Something has gone horribly wrong with the weather :-(.  It rained heavily for most of Saturday morning as we headed south from Taupo; it was warm and muggy but pretty wet.  By mid-afternoon it perked up and we had a few hours sunshine but today it is spotting with rain and quite chilly.  Bugger.

We spent Saturday night on the edge of the Tongariro National Park – a high plateau and home to 3 chuffing great volcanos.  We had 360 degree views of sensational scenery and were completely shut off from civilization.  We stayed in the Discovery Heritage Park, at least 10k from anything and more like 40k from anything worth getting to.  The photo is of one of the volcanos but it is mostly hidden by it’s own little weather system.  

Although we are in the middle of nowhere there is a side turning about a mile back down the road.  This little spur runs further into the wilderness, terminating at the foot of one of the volcanos and there, just as you would expect, is a sodding great faux-chateau.  Incongruous doesn’t begin to cover it!  It serves as a golf and skiing resorting and is probably very lovely but whoever granted planning permission wants shooting.

The Kiwis are nice, laid back, friendly people.  They seem genuinely anxious to be helpful and I like them very much…….until they get behind the wheel of a car.  I have read many stories of motoring aggression in NZ, especially aimed at cyclists, and I regret to report that they are true.  The maximum permitted gap when overtaking a cyclist appears to be 6 inches and every cyclist deserves a long blast on the horn whether they pose a hazard or not.  My riders are all pretty sensible and are keeping themselves safe but why do kiwi drivers have to be such total a#&£holes?  

This one is a bit of a cheat as it is only a song in Friends but it fits the bill.  The love machine does have some personal freshness issues!  On the 2nd day the 2 gallon water carrier leaked into the boot and since then the car smells like something has died in it.  As things slowly dry out it is improving….or possibly my nose has just developed some resistance.  There are two other smells that occasionally appear and these are more worrying as I do not know the cause.  The first is a strong smell of burning brakes and I suspect this may be caused by the brakes burning;  I am trying to avoid hard braking, which was bad news for a rabbit yesterday.  The last smell is coal tar….. It doesn’t happen often but this one has me mystified.

I rather like the way places sometime select themselves ‘the something capital of the world’.  Somewhere in America I recall cycling through the Artichoke Capital of the World but Taihape has set its sights even lower and claims to be the Gumboot Capital of The World.  before you even ask, I have no idea why.  This is our stop for the night, at the southern edge of the Tongariro park and set in countryside that looks a bit like this

The picture is a bit pants – it is rolling , green and very pretty……oh yes, and hilly as per. Any time now the riders should be getting in and the sun is starting to peep out soon time for some serious chair time.