The Timber Trail

The original plan for today was to see Hobbiton. But after Wednesday's ridiculous rainfall that flooded areas to the north and the forecast for more rain all weekend, we decided to wait for better weather for Hobbiton and go biking instead. It actually worked quite well; by heading south to the trailhead, we avoided getting wet and didn't meet rain until after we finished biking and started driving north again. Rain became heavy rain, so we stopped at the nearest motel which happened to be in the town of Putaruru, population 3700. This town is not mentioned in our lonely planet guide. According to wikipedia the economy of this town is centred around timber. Our hotel is a magnificent former 5-star beauty built in the 1950s, which fell into disrepair and is now being restored slowly. It's become a little more like a backpacker's lodging, but provides everything we need in a surprisingly beautiful setting.

The Timber Trail was absolutely stunning. We would have liked to do the whole thing but our guidebook made it sound like our bikes wouldn't be able to handle the terrain. Surprisingly, the terrain was very smooth, compact dirt/clay, a nice reprieve from the gravel we've primarily encountered. Some sections are steep, which would be difficult riding loaded, but still doable. The trail runs through original bush as well as new/regenerating forest. The old trees are massive! And the with the dense forest comes many native bird species - we saw kereru (wood pigeons that make the coolest cooing sound when flying), fantails, a tui, New Zealand robins, and heard the call of the kaka (wood parrot). None of these birds exist at home. We caught some video of the wood pigeon and the tui calls (you can't see it but listen for the clicks, squeaks and whistles, and enjoy the fantail fly-by). Turn your sound on!