Day 9, Vanlife, January 28, Takaka
The rain cleared overnight so it was off for a mountain bike ride. Today we tackled the Rameka Track from the bottom up. Ordinarily this grade 3 trail goes from Canaan Downs at the top of the Takaka Hill separating Nelson and Golden Bay, down to Takaka. But with the e bikes, we decided to ride up it first before descending.
The climb up was relatively straight forward although I was working hard in eco mode while Gordon bowled on up in Trail mode. There were switch backs and rocky sections to keep things interesting and eventually we hit the crux of the climb in native bush on the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park. After yesterday's rain, this part was quite slippery with roots, rocks and mud trying hard to separate us from our bikes. We didn't quite make it all the way up to Canaan, pulling the pin about two kilometers short.
Gordon was getting tired and my tolerance for slippery conditions and risk is relatively low at the moment so we turned and headed back down. Of course heading down is always fun regardless of what type of bike you are on! At least today mostly felt easier going down but even on an e bike, you still need to know how to ride to get down these tracks safely!
We headed back to camp for a late lunch and a quiet afternoon. It's been pretty windy all day with rain forecast for tonight and the rest of the week. We had back to Nelson for a few days tomorrow. We have a few chores that need doing before we head south to do the Routeburn next weekend.
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I haven't watched your travels for a few weeks after my own adventure saw our 8day holiday to Rarotonga turn into 19 days! Great to see you back in the country safely. Take care & have fun