Wellsford to Kaihu Farms

Looking at the elevation profile for today, I was drawn to the middle part of the ride, going into Dargaville and north from there. "Looks like a flat day," thought I. This was wishful thinking and a very poor evaluation of the map. This day's work, all seven and a half hours on the bike, was tough. Not only were the hills heading up Highway 1 and then westward to the Dargaville flats big and mean, but the wind blowing 30 knots into my face on the flats made them seem very steep. But, the killer was the last hill, just before dusk, up about 1300 feet (400 meters or so) to the lovely Kaihu Farms, run by Michel and Ginny.

Michel and Jinny have a backpackers' farm, up at the top of the hill on the southern part of the Mataraua Forest, up above the Kaihu River. They offer a perfectly wonderful space for the weary traveler, without pretense and lots of space to make oneself at home. They were quite patient with me, totally exhausted from my ride, and fed me well both dinner and breakfast, before sending me off this morning.

While reading the newest Harry Potter book, I felt that I had stumbled into something between the Weasley's home and something rather Tolkien-esque.

The moving time was 7:12 and total distance of 82.34 miles and vertical elevation during the day of 5814 feet.

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As you can see, by the elevation profile, the hill at the end of this long day was cruel and unusual punishment.

The day had far too many of these signs: