My 30th birthday was last month. I was kind of dreading it--- not because of the fact that I'm getting old, but because it's kind of hard/uncomfortable to be somewhere for your birthday when many people don't KNOW it's your birthday, and when they find out, they feel guilty and say all the "Oh you should've told us, we could've *insert celebration idea here*." And I've never been one to broadcast or countdown to my birthday. So planning something to do was tricky.
I toyed with the idea of shooting (flying, I mean) across the Tasman to Australia for a quick visit. Would've been fun, but I'd probably have been miserable celebrating my birthday alone. My awesome pal Steve and I had been discussing another mountain bike adventure, and it turned out my birthday weekend worked well for both our schedules.
Bring on the Heaphy Track 30th Birthday Adventure!!
thanks bushandbeyond.co.nz for the map
The Heaphy Track is located in Kahurangi National Park at the NW corner of the South Island. It's one of NZ's "Great Walks" (like the Tongariro Crossing i did with Brea in January)--- a premier very scenic walking track. It's the longest Great Walk--- 78.4 km. Just this May, they opened the track to mountain bikers as a test trial to see if it was mountainbikeable. Steve and I did some research and were under the impression it was going to be a wet and muddy ride.
The thing that made this trip different from our Queen Charlotte Track mountainbike trip is there were no pack transfers. That means, everything you need, you have to carry with you. Steve packed all of his gear in a super big (35 liter!) backpack, and I chose to carry some on my back and some strapped to a rack on the back of my bike. MAJOR lesson learned from the trip--- biking with 3 days of clothes, food, and supplies on your bike/back makes biking and balancing MUCH trickier! You will be much more prone to falling. And bruising :)
Once again, NZ makes organizing these sorts of adventures so gosh darn easy. We found a bike shop owner and paid him to transport my car from the start of the track to the end (a 5 hour journey by road!). That way we didn't have to worry about times of arrival or shuttles, etc.
I picked Steve up from the Blenheim airport on the 15th. He boxed his bike up and it came on the small 10 seater commuter plane with him! We drove to Motueka (his hometown) and I got to meet his mum. We had a lovely lunch then headed to Collingwood, the nearest town to the track, to meet our car transport guy.
The next morning (my birthday!) Steve cooked me a lovely birthday eggs-n-toast breakfast and we drove to the start of the track, following our car transport guy. This drive involved three river fords. I WAS SCARED TO DEATH that my car was not going to make it across these flowing rivers. She did just fine (I was sweating the entire time).
Here we are, fresh and smiling at the start of the track in a little town called Takaka.
Bring it on, Heaphy!
Here's the track profile. Day 1 was an 18km climb from sea level to 900 meters. Whose crazy idea was this anyways?!?!?
Since it's winter, the track wasn't populated at all. In the 3 days we were on the track, we saw a total of 7 other people. So it was perfectly acceptable to plop down right in the middle of the track for a break.
After about 4 hours of huffing and puffing uphill biking (and pushing the bike at many times due to fatigue), we reached Flanagans Corner. This is 915 meters-- the highest point of the track! And the view was....
CRAP. We were literally in the clouds. At least there was a nice picnic table to stop and relax.
We were about to hop on our bikes and do the last few km before reaching our first night's hut---- I look down on the ground, and what do I find?
A $50 bill! Cha-ching! Heaphy Birthday to ME! Who finds money in the middle of the FOREST?!?!Luckyluckylindsay, as my mother would say :)
This is Perry Saddle Hut, our home for our first night. We had the whole hut to ourselves.
The day was overcast, so we really weren't that wet. Just tired from all that uphill biking. Here's a peek inside the hut, with all our gear spread out, since we were the only ones there for the night.
A warm cup of tea was a nice way to relax. These collapsable mugs are highly recommended when space is a premium in your pack!
Steve cooked me my birthday dinner, too! Aka backcountry dehydrated just add boiling water gourmet BEEF CURRY! Spicy and delicious... and filling!
