Day 3 to Pouto

 So Day 3… we agreed that we would get ready by 8 at Waipoua Forest camp to make our 630pm ferry but of course I was fart arseing around and we didn’t leave until 840, we rode up the hill whilst I collected the items Chris was losing off his bike, Chris was being told the road was closed and we couldn’t get out… bugger, fortunately some forestry guys told us about the back entrance up an old forestry road the locals are using. So off we went slogging up this forestry road fortunately it took us to the top of the hill we were going to have to ride to anyways. Deffinately a good morning wake up!!! Managed to get some reception at the top hence why no posts from Waipoua Forest the night before. From here we rode down to Donnelly’s crossing and got some grapes off two guys fixing a digger. Gravel roads and a punishing head wind but we kept plugging away and found a couple of good downhill sections.

We got to S12 and rode along missing our turnoff for more gravel roads by 100m so turned around and got back on track more punishing gravel farming roads and stopped at the Poplar chamois stop to reapply. Few hills to ride which I may have pushed just to stretch some other muscles. Riding along this gravel road and a teenage guy on a bike pulls up “can I ride with you” he says pretty random but ok all good I assumed he’d just been on exercise ride. Turns out there was another dude riding with Chris they were the “Northland Trail angels” and had watermelon and cold water for the riders. Jesse the guy who rode next to me had done 14kms that day back and forth, we stopped and had a chat and they were tracking alll riders online and had been doing so since 2016. The watermelon was excellent and I needed some more water so thanks so much to these 3. 

We rode from there into Dargaville and had a great feed at the whole foods shop and then got back on the road 66kms to Pouto Point into the wind up and down flat and long. This was a slog but if never been along there so it was interesting to see. This road kept on giving and we ended up finishing in the dark again expecting to see the camp around every next corner. It finally appeared the “Pouto Marine Hall” great old Villa/Hall we camped out front and Chris cooked Couscous beetroot and beans then off to bed.