TA Day 9 - Pureora to Taumarunui

 68.1 miles, 5213’ climbing

Lodging:  Kelly’s Riverside Motel

We spent the whole day in the forest on the Timber Trail, and it was fantastic. 

As we pedaled out of Pureora, we noticed that birds were making some otherworldly sounds but insects were quiet. The trail immediately started winding through a forest of ferns and trees and bushes with moss on the tree trunks. We took a few short videos with our little drone. Most locations have had wind or overhanging g trees, but we found a more open area. The drone brushed under some grasses that were about 8’ tall, tangled the leaves I the propellers, and crashed. 

In the early afternoon we stopped at the Timber Trail lodge for pizza and a coke. It’s an upscale place. We also looked at the Camp Epic glamping, but didn’t stay since they had no food. A lot of bikepackers had stayed there the night before, and it seemed like a fun place.

We carried on through the forest trails, crossing several long swing bridges. They felt strange to ride across. After a few miles, we reached an old tramway terminus, something like a rail trail. At times it was carved into the hillside so that it felt like a tunnel with moss and ferns and rock on the sides. We had a long descent where it was hard to see the trail surface as we came in and out of bright sunlight, finally arriving at the Orangue Spiral where the trail went through a tunnel looping down on itself. 

The afternoon was getting late as we descended remarkably smoothe gravel single track. Ed saw some small critters running ahead, maybe goats. Then we bumped down a smaller track to a farmed area. A herd of deer on a farm made strange honking/barking noises as we passed. Later we saw quail with puffball sized chicks, and there were some wild turkeys.

In Taumarunui, we got a room at Kelly’s Riverside motel.