Maeraetai to Maraetai
Date: 3 Feb 2024
We passed Maraetai on Tuesday and now we’re at Lake Maraetai 5 days later. We could stop now and have a really catchy name for the trip – Mariah to Thai? nah.
The morning started with a nip in the air and a whiff of rain, but a perfect breakfast and the best coffee so far, at Rhubarb, set us up. With the Arapuni to Mangakino section of The Waikato River trails closed, roads were the only option. We’ve become big fans of very quiet back roads with just the occasional polite happy citizen driving past, and the remote rural road between Arapuni and Waipapa is a little gem.
The detour around the closed section ended about 5 km from Mangakino so we had a nice taste of real riding, but after the first solid showers of this whole trip so far, we needed to dry out, so were very pleased to arrive at Lake Maraetai Lodge. It’s simple, very clean, and very well organised with bike rooms and bike washing facilities. The shared kitchen area was full of interesting meal mates.
And I did a clever mechanical thing on the bike which is far too dull to relate, but I was impressed anyway.
Supplies: 4 Square less than 1 km away.
Accommodation: Lake Maeraetai Lodge
These videos are best viewed on a computer screen. Turning your phone sideways helps.
Max elevation: 376 m
Min elevation: 121 m
Total climbing: 1059 m
Total descent: -965 m
Total time: 04:30:19
Battery use: 70% | 420Wh