissed out of his brain, in the middle of the bridge. It was all a bit weird. Luckily we didn’t encounter this looney when we were cycling.

The following day we rode over the hills to Te Araroa – a distance of only 40km but a few good hill climbs to keep us interested. We spent the night at the local camping ground where the manageress (who we called ‘barbie’ because of her hairdo) took us on a tiki-tour to the East Cape lighthouse and told us some more tales about life in the East Cape. One soon gained an impression that last night’s event with the drunken local on a farm bridge was not an isolated event. We were told about one local ‘Liberty’ who had a habit of driving $50 half wrecked cars home while pissed stupid. I thought she was a bit prone to exaggeration but after seeing one of Liberty’s cars parked in the middle of a swampy area between the pub and his house I began to think there was some truth in the stories we had been told. That night we watched a crappy film (at least part of it) in the small cinema at the campground (the world’s most eastern movie theatre – weird, I thought the world was round?)

On Monday morning we said goodbye to Simon who was heading back to Auckland to meet some friends who were coming out from the US. We set off in light drizzle heading south 91km to Tokomaru Bay. The drizzle soon turned to pissing down rain and we took refuge in the Tikitiki RSA where we discovered one of the great outputs from the area – the Ruatoria pie. I hadn’t eaten a pie for years and there wasn’t much other food for sale so a pie it was – and it was surprisingly nice. After a few more pies and a bit of yarn to some of the locals in the RSA, we off in the rain. There were no views of Mt Hikirangi but we soon made up for it with a nice soak in the Te Puia hot springs. After our soak it was all downhill to Tokomaru Bay where we camped for the night on the foreshore.

Our longest day, from Tokomaru Bay to Gisborne (112km), was also our wettest day. It was mixture of rain and a head wind all day. We took turns in slip streaming so we managed to deal with the head winds quite well. But it was wet. We did discover more Ruatoria pies so once again we managed to replenish our energy supplies. Geoff had a cousin in Gisborne who kindly fed us and put us up for the night which was fantastic considering the weather En-route to another one-horse town on the East Cape (Wayne Stevens)

Tramping & Mountaineering 2004 and after a couple of nights of mozzies and rain it was sure good to sleep indoors.

On the following day the weather had cleared for the ride from Gisborne to Matawai. After the rain and misery of the previous day, Wednesday was hot and sunny (really too hot for the hill climbs). Most of the 71km to Matawai was pastureland and rolling hill country. It was all rather nice, except for a couple of punctures that I got (the others had none throughout the whole trip – maybe I ate to many of those Ruatoria pies?) We found a place at Te Karaka where we replenished ourselves on ice creams, Ruatoria pies and free tea. Matawai is a quiet spot – the historic pub, with its museum like bar, and the locals (including one pregnant looking bloke/boozer who took a liking to Beth) were the main attractions in town.

Our final day was from Matawai to Opotiki, a distance of 80km. It was also the hottest day of the trip and probably the hottest day of the summer. We cycled in melting tar but had some awesome downhill rides and swims in the local rivers. The gorge thru to Opotiki was really spectacular and cycling through it was certainly a good way to go. It was great but also sad to finish our trip back at Opotiki. It was a really good ride and a great way to see the country. Was it one of the best coastal rides in the world? Yep certainly the coastal ride from Opotiki to Whangaparoa certainly was and would compare with many other great places in the world. A great trip indeed.

Simon Wakeman (for half the trip), Katja Riedel (leader), Geoff Lewis, Beth Piggott and Wayne Stevens.