Captains Blog, Friday March 31. Serendipity Day.
A short morning drive and we were soon in the interesting scents of Rotorua. We traded in our half-price vouchers for our room, then headed out to Whakawerawara or Redwoods, home of allegedly some of the finest trails on the planet. The carpark was quite full for a weekday, but the sight of groups of schoolchildren was a lttle worrying. After checking out the site map, we headed off into the pines, and were soon passing said kids (we soon put them into their place!). About half an hour in, we were left wondering what all the fuss was about. Sure, they were nice trails, but no better than Taupo, and a little disappointing at best. We searched for other options, when a rider approached us. "Do you know where you're going?" "NO!" "Come with me" was his only reply. "Ah, it's cool, we'll find our way around" was my feeble attempt not to bother him. "COME WITH ME!" Ok, we'd better go with him.
Tim introduced himself and soon had us climbing up a steep fire road (pic 2), which didn't really make me any more confident we were going to find Nirvana just yet. As we reached the top, he assured us that we would enjoy the ride down ('cream ourselves' were his exact words) and we were soon traversing the "Gunna Gotta" trail, through the lushest of lush rainforest, twisting, turning, rolling, dropping, mind blowing. Things were looking up. We then went through 'A Trail', onto 'Tickler'
(see pic 3) then out to a clearing at a junction of fireroads where we met up with 5 riders from Wellington. They joined up with us, and we had ourselves a posse! Tim had us grinding up another steep, loooooooong fireroad,
and we found ourselves confronted with amazing views of Rotorua in all directions. After pointing out all the surrounding landmarks, Tim led us down 'Hot X Bun', a steep, fast technical
blast of a trail with a few hidden surprises, like the jump that I had no option but to launch off at speed, filling me with relief when I lived to tell the tale at the bottom.
Awesome trail after awesome trail followed, with Tim leading us merry men all over the forest, bringing unbridled joy to all and sundry. After 3 1/2 hours, we were loudly singing the praises of the trails, as the best we had ever ridden by far (sorry Taupo), and maybe some of the best in the world (it has been claimed by others as such). After the endorphin high had somewhat abated, we headed downtown to the Pig and Whistle Hotel for dinner and drinks, meeting up with a few locals who took us to another bar and then back to the Pig until close. We planned to ride the next day, but the best laid plans...
A short morning drive and we were soon in the interesting scents of Rotorua. We traded in our half-price vouchers for our room, then headed out to Whakawerawara or Redwoods, home of allegedly some of the finest trails on the planet. The carpark was quite full for a weekday, but the sight of groups of schoolchildren was a lttle worrying. After checking out the site map, we headed off into the pines, and were soon passing said kids (we soon put them into their place!). About half an hour in, we were left wondering what all the fuss was about. Sure, they were nice trails, but no better than Taupo, and a little disappointing at best. We searched for other options, when a rider approached us. "Do you know where you're going?" "NO!" "Come with me" was his only reply. "Ah, it's cool, we'll find our way around" was my feeble attempt not to bother him. "COME WITH ME!" Ok, we'd better go with him. 
Tim introduced himself and soon had us climbing up a steep fire road (pic 2), which didn't really make me any more confident we were going to find Nirvana just yet. As we reached the top, he assured us that we would enjoy the ride down ('cream ourselves' were his exact words) and we were soon traversing the "Gunna Gotta" trail, through the lushest of lush rainforest, twisting, turning, rolling, dropping, mind blowing. Things were looking up. We then went through 'A Trail', onto 'Tickler'
(see pic 3) then out to a clearing at a junction of fireroads where we met up with 5 riders from Wellington. They joined up with us, and we had ourselves a posse! Tim had us grinding up another steep, loooooooong fireroad, 
and we found ourselves confronted with amazing views of Rotorua in all directions. After pointing out all the surrounding landmarks, Tim led us down 'Hot X Bun', a steep, fast technical 
blast of a trail with a few hidden surprises, like the jump that I had no option but to launch off at speed, filling me with relief when I lived to tell the tale at the bottom. 
Awesome trail after awesome trail followed, with Tim leading us merry men all over the forest, bringing unbridled joy to all and sundry. After 3 1/2 hours, we were loudly singing the praises of the trails, as the best we had ever ridden by far (sorry Taupo), and maybe some of the best in the world (it has been claimed by others as such). After the endorphin high had somewhat abated, we headed downtown to the Pig and Whistle Hotel for dinner and drinks, meeting up with a few locals who took us to another bar and then back to the Pig until close. We planned to ride the next day, but the best laid plans...
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