15 Mar Piopio
It was a chilly morning in Mokau and with a steep range of hills it was quite a long time for the sun to get up and warm up the area. It was headed for a fine autumn day with little or no wind. I stocked up on some food at the local garage at Awakino. I wasn't sure what was actually at Piopio although I did remember it as being quite a small village.
Once I left Awakino I was climbing up the Awakino Valley, it began gently enough with a reasonably wide road and a good shoulder. There were a couple of serious slips along the way that are quite scary on a bike. Partly its a fear of rock falls, but also of dodging the rubble on road. And when that rubble might go flying with cars and trucks going past at speed, the danger is real. The narrowness of the road with the trucks that go flying past given that its a state highway that connects Taranaki with the King Country and the Waikato. I was a lone cyclist andI can see why fellow cyclists would avoid the route. There are a couple steep hills that I walked up. And I was pleased when the sign for Piopio came into view. I asked at the local dairy and they pointed me to the free camping area and gave me a key to the toilet block.
I pitched tent, bought some further supplies and settled down for the night.
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