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Well I thought seems as I have cleaned this GS I better go get it dirty 👿Aotuhia, It has long been on my list of places to go and visit so I fired up the beast, kicked the tyres and lept aboard. Headed down to Stratford then onto the forgotten world highway(State Highway 43). Always a good ride on this ride so by the time I reached my turn off at Strathmore the grin was already Darn wide 😀 Brewer Rd only increased it!! The guy who designed that road used a double jointed snake as a ruler 😮 Any Road bike riders it is well worth a look at. It is sealed into the bridge and also has one of Taranaki's many Tunnels. Well worth the short ride in then back out.For me it was turn off at Makahu onto the Upper Mangaehu Rd (metal from start to finish) and head inland. A nice easy Rd to ride with no suprise's and a good surface. For those of you who like gardens Hopkirk Gardens are on this Rd. Although no longer officially open during the Rhodo Festival it has one of the best Displays I have ever seen. But I digress 🙄 Approx halfway on this Rd is the start of the Matemateonga walking track (why would you when you have a bike?). The View at this place was amazing, looking up a huge gully with Ruapaehu and Ngrahoe as the distant backdrop. Unfortunatly I only had my shoe phone camera and the photo does it no justice 🙁 A bit further up the road I came to my first gate (the first of many as it turned out). The sign said no hunting or Dogs and as I wasnt doing either of those I opened it and rode through 😀 It is public Rd but rather than fence it off the farmers fence out the people, what a good idea. I eventually reached the Bridge to Somewhere!! It was built to the same design and around the same time as the bridge to no where but this one has a road on both sides. It spans a deep ravine with a piddly little creek at the bottom. however read the info board and look for the log stuck in the bridge, then try to imagine that piddly little creek sticking that log in the bridge. A rainy day would be my guess, lots of rain in fact (lots and lots and lots of rain in fact 😀 ). However this is where my nice day out started to get exciting 😮 According to the map the Whangamomona Rd goes from this point to Whangamomona (funny that). On my map it was listed as a four wheel drive track, so I thought I would have a look and see what it was like. Should have turned left 😡 Drove over the bridge (turn left before the bridge fool) and out through Aotuhia Station. House's, shearing sheds, dogs, people, stop and ask directions? I dont think so!! I am a male and I have a map 😀 Straight past the no trespassing sign (I am not trespassing sir, I am riding a bike 🙄 ) and into the wilderness. Good road (not like that track that went off to the left) and look, an arrow pointing that way!! First rule, obey the rules that suit you. Arrows mean somewhere is the way they are pointing and as I wanted to go somewhere I followed instructions 😆 Down across a river crossing and away across endless paddocks, with a few gates thrown in for good measure. For some reason the gates had pink spots painted on them so I knew that like the arrow it meant something and I should continue blissfully onwards. After a few ks the road sort of wasnt so flash any more, in fact it was getting a bit rough and the numbers 1 and 2 were spending a lot of time on the display, but the pink things were still on the gates (they must mean something) so onwards I continued. A few more ks and we are now riding a dirt track and starting to wonder about pink things when suddenly a road sign appears, Logging trucks it reads. Sign means Road, road means good, lets keep going I say to no one in particular smiling knowingly at the next pink spot 😀 Lo and behold I come around a corner and there is a house with a letterbox and everything, who the man? I ask myself as I ride straight past it. You the man I reply as I slide to a halt in front of another gate (with pink spots 😆 )No need to stop and make sure I am in the right place, I am Male!!! I have a map!!! Onwards :-D. Up a short sharp climb to the top of the hill, two gates 😡 Why would you have 2 gates so close together in the middle of somewhere? Never mind they had pink spots so through I went. Its all down hill from here I smiled (fool). And it was!It got steeper, narrower and rougher 😕 By now I wasnt quite so confident 😮 then I rounded a corner and shit!! there was no way in the world I could turn round and I knew I had to go down the next piece, I also knew that once I went down it the only way back up was on foot for me and a helicopter for the bike, I rode for about 4 ks on a track more suited to a 2 stroke scrambler. My heart was in my mouth a few times with small watercourse's crossing the track in numerous places and potholes the size of Africa trying to eat me. By now I was down to first gear most of the time and my sphincter was gripping the seat tightly. Hadnt seen a pink spot in a while either, who the man now?Then there was no more track, just grass 😮No use going back I thought. No way in the world I can get this bike up that hill. If all else fails go forwrd! so I did. And found a bridge 😀 Bridge means road, road means good 😀 As a bonus on the far side of the bridge was a gate with pink spots. At the side I had just come from was a sign. It faced the side of the bridge I was on now. So being curious I wlked back and read it. I said (not quite in these words) This bridge is condemned and if you cross it you could die and its your own fault so there fool! Very carefully I walked back to my bike 😮 . At least I had a track again, still pretty rough but hell, its a track and I wasnt complaining. Round a corner up a short sharp hill and blow me down a fourwheel drive truck and a tandem trailer parked in the middle of the track. Best of all they were covered in Bees. oh happy days 😀 A nice man with a smoker and more protective gear than me said Ï wouldnt park there mate, you will get stung". Does this road go to whanga I yelled through my closed visor, Yes he replied and that was the end of that conversation in the middle of a beehive. The track had by now expanded to a whole track with more smooth bits than rough bits so all was good. Then another suprise, a man on a four wheeler. Even though I am male and had a map I stopped and asked "where the hell am I?"How did you get in here on that thing he asked? Never answer a question with a question I thought (but I digress). It turns out I wasnt on the Whanga Rd, in fact I wasnt on a road at all. I was on a farmers track!! At the top of the hill was the boundary and that was the reason for the 2 gates. However I had past the worst of it and if I kept going I would eventually get to Whanga!! Lucky for me I had come this way as the Whanga Rd was real rough I was informed (Lucky, lucky, luck, luck, luck 😮 ) Had I seen the Beekeeper? and with that we went our seperate ways 😀 The track improved to where you could almost call it a metal road, filled with happiness I opened another gate with spots raced round a corner and came face to face with the last gate 😀 and a padlock 😮 Fortunatly someone else had made the effort to break the hinge's so I quietly thanked them and rode on.House's started to appear, with letter boxes and everything!! Eventually I came to an intersection. The sign informed me I was on Putkituna Rd. A quick look at the map and it was on to Kohuratahi Rd State Hwy 43 and into Whanga for a well earned Coke 😀 Chatting with the barmaid (as you do) I mentioned where I had wanted to go and where I had been, Oh just as well you came through that way she said, the other way is really rough!! Rode back to Inglewood knackered and sore, May have to go find out what they call rough one day. I will let you know
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