30 Mar Made it !!

Friday
Today I rode from Houhoura Camping ground through to Waitiki Landing which is the last shop, cafe, camp ground, and petrol before the Cape. When I stopped at Te Kao for a coffee, a gentleman approached me and suggested I should overnight at Waitiki, and go to Cape Reinga the next day.  His reasoning was that there are a number of very steep hills on the way.  At Waitiki I asked a local how bad the hills were and he downplayed them as being being not too bad.
I booked in at the backpacker's lodge at Waitiki ($25 - so not too bad) and began to read the paper.
A group of UK riders in Air New Zealand tops pulled in for a lunch and said they would be doing the Cape that afternoon. How bad could it be - its only 21 kms.  So I decided to take all my panniers off and ride the 21kms and return the same afternoon.  The alternative was to keep the gear on and camp in the DoC  campground for the night and head south agian the next morning. Not a prospect I looked forward to.

Well, the gentleman at Te Kao was correct - there are lots of hills in the 21kms.   But there was a strong tail wind helping me along.   And it didn't take me too long to reach the cape.  The British cyclists turned up just as I was leaving to head back to Waitiki.

It was all a bit of an anti-climax.  After all those days on the road I expected something a bit more welcoming.  Its all very static and windswept.  Brass bands and fireworks would have been nicebut not realistic.

I also hoped for some cell phone access to tell someone else (like Kay for instance) that I had made it.
The last powerpole is at the start of the Te Paki Rd 17 kms away.  So there's no power anywhere near the cape.

The Ride back...
What was a strong tailwind became a strong headwind heading back.  There are a couple of long hill climbs on the way back and for a lot of that, I walked uphill.  At Te Paki I started putting my thumb out for a lift from whoever might chance to come along and take pity on a geriatric cyclist.  A couple of British students from Cambridge (UK) did just that and took me over the hill back to Waitiki.  Not a long distance but would have been quite a sizable climb.

I ordered a large seafood platter and a bottle of bubbly to celebrate.