And much to my surprise, after dinner he pulls a beautifully wrapped present out of his pack.. for me!
YAY! He carried all this chocolately goodness up a 900 meter bike climb just for me. How sweet.
A little later that evening, he disappeared into one of the bedrooms. I thought something was wrong or he wasn't feeling well. Next thing you know he comes out with a lolly cake full of candles and singing Happy Birthday to me!!!
I almost cried! How sweet! A birthday party in a hut in the clouds! The first time in my life I've blown out candles with a headlamp on ;-)
Steve made sure it was an awesome birthday for me. He suceeded! Thanks Buddy!
The start to Day#2 was my favorite part of the track. After being so high, there was some VERY fun downhill riding to some open tussock clearings.
At Cave Brook, there's a pole that, over the years, trampers have tied old boots on.
Not just boots actually- there were pink high heels, flipflops, and fuzzy Homer Simpson Slippers tied on, as well!
Here's Steve, playing peek-a-boo behind the pole :)
Sometimes there were beautifully constructed sturdy bridges to aid in crossing the many rivers on the track.
Then sometimes there were signs like this.
This was the BIG RIVER. And yes, it was in flood. Need to use the footbridge.
What is a footbridge, you ask? One of these. A skinny, bouncy metal cagelike device meant for single person crossing of rivers. Definitely not designed for bikers.
Here I am crossing the BIG RIVER on the footbridge. It's hella hard to balance your bike to walk across as the bridge bounces with every step!
Here's a few closeups of Steve on the bridge. The going up and going down bit was the hardest.
Yay, bridge #1 almost done! (He hasn't made it down just yet.) Look how narrow it is!!
Little did we know there were about 6 more on the track ahead. Fun times!
The trail terrain changed just as much as the scenery did. Here is some course gravel track.
And then came the mud.
The closest thing I can compare biking in this to is driving on a super icy road.
A good portion of the 2nd half of Day #2 was unrideable just due to the mud and the rocks. We did a lot of pushing. But we stayed to our schedule and made it to James McKay Hut as planned.
For some reason, I don't have any pictures of the outside of the hut (probably because we were anxious to get inside, get the fire started and WARM UP! But here was the view out the window... in the distance is the Tasman Sea and the West Coast!
We woke up Day #3 morning to rain and wind. Which brought about more mud.
My brake pads all decided to wear out that morning (what IS it with me and Day #3 bike mishaps? Oh well, at least nothing was broken this time!). I had to take it verrrry very careful on the downhills. By early afternon we made it to the mouth of the Heaphy River and the Wild West Coast!
There was a weka or two at the Heaphy Hut, trying to see if we'd share any of our afternoon snacks.
Also, this was where I spotted a Powelliphanta!
Powelliphanta are giant land snails and they're an endangered species. They can grow up to 90mm across and can weigh up to 90 grams! They're normally nocturnal but I think this one popped out to catch some of the afternoon's rain.
What comes after rain? The sun--- and rainbows! Yay.
Off we went on the last leg of the journey-- the track hugged the coast the entire time. Great scenery, much different compared to the days before!
At this point I was frustrated and cranky and tired and ready to be DONE. I beleve this rainbow was a "You can do it, Linz!" sign.
Parts of the track were actually on the beach. Definitely not bikeable. But definitely made for fun pictures!
A few more bridges....
and we were DONE! The sun had set and our last few km consisted of pushing our bikes in the dark, but we made it out alive!! 3 days, 2 nights, 78 km's, ZERO broken bikes (but 3 out of 4 sets of worn out brake pads), nine jillion bruises, and one severe toenail contusion--- we did it!!
Once again, I owe immeasurable thanks to my biking buddy Steve who made my birthday a super happy one and put up with me through my many moods on this challenging ride. Thanks for sticking with me, Steve!
These past 30 years have been quite a ride.... who knows what's in store for the next 30??
Stay tuned...
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