Friday 20 May, and Jonathan and Bronnie started the trek down to Rameka … this time with a wee twist – coming to it from the west and the Heaphy Track. Yup, the sirens were calling, and the lure was too great to resist. They hooked up with Andrew McLellan for the ferry trip across to Picton,
then hitched a ride through to Karamea on a vehicle-relocation deal with Martin Langley, John Michelle, and Andy Cole. Hundreds of cyclists made the most of the newly-opened-to-bikes-over-winter status of the Heaphy to whiz through and back again, but this group took things at a more leisurely pace, spending two nights on the track and taking in the full glory of the area …
AND, in case there is anyone in the world left who hasn’t yet heard, the buzz of the trip for Jonathan and Bronnie? Snails, sun, the best-ever beech forest riding be damned … that’s nothing compared with close encounters with kiwi!! Sleeping in the open-sided wood shed rather than the huts will do that.
So? Next time you’re thinking of heading to Project Rameka, we recommend, cycling across via Canaan Downs and the Rameka, then complete the loop by riding out to Collingwood and on to the Heaphy, through to Karamea … and onwards to the West Coast. It will be an unforgettable trip, we guarantee it!