Back to Paeroa

That dreaded 2km of steep road to get up and away from Waihi Beach was ahead of us.  I planned to get to Waihi by 9 to catch the 9:45 Historic Train to Waikino - a 30min ride covering about 9km.  But it would give my legs a little rest before continuing onto Paero, only a 15km ride to the B&B.  

I woke at 5.30, listening for that westerly wind.  Not too bad yet! Good news!  a quick breakfast and soon Hennie was loaded up and by 7:15am we were on our way.

I thought it would take at least an hour to push Hennie up the 2km winding road.  We managed to get to the warning side, before I had to get off and start pushing!  There were a couple of flats, probably totalling only about 300m, which meant I could cycle a bit before the next struggle upwards.  After about 30 mins, we popped out the top!  That didn't take that long after all.  Head wind now, but thankfully there were a few hedges that protected us from the wind and was quite surprised to arrive so quickly at the intersection onto Highway 2, leading right into Waihi.

We rolled down to the old train station only to see that the week-day timetable only leaves at 11:30.  Do I wait or do I ride onwards?  it was time for a proper coffee, so I decided I would go up into the town and have a look around before coming back to catch the train.  Coffee found as well as slice and a bit of people watching, while sitting in the cool sunshine  Waihi and also Paeroa are the sort of towns, where one might get cranky if there's not a parking place outside the shop you want to visit.  

Being at the end of a leg of the Hauraki Rail trail, didn't make it any friendlier towards cyclists tho!  signs everywhere - no bikes here and a few rev heads unable to overtake that safely.  I had tried to lock Hennie to a bike rack next door to the coffee shop, but the cranky old shop keeper came out and said no, I wasn't allowed to park there.  Those barriers were to stop cars ramming into his shop.  Surely that doesn't happen here, I say?  oh yes, there's been some in the past, but not for 20 years...  

I went up to see the Old Pump house and to peer over the edge of a massive hole in the ground where some gold had been mined.  Still an eyesore!

eventually we returned to the train station, bought our tickets - $2 for Hennie and $15 for me and waited for the guards to get things ready for today's journey.  Hennie was heaved into a open carriage which was lined with a bike rack.  She was joined by several elecric bikes and only a couple of the old school!  Hennie was the only one loaded for a long tour, the others being day trippers.  There was also an open carriage for passengers, but I chose to sit inside the original carriage.  A few people stayed out there for awhile, before coming inside to warm up again!

It was quite a pleasant and relaxing ride in the rickety train, catching glimpses of the trail that we had ridden on Tuesday.    Short and sweet!  Soon we were in Waikino and Hennie and I were heading off back to Karangahake and onwards to Paeroa.

Instead of riding back through the Karangahake tunnel, I thought we would follow the Windows walk, which scouted around the other side of the river.  Hmmm...  not the best idea!  it was narrow and definitely not for cycling unless you're Danny Macaskill!!  There was one section where Hennie almost went swimming!  A steep downhill corkscrew section - only 2 sharp bends, very steep and Hennie really wanted to bounce ahead and leave me all alone.  Thankfully, I managed to keep her on the narrow path.  

The last obstacle was the suspension bridge.  All OK to get onto the bridge, but then there were steep steps to get off the other end!  So again, Hennie nearly got dropped as she tried to race ahead.  So defo not a bike path andmaybe that should be made more obvious...  

But after that little drama, we scooted off along the easy path that led right back into Paeroa and onto the Paeroa B&B, where I am now ensconsed in a wonderful charming old style home.  Very lovely welcome too, from a big old and mostly deaf dog.  All good.

Goodbye Waihi Beach, now the walk begins!

The Pumphouse - Waihi

The train station

Inside the original carriage

Where Hennie almost went swimming