Waikanae to Peka Peka – and an exhibition of tapestries

Last week we had a run of four fine(-ish) days in a row, yay! – no rain, no wind. So nice to see the sun after several “weather bombs”. We had to make the most of the good weather before the next deluge, so we biked four days in a row. Admittedly, two of these rides were very short – one was a “café run”, a 7 km ride to down to our local café and back, and the other was the 8 km ride on the Wellington Waterfront to test the Bickerton (described in the previous blog post).

The other two rides were 20 km. One of them was a ride to the Gear Homestead Café, during which I reached my 5,000 km milestone on my e-bike.

5,000 km on the e-bike

We rode along Te Ara Tawa. However, this beautiful track, which was only completed just over a year ago, is now again inaccessible between Kenepuru and Porirua because of the impending construction of the Kenepuru on- or off-ramp for the Transmission Gully Highway. So cyclists now have to either ride on the road again, or use the footpath.

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On Tuesday 25 July we drove to Waikanae Beach, where we parked near the Waikanae River estuary. We biked on the Kapiti Coastal Cycle Route to Harrisons at Peka Peka. There we had lunch and a wander around the garden centre at Harrisons, then returned to Waikanae on the new Expressway cycle track.

A colourlful display at Harrisons Garden Centre (photo by John)

The junction of Peka Peka Road with the old SH1 is now all tidied up, including access to the cycle track.

Because of the heavy rain we had in the past week, there were areas beside the track that still had standing water, where they wouldn’t normally have, but the track itself was mostly dry – give or take a puddle or two.

Water around fence lines following heavy rain … (photo by John)

… but the track was mostly dry (photo by John)

Some way down the track, we diverted onto a path leading to Smithfield Road. I had sailed past it but John called me back by furiously ringing his bell. The track eventually led to a very lovely stretch of road which turned out to be Ngarara Road. A narrower road went off it and we would have liked to explore further, but it was a private road, so we desisted.

A lovely spot on Ngarara Road (photo by John)

Sadly, this was a private road so we could not explore further (photo by John)

While we were taking photos of the pretty scenery and the peaceful looking cattle, a farmer appeared on the brow of the hill – probably wondering what we were up to.

The steers stopped their grazing to check us out (photo by John)

Before long, Ngarara Road became a bridge over the Expressway, and we joined the cycle track again. The road sign pointed to Ngā Manu Nature Reserve, which I think we should visit some time, maybe on another ride. We have been there once, but that was years ago when our children were still young.

At the junction with Te Moana Road, we left the Expressway track, and pedalled back to our car. Though there are still roadworks going on near the junction as a result of the Expressway, most of Te Moana Road has a nice cycle lane.

Roadworks on Te Moana Road (photo by John)

We diverted off towards the river and the Waimanu Lagoon, and sat on a bench, enjoying the sun, the view and some chocolate! While we were sitting there, the time-lapse camera on John’s bike took a picture of us, which I am now using as a computer screen saver. I call it “Retirement Bliss”.

Between the river estuary and the Waimanu Lagoon (photo by John)

The Waikanae River Estuary (photo by John)

Retirement bliss (photo by John)

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On the way home, we stopped at the Pataka Gallery in Porirua to view an exhibition of tapestries by multiple award winning Peruvian master weaver Máximo Laura. It is a stunning exhibition. Ten large tapestries are on show, all of which made me “drool”! Máximo has an amazing use of colour and his colour blending is exquisite. I love the vibrant colours and the “clean” lines of his designs.

Fruto de Abundancia del Mar IV (Abundance of the Fruit of the Sea)

Hacia la Amada (Journey to my Beloved)

I love the vibrancy of the colours!

As well as his exhibition in Pataka, Máximo Laura has been conducting workshops for NZ tapestry weavers in Wellington and Hamilton. One of my weaving friends, Trish Armour, herself an award-winning tapestry weaver, spent several weeks studying with Máximo in his Lima studio last year. She alerted me to his works, which I have been following on Facebook.

I would dearly love to own one of his tapestries, but unfortunately they are well beyond my financial reach! So I will just have to make do with the photos on my screen saver.

Folding Goldies ride – Waikanae to Paekakariki

On Wednesday 1 February, we went on a Folding Goldies ride. Alastair billed it as “Kapiti Koastal Kruising”. In other words, we were going to ride the Kapiti Coastal Cycle Trail from Waikanae to Paekakariki. And, he said in his email, “The real summer of course starts in February”, which was a comment on the really lousy summer Wellington is having so far this year. Fine days have been few, and calm days have been even rarer. The eternal and infernal wind is driving everyone batty.

This day too, the forecast was fairly grim – overcast, possible rain, and galeforce northwesterlies. One of the group emailed early in the day “Not going, too windy”. Well we went anyway. It wasn’t nearly as windy up the coast, and besides, for much of the way, it was a tailwind. And the rain held off until we got home. It was a great ride, and we had a really good turn-out too, with a total of nine people.

We took the train at Takapu Road as usual, and we had to be in another carriage as there were already three bikes in the other. So it was just us until Paekakariki, when a woman with a bike boarded, saw our bikes and said “Are you Folding Goldies?”. She was Dayll, a friend of Alastair’s, and was going along too.

At Waikanae we got to meet the others – John B, Gottfried and Alastair, all of whom were Folding Goldie “oldies”. For Dayll, Steve, Nigel and Colin this was the first FG ride, but hopefully not the last. We already knew Colin, from Scottish country dancing.

Introductions over, we were ready to set off from Waikanae Station (photo by John)

John B, who is a Kapiti Coast resident, showed us a different way to get to the river track – along SH1 for a short distance until the bridge and off to the left onto a track that went under the bridge. Quite a scary (to me) steep gravelly bit before we got onto the track. Then it was just pleasant cycling, although some of the track had recently been graded, and that had left some bumpy ridges on the track.

Alastair on the track that emerges from under the road bridge (photo by John)

A couple of walkers were captured by John’s rear-mounted camera (photo by John)

From the Otaihanga Domain, some of us rode the estuary track to get to Manly Street in Paraparaumu. Others, including John, went by the road. John doesn't like the narrow and winding boardwalks. For Dayll and Gottfried, the estuary track was new territory, which they enjoyed.

At the end of the estuary track (photo by John)

We stopped at the 180 Degrees Café in Paraparaumu for coffee and scones – excellent cheese scones!

Coffee and scones (photo by John)

Ready to go back on the road (photo by John)

When we were ready to leave, I nearly lost my Gold Card. It was in my pocket, along with the key to my bike lock. It must have fallen out when I got the key to unlock my bike. Fortunately one of the others spotted in on the ground. Phew!

Nigel took this photo of John and me, and Dayll ahead of us, on the waterfront track
(photo by Nigel Roberts)

We rode on the nice waterfront track, and then we all seem to have gone different ways to Poplar Avenue and the start of Te Ara Whareroa. I followed two people down towards Raumati, then stopped to wait for John and the others, but they didn't come. They had turned inland earlier. The other two had disappeared from view, and I wasn't sure which way they'd gone. For a moment I thought I was lost, my sense of direction being quite useless. But luckily, John and I had done the same ride the previous week, and I soon recognised the route through the Kapiti College carpark, and made my way to Poplar Ave. Eventually everyone made it there.

“The obligatory group pic” as Alastair called it (photo by Alastair Smith)

Colin and Gottfried pause on Te Ara o Whareroa while Alastair digs out his camera
(photo by John)

Alastair and Nigel (photo by John)

From the end of the Whareroa track, we rode along the foreshore, and ended up at the Beach Deli for lunch. John and I shared a small pizza, which was