Hopeful in Houpoto

There is a clearly marked track!
Originally uploaded by m0rehu.

On Queen's Birthday Monday myself, the Boss, Jarred, Mike, Roger went with Lea on a 3 hour MTB ride through the Houpoto which she organised. We were given clear instructions by Pete and had 2 maps and 2 expert navigators in Jarrod and Roger. Look at the track in the photo! We got lost and ended up on the banks of the Motu River and had to retrace our steps for 1 1/2 hours back up hill through the slips and windfall we had encountered on the way down. The whole event took 8 hours! We ran out of food but Lea got a Snickers Bar and Ham Roll off Jarrod when he went ahead to let everyone know we were OK and she ate it all herself despite the boss and I carrying her bike across the big slip.

Unfortunately I had 3 nasty falls on the same hip, elbow and shoulder!

It was a great adventure but we really needed our BBQ lunch back at the Maraenui clubhouse. Unfortunately we didn't get lunch until 4.30!

Have a look at the photos which show the magnificent view over Hawai early on in the ride, the chaps carefully navigating, climbing huge hills and scrambling over trees and slips. It was nice to see the Motu but not so nice to leave and climb back out.