Day 27: After leaving Taupo, the road climbs gradually to Tongariro National park which is about 100km away. I’m getting pretty worn down as far as biking goes so I split it up into a two day ride. I stopped halfway at Turangi after a beautiful day’s ride. The skies were clear but since I’m inland now and getting into the mountains, it’s getting colder. The wind chill was around 50 degrees while isn’t great to bike in since I don’t really have cold weather clothes. It’s a lot nicer once I got out of the wind and set up camp. The visibility was great all day which was fortunate because there were a lot of great views of the mountains and Lake Taupo.
Day 28: There is a 6 km climb shortly after Turangi which I could have avoided but enjoyed doing in a way. There were some nice views and going slowly up the hill meant less wind so I was a lot warmer. I miss the hot days, I don’t care for 60 degree weather, I’d rather it be 100 but I don’t think that’ll happen in New Zealand. It should start getting warmer though which I’m looking forward to. The rest of the day was full of climbs but at the end of the day I was at the top which means the next days of riding will be mostly downhill. I took a detour off of the main road because it was still early in the day and there was a sign for the Chateau Tongariro which sounded like something worth checking out. It was 6 km of climbing since it was going directly towards Mt. Ruapehu. The Chateau ended up just being a hotel which pissed me off because that was the only reason I went up. The ride down was easy at least and I set up camp at a DoC site which is always cool because they’re cheap. Plus, I don’t really get to camp out in the open often, I’ve mostly been staying in motor camps and hostels because of the cold. Before the sun went down, the sky got dark with storm clouds and it did get very cold, dropping below freezing.
Day 29: I woke up and it was in the mid forties and raining. I didn’t want to stay at the DoC site but I wanted to stick around the national park so I could do some of the walks around the mountains so I headed to the National Park Village just 6 km away. It was a pretty brutal and I’m glad I only went the 6 km because there were heavy strong winds and the rain felt like ice on my hands. I set up my tent at a hostel and I plan on sticking around for a few days until the weather clears up and I can go for some walks. The weather is shitty and I need a break from biking so it’s a good time to take a few days off.
Day 28: There is a 6 km climb shortly after Turangi which I could have avoided but enjoyed doing in a way. There were some nice views and going slowly up the hill meant less wind so I was a lot warmer. I miss the hot days, I don’t care for 60 degree weather, I’d rather it be 100 but I don’t think that’ll happen in New Zealand. It should start getting warmer though which I’m looking forward to. The rest of the day was full of climbs but at the end of the day I was at the top which means the next days of riding will be mostly downhill. I took a detour off of the main road because it was still early in the day and there was a sign for the Chateau Tongariro which sounded like something worth checking out. It was 6 km of climbing since it was going directly towards Mt. Ruapehu. The Chateau ended up just being a hotel which pissed me off because that was the only reason I went up. The ride down was easy at least and I set up camp at a DoC site which is always cool because they’re cheap. Plus, I don’t really get to camp out in the open often, I’ve mostly been staying in motor camps and hostels because of the cold. Before the sun went down, the sky got dark with storm clouds and it did get very cold, dropping below freezing.
Day 29: I woke up and it was in the mid forties and raining. I didn’t want to stay at the DoC site but I wanted to stick around the national park so I could do some of the walks around the mountains so I headed to the National Park Village just 6 km away. It was a pretty brutal and I’m glad I only went the 6 km because there were heavy strong winds and the rain felt like ice on my hands. I set up my tent at a hostel and I plan on sticking around for a few days until the weather clears up and I can go for some walks. The weather is shitty and I need a break from biking so it’s a good time to take a few days off.
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