The Timber Trail (Instagram version)

We spent a day cycling from Waimarino to near Ongarue where we began the ‘Timber Trail’, emerging from forest two days later in Pureora.

The Timber Trail utilises old logging tramways and signs all along the route explain the various historic marvels of engineering and remnants of pioneering past. One of NZ’s ‘Great Rides’ the website says the Timber Trail is “Widely regarded as New Zealand's Number One multi day ride - traversing awe-inspiring forests, teeming with cacophonous bird life, incredible suspension bridges and so much more.” We were excited.

We set off a bit later than planned from Waimarino due to excessive faffing. The sun was out and warm and a lot of the day was downhill: we felt light and breezy. From the highway two prominent volcanoes accompanied us on our right: Mt Ngauruhoe (2290m) and Mt Ruapehu (2797m) - where people will have been enjoying a great day skiing.

Turning off Highway 4 onto back-country gravel roads we were surrounded by rolling green hills and had the place to ourselves - only coming across a random ostrich (!) for most of the day. Pulling into the only town of size - Taumarunui, mainly to get food supplies for the next 3 days - felt very busy.

We were so lucky the sunshine held for the next few days. The sunlight made delving deep into the ancient heart of Pureora Forest, surrounded by towering trees, all the more beautiful. We caught glimpses of the bright blue sky through gaps in the foliage and the sun lit up the leaves, edging them in golden colours as the day progressed. And there were indeed many birds. A few times we stopped to listen. A favourite was hearing the complex song of the Tui, a wonderfully colourful mix of musical notes and offbeat grunts, wheezes and clicks.

The highlight however were the eight large suspension bridges, including the longest and highest on the NZ Cycle Trail network, the 141-meter-long and 55-metre-high Maramataha Bridge. So much fun to cycle over and offered a break from the enclosed tree canopy, and provided endless green, green views of the surrounding forest accompanied by noisy cascades far below. Each crossing gave us a rare chance to feel the sun and enjoy the blue skies! The only other time we’d see the expanse of sky was when we camped at Piropiro clearing halfway along, the night sky filled with the bright glimmer of the Milky Way.Leia mais