Thursday, February 26: More or less cloudy the whole day, increasing in the afternoon, but no rain

Cycling: Old Coach Road, 30.1 km
Swimming: 1200 m

Danni’s

GPS Track/Topo Map

Got up closer to 8:00 than previously the case and had breakfast before Simon turned up with his daily bread. That was the last of the eggs, so I will have to go shopping in the afternoon for something for tomorrow morning.

The Old Coach Road as a mountain bike trail was on the programme for today. I was ready to go just before 9:30 and cycling down Railway Row I seriously considered going back and trying on the breast mount for the camera. That wouldn’t have been such a good idea.

The track itself is marked from the Powderhorn. For the first couple of kilometres it follows the road (just as well to take the road itself as the grassy path parallel to the road is rather bumpy) until a car park at the end of Marshalls Road. From here the trail starts by following what is obviously (from the masonry) the eponymous coach road. Still rather bumpy, and dew-covered in the early morning. Had to dismount once or twice to keep going; eventually switched the bike into major gear #1, which I used for most of the rest of the way.

The track goes over farmland to begin with and then enters the national park with its mixed podocarp forest. When the track departs from the coach road, it is rather narrow and that in combination with the overgrown forest makes for an exhilarating ride. The Hapuawhenua viaducts old and new were soon reached, and the path continues upwards to the highest point. On this section there is a berm of fresh gravel laid out, no doubt, to fortify and stabilise the track, but at about 10-15 cm height the edges are still rather dangerous. From the top the descent is over the more or less raw coach road, with root staircases as an additional obstacle. About halfway down is the Old Taonui Viaduct.

Soon afterwards the railway crossing is reached, and then a rather straight stretch along toitoi and cabbage tree to Clydes Access and then quickly to Horopito with its extensive car cemetery.

On the way back I took a detour to the Taonui Viaduct and shot a bracket, which I repeated lower down under the bridge. I also took the detour to Hapuawhenua and shot that as well, and rode across it and back again. Should have noticed: Once the intervalometer has set the camera up for bracketing, then normal shooting results in bracketed shots. Not sure quite what to make of this – include an option to turn it off afterwards? Or leave it?

Once back it was time for lunch which was a couple of slices of bread with some ham. Then today’s data was set up for crunching. Got declined for the first place in Wellington, so will have to try again. Set up day 4 with Pea’s picture for publication tomorrow.

Then it was time (finally) for the pool. Packed in the togs and towel, and the camping cooking pots that I was donating to Yeti, and took off for town. Pool was populated with a small group of kids doing swimming practice, but that didn’t bother me much. Admission was all of $2, and while the facilities were not Olympic, they were satisfactory. Length was about 25 m, and I ended up doing 1200 m in around 8’30” per 200 m.

Had a look around town for where I might eat: The lamb shanks at the Mountain Rocks looked reasonable for $27, the Indian place looked like it might have some tasty curries for under $20, but in the end I chose the classic burger @ the Powderhorn again, just to keep the distances under control. And quite possibly because I was served by the supercute Anja from Dresden.

That was Ohakune, at least Ohakune in summer and I think I have done most of the sports that can be done here in summer; in winter it would be an entirely different matter. Hard to believe but tomorrow is day 14 since arriving here. Of course, the two Great Walks have taken up the bulk of the time but in two weeks I’ve come to know Ohakune inside and out, and there is plenty to do around here apart from the Great Walks that it would be a good place to spend some time in.