Waikato scooter rides?

[awa355]

Easter Monday

Easter Monday, I had scoffed all the chocolate easter eggs I had been able to find in the house, so having missed going on a planned ride on Saturday, I was out to make amends today. The weather was going to be a mixture of showers and fine periods. The morning was actually looking quite good untill I was rolling Buggsy out of the garage, then it poured down. Didn’t last long though.
The ride today was going to be a couple of gravel roads between Kawhia and Waitomo. The sun broke through as I cruised out of Te A towards Pirongia. It stayed sunny until I hit the Kawhia road then showers from then on.
At Kaimango road I turned left. This was the start of the gravel. This road was in good condition. With all the rain recently, there was very little water sitting in the wheel tracks and almost no potholes, although the corrugations on the corners bounced Buggsy around a bit. The road follows a ridge through farmland.




Most of the farmland in this part of Waipa is fairly marginal. Fighting the re growth of scrub and erosion damage is never ending. After a few k’s the road passes through a remnant of the Pirongia forest park. There arent any big trees in this forest. Just rubbish trees and ferns. Still nice to ride through.



There is something about being on a narrow gravel road, no houses or farms in sight, fog and drizzle. It gives you a sense of being on your own, being a part of the real country.
After about 12 k’s, I stopped at the junction of Kaimango and Honikiwi roads. I have been up Honikiwi on an earlier ride and onto the half of Kaimango road still ahead of me. The top third of Honikiwi is gravel and runs through steep farmland and roadside reserves.



Buggsy got his photo taken under the signpost so he could show that cute little pink nifty fifty back in town where he’d been. From here Kaimango road keeps the forest park on the right and farmland off to the left. On my last ride over this road, I stopped to take a photo. Today I stopped at the same place. The sun had broken through the clouds and the farm in the valley with the rocky outcrops looked a picture. A rainbow added to the vista.



The photos don’t show the sun shining off the wet grassland and trees very well. From here it was quite a bit of downhill to the Awaroa river and Ruaturu road. I will break this report into two parts to allow me to post a few more photos.

[awa355]

There was a major Enduro event on today which covered farmland on both sides of Ruaturu road. I had come out of Kaimango road, then right out to Harbour road on my earlier ride. This time I was turning left and following Ruaturu road right through to the Te Anga road. The first 6 or 7 k’s follows the Awaroa river. The river was carrying a lot of colour due to the amount of rain having fallen. A few vehicles were parked along the roadside as part of the Enduro event. The sun was out but I could see black clouds at the end of the valley. I stopped and had a chat with a marshall who was on a point for the Enduro. A small number of bikes came through as we talked. A bit further on I stopped to get a picture looking back along the river. I had passed better scenery than here.



The road started to climb away from the river and this snap from the GoPro shows some heavy weather ahead.



The road climbed for quite away, some lovely farm houses down below the road. Just before the road turns away from the river valley I stopped for a bite to eat and enjoyed the view.



Kawhia is on the other side of the hill in the centre. This would be a beautiful ride in the summer. Up around the corner from this spot is a waterfall. The family that farms this land must love this spot in the summer



Looking ahead the road runs through more reserves. The road also narrows a lot and is far rougher. Throwing Buggsy around the corners was a blast. We never had a hairy moment. The scooter really goes well on gravel. The rain was light but persistant. A number of beef cattle were grazing the long acre so it was stay alert time always. I saw no traffic at all on either road.
This next picture is at a monument which is dedicated to a local farmer,
Robert Huston who gave much of his land to the Queen Elizabeth 2 National Trust.



From here the road continued to wind its way along the ridgeline untill a right turn started dropping down towards the Te Anga road. Another 8 kilometres and Buggsy and I were back on tarseal. We had a break at Waitomo then a quiet run back via the Waitomo Valley road.

I was home by 1pm. Did 140k’s and did not need to top up the fuel tank at all. The first section of Kaimango road ( from the Kawhia rd end ) and Ruaturu roads were new to me.
The rain added something to todays ride.

[awa355]

Now, for those who thought they had escaped the ordeal of watching Buggsy crunching up the miles, Tough shit

This is 3 short cuts of Hauturu road after the Mahoe rd junction and heading towards the Te Anga road. . Probably the smoothest, section on the road.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIB4gtPXHBQ

[Moi]

Go Buggsy!

Three cheers for Buggsy and his intrepid rider!

Again, thanks for sharing your ride. Must admit to a little bit of envy... you have a great roads to explore and sights to see.

Cheers

[frogfeaturesFZR]

thanks for posting !

