As Felicity was invited to deliver the keynote speech at the opening of the WONCA APR Conference 2019 in Kyoto on May 16th, I decided to tag along so that we could do some adventuring in Japan afterwards.
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Tag: bike
Biking around Krakow
I’ve spent the last couple of days exploring the area around Krakow on a hired mountain-bike while Felicity has been at the WONCA conference. Many Poles ride bikes, and there are bike trails all over the place.
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Karlštejn Castle
When I looked out the window this morning the sky was blue and the sun was shining – ideal conditions for a bike ride. After breakfast I walked over to the Holiday Inn to meet up with Barry, and discovered a coffee shop just around the corner that makes an excellent brew – an auspicious start to the day. Continue reading Karlštejn Castle
Thetford Forest Park
Last Saturday night we were invited to dinner by one of Felicity’s colleagues, and he turned out to be an even more fanatical mountain biker than me. Not only does he have a basement full of bikes, and more in a shed somewhere, but he’s even building himself a new bike in the hallway outside the bathroom! I took the opportunity to inquire about the location of the best single-track in the area. Continue reading Thetford Forest Park
North Walsham to Wroxham via Aylsham
Most of the 98km Weavers’ Way from Cromer to Great Yarmouth is for walking only, but bikes are allowed on two sections, one of which runs between North Walsham and Aylsham for 10km. Since Felicity was at the university all day today I hired a bike and caught the train north.
Continue reading North Walsham to Wroxham via Aylsham
Bowthorpe
As we were walking home from Sainsbury’s last week, we crossed a bridge over another old railway cutting that has been converted to an inviting shared walk/cycleway. Felicity was at the university today, so I hired a bike and set of to explore the area south and west of Norwich.
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Marriott’s Way
On our first full day in Norwich, Felicity went in to the university to begin work, so I took the opportunity to go for a bike ride. I ended up travelling over 65 kilometers, probably the longest ride I have ever done.
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Moutainbikers steered off uni land in Albany – Stuff
But Abany Resident John Potter, who used to use the track twice a week, says users will be greatful for whatever the university lets them use.
“It’s their land, at the end of the day, they can do what they like,” he says.
Potter wants Auckland Council to allow volunteers to build more mountainbiking trails on unused park land.
Continue reading Moutainbikers steered off uni land in Albany – Stuff
Hawke’s Bay Reunion
This weekend Felicity’s medical school class of 76 held its 40 year reunion in Napier, so we drove down in the motorhome to attend. We left home on Thursday at 3.00pm, and managed to get across the Bombay Hills, and out of the traffic, in just under an hour and a half.
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Waitangi weekend cycling in central North Island
Tuakau Bridge
I had done quite a bit of driving around the city completing chores, so by the time I left town mid-afternoon Wednesday, I wasn’t feeling like travelling far. I also felt like a swim so I returned to the Les Atkins Reserve next to the bridge over the Waikato River at Tauakau.
Continue reading Waitangi weekend cycling in central North Island
Waihaha and Waihora Trails
Section three of the Great Lakes Trail is not easy to get to. As it is 31 km long I wasn’t game to do a return trip so I paid a shuttle to drop me off at the start, and pick me up off the beach by boat at the end.
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Kinloch to Whangamata Rd via Kawakawa Bay
Stage two of the Great Lake Trail in Taupo (otherwise known as K2K) runs west along the lake shore from Kinloch to Kawakawa Bay, then climbs up a valley to the road far above. It is 19km each way, so I’ve ridden 38 km today going there and back.
Continue reading Kinloch to Whangamata Rd via Kawakawa Bay
Taupo Tyre Repair
Taupo has several bike shops clustered together in one of the main streets, so I wasn’t too concerned when Torpedo 7, who normally do my bike servicing, told me their mechanic wouldn’t be able to replace my tyre until Sunday. When Top Gear Cycles next door told me they didn’t have any 26 inch mountain bike tyres, I did start to wonder if I would have to drive to Rotorua. Fortunately Pack and Pedal down the road had both stock and someone who could fit it for me.
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Pureora Timber Trail
Since I read about the opening of the Pureora Timber Trail almost exactly four years ago I have been itching to ride it, and with Felicity away overseas at a conference I finally got my opportunity. The trail is 85km long, and while some truly hard bastards ride it in one go, most take two days with an overnight camp in the middle.
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Whakaipo Bay
This Labour Day holiday we were well-organised – I hadn’t unloaded the kayak gear from last weekend – so we escaped the city late morning on Friday, heading south. By the time we reached Otorahonga we were ready for lunch, so we stopped at the Haurua rest area. This is the start of the King Country, and there is a memorial stone marking the spot where the first Māori king met with the Ngāti Maniapoto chiefs in 1857 to get their support. Europeans could not enter this area for the next quarter of a century. Fortunately for us the locals tolerate pakeha tourists these days.
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Toretore Island
Felicity has a function to attend in Whangarei on Monday, so we decided to spend the weekend up north in the motorhome. As usual we didn’t have much of a plan when we left home, but as we neared Wellsford she rang our friends Lannes and Linda in the Bay of Islands, and received an invitation to park in their driveway overnight.
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Whitianga Conference
This weekend we’ve been down in Whitianga, where Felicity was running a GP Research conference. We drove down on Thursday afternoon, not quite beating the traffic out of Auckland. Darkness fell as I drove over the Coromandel Ranges on the Kopu – Hikuai Rd.
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Daintree
They don’t call it rainforest for nothing – it has been wet every day of our Queensland trip so far. As I have been writing this post we have been forced to move further under a wide veranda to escape the deluge. With temperatures around 27 degrees this is not as bad as it sounds, and we have been enjoying our adventures so far.
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Waikato River Trails
While Felicity is in Mexico, and the autumn weather is still benign, I decided to head south in the van for a few days to explore some new trails. I had to meet a client on Monday morning, so I didn’t leave Albany till mid afternoon, but I was early enough to be ahead of the rush hour traffic and arrived on the outskirts of Hamilton just before 5.00pm.
I grabbed my tablet to check the Campermate App for parking spots, and discovered to my horror that the charging lead was missing. This device is not only my main navigator, but also what I intended to watch movies on at night so this was a minor disaster.
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Pirongia and Te Miro
This weekend Felicity flew to Minneapolis for a meeting, and since I had to pick up a kayak in Hamilton, I decided to stay down in the Waikato and do some mountain-biking.
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