Don’t forget the highway.Taupo to Piropiro Campsite to The Forgotten World Highway Camp.
Myself and Richard left Taupo to head for the start of the Timber Trail around 45 miles away but not before we sampled the hot springs at Spa Park. Oh my days! The steaming hot water from the rocks meeting the cold water of the river allows you to sit in the waters edge and take a steam bath. It’s one of the strangest feelings I have felt and one of the nicest. Add into the fact it was free and it becomes obvious why there was a small group there enjoying the spa so early in the morning. What a way to start a day!
We headed through back roads, hills and rural highways to reach a camp still 13kms from the start of the Timber Trail and set up for the night. It was starting to get late and it would have been a push to make it to the official starting camp. It rained quite heavily shortly after setting up so the decision to stop riding was proven to be the correct one.
Reaching the trail start the next morning was hard work. The road was unsealed, hilly and very difficult to ride fully loaded but after a good push we made the trail and headed off to make it to Piropiro Camp some 40 miles away. The trail was awesome. Yes it is designed for mountain bikes but with a bit of care fully bagged touring bikes can enjoy its twists and turns. There are sections that stay in the forest and sections that cut out into hill tracks that have been cleared. It’s a complete test of your cycling skills to navigate the grooves in the ground while going from flat to descent to climb even more so when carrying 30kgs in the panniers.
The highlight was reaching the rope suspension bridge over the gorge. Such an amazing sight and a truly unique riding experience going across it. We made it to Piropiro quite early so set up, ate and chatted to some other cyclists before turning in.
The following morning we left the trail and headed to the start of the Forgotten World Highway that would take us to the west coast and the city of New Plymouth. The campsite we made it to was a free camp alongside a river with stunning views of the valley further down stream. The highway is going to be 2 full days riding with no towns or shops just awesome roads and stunning scenery. Bring it on.