[awa355]

I decided to cut back on the high speed reports and write about a slower paced ride this morning, so all you lot that read slowly, can keep up

I ride the bike around town alot and used to do a lot of 30-40 k rides around the local roads but had gotten a bit lazy over the last 12 months. Got the bike out of the garden shed and pointed it for the horizon. Wearing a tee shirt, shorts and jandals was not a brilliant idea. The drizzle had stopped but the wind chill factor left my arms and feet fairly cold for most of the ride. Riding along Te Rahu road out of town then into Coulter road. This is mostly flat with a couple of slight rises towards the Cambridge road end. I stopped to watch a roadside logging operation for a spell. ( wasn't tired, honest ). As I was pushing off, a woman jogger walked around the corner, I said " Shouldn't you be running?". Without batting an eyelid she replied " Shouldn't you be cycling? " Smartarse,

At the end of Coulter rd, I hung a left into Woodstock road. Another narrow road through some well developed farmland. The Mangapiko stream crosses this road so I pulled up to take a breather.



The countryside looks lovely as this pic shows, lots of old Oak trees and beautiful homes.



Unfortunately, the state of the Mangapiko stream isn't quite as nice. Too many people who dont give a shit about dumping rubbish off a bridge. The view off the other side of the bridge shows a car door, wheels, pipes, and household rubbish.



Riding on, Woodstock rd became Storey road then back onto Te Rahu road again. I cruised on, the body was holding up quite well. Stopped part way and got this pic.



Straight open road and not a cop in sight, Choice,

Stopped at the El Chepo Cafe at Te Rahu hall.



The outside tap is halfway down the side of the building.

Crossing onto ngaroto road I passed a stud farm. Stopped to capture these young horses with the ph camera. Horses are usually very photogenic animals.



About half way along Ngaroto rd and my left knee was starting to run out of fluid, oil whatever lubes the joint. Still it held up untill back at home. Probably only about 20 k at the most but it was still an enjoyable ride.

Buggsy will get let loose tomorrow, not sure where but it will be a run across the Waikato somewhere.

[Moi]

You've had fun today...

As for "Wearing a tee shirt, shorts and jandals was not a brilliant idea." - you're not on a scooter now!

Wear proper gear when you're on a push-bike - lycra's the way to go!

[awa355]

You've had fun today...

As for "Wearing a tee shirt, shorts and jandals was not a brilliant idea." - you're not on a scooter now!

Wear proper gear when you're on a push-bike - lycra's the way to go!

With my grey hair and body???

[awa355]

You've had fun today...

As for "Wearing a tee shirt, shorts and jandals was not a brilliant idea." - you're not on a scooter now!

Wear proper gear when you're on a push-bike - lycra's the way to go!

With my grey hair and body??? At least I was better dressed than these idiots.

[Moi]

Bloody heck mate!!

Where's the R rating? Nearly burnt the retinas with that vision!

[awa355]

I had to ride over to Putaruru today so thought I would snap the Waikato tag at the same time. The countryside is looking good. Plenty of green grass so I'm not too sure just what the cockys will be grizzling about this week. An early lunch at the sisters and I decided to top up Buggsy before doing the tag detour on the way home.

The Waotu road had no traffic and the surface good so Buggsy went into cruise mode till we got to the Waotu school. A left at the T junction , down the hill and right into Waotu South road. The Jim Barnett reserve is about 1 kilometre along. The Barnett family were early pioneers in the Waotu district and this reserve is the family's gift to the area. This 1st photo was going to be the Waikato tag.



However some sly fox from Hamilton snuck in under the radar while I was eating date scones at the sisters. When I got home the sod had already posted this tag plus the new one. To make matters worse, I stopped right outside the new tag on my way home.

Anyway, after taking the photo I cruised on up to the end of the road. This road climbs along the hills along side the middle reaches of Lake Arapuni. In the early days this part of the country was thick with heavy native forests, particulary Rimu. One hauler was in the one place for two years pulling Rimu, Matai, Totaras. Now it is some of the prettiest farming country in the Waikato.



Pockets of remaining native fill the gullys and mature trees dot the paddocks. Anyone who has been on Lake Arapuni will have noticed Waotu Quarries eating into the hills. This would be one of the oldest and largest quarries in the Waikato. I remember as a primary school student on a school trip out to this quarry over 50 years ago. The road down to the quarry was ( and still is ) bloody steep. I can still see ' Super Coopers' old bedford bus being towed up the hill when leaving. Just along from the quarry is a short gravel road that crosses the farmland to give some nice views of the upper body of the lake.

Back on the Waotu road I wound Buggsy up and like a speeding bullet ( ok, a BB pellet maybe ) we carved up the corners, flattened hills etc untill arriving at Jones Landing. This was going to be my ' new' tag The lake was so calm. I got this panarama shot.



Some trees were still in Autumn colours.



From here it was a cruisy ride back to Te A. Buggsy is playing up a bit when cold, but when warmed up, it goes damn well for a 100cc scooter. I'd love to see this motor in a bike frame and a 5sp gearbox.

I am hopeing to get a marathon ride done in July. Will need to throw a set of tyres on it before then.

[awa355]

The next two days would be minding a 3 ½ and a 8 yr old so decided to escape for a short ride while Nan was home. Fueled up and headed west. I wanted to re visit some roads and ride a couple of roads I hadn’t been on before around the Raglan district.

Past Pirongia and left into Te Pahu road. No traffic to speak of and soon swung into Old Mountain rd. I had ridden this road some months ago and wanted to have a change from the main Raglan road. Shortly after the turnoff it reverts to gravel for most of its length untill the settlement of Waitetuna. It also climbs over the Kaoamahunga range. The winter and rain had taken its toll on this road. Deep corrugations, potholes and water channels snaking their way down the slopes made for a steady but slow ride. The country is mostly drystock farming in this region. Lots of steep hill sides and rocky outcrops.



Part way down the west side of the road I stopped here.



These featured as a Waikato tag a while ago. They were placed here as a tank barricade back in the war years. The theory being that after the Japs had invaded Raglan, they would attempt to drive their tanks over the road only to come to a grinding halt here. I wonder if it crossed Capt Mannering's mind that having came all that way, that the Japs just might blast the concrete blocks to pieces. Anyway, a couple of Jappos did get through because Te A now has about three Suchi shops.

Down off the saddle and the road levels out and it’s a much faster pace into Waitetuna. This is a motley collection of trendy ‘ wannabe ‘life stylers. You know when you are coming to a life style block, ponies, black faced sheep and old rusty wagon wheels. I swung left at the school onto Waitetune Valley road. About 6 ks of wide smooth seal and sweeping corners untill the gravel kicks in. I turned around here as I had more gravel roads lined up later. Back onto H23 and a steady ride into Raglan. Quite a few motorbikes heading that way.

After a sammy or two and a cuppa down at the harbours edge I decided to check out a view of the harbour from above the town that I had been told of. Across the estuary bridge and onto Te Hutewai road. This climbs for about 6-7 k’s. A lovely short hillclimb for the road warriors. Over the top of the ridge this road is gravel through untill it hits the Ruapuke road. Here’s a view of the township and harbour taken from the road.



From here, I rode back into town and through to Maungatawhiri road. This follows the ridges through to the Te Mata road. All gravel but this was a huge improvement on the Old Mountain road. It is also a main access road for the farmers. Buggsy barrelled along here, infact we were winding up a tad to fast. Meeting a Falcon on a corner was a sharp reminder that you cannot throw the anchors on in a hurry when on metal. No biggie. Out on the Te Mata road and just a short hop to the village.

The Ruapuke road starts here. I rode this on my Kawhia to Raglan ride back in November. Back then Buggsy and I rode right around Mt Karori on the Whaanga road. This time I just wanted to unleash Buggy’s 6hp on the corners of the first 10 or so kilometres. Sweeping S bends, dips, cambers, this is one of my favourite sections of road. Returning along this road was just as much fun. When I see all the big sportsbikes making their way out to Raglan for a blast, I think what a shame none of them add this road to their ride. It maybe a 20k there and back addition from the main road but worth the effort.



Back at TeMata I headed for the Kawhia road. This winds its way through a native bush reserve to the Bridal Veil Falls. A lovely spot but a hell of a lot of steps if you want to veiw the falls from the bottom lookout. Also this road has had a few slips from the rains.



Back home on Google maps, there is a gravel road ( Plateau ) that winds through hill country and links up with Van Houtte rd which would bring me out onto SH23. Down Plateau road we sailed. All gravel but in a reasonable state. After climbing uphill for quite away I came to a locked gate across the road. No continuing on to Van Houtte rd here. Turning around we headed back to the Bridal Veil Falls road. Plateau road, with wind turbines on the skyline.



Returning to the tarseal it was a steady run back out to the main road. Nothing spectacular to note about the ride home. The temperture had dropped considerbly so the fire going back home was a nice welcome. The wife wasn’t so welcoming tho’ She thought I was only going for a short blast. Well, 220k and 5 hours later wasn’t much more than a ‘ short blast ‘.

[awa355]

A few bikes that passed me just before the turnoff to SH22. Someone may reconize the riders.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxkTHeW13h4

[kevfromcoro]

Great post and pics..
Keep em coming...

[Moi]

Another great write-up. I really enjoy reading of your adventures and escapades... some lovely country around your parts.

I trust the Falcon was of the native feathered variety, not that Australian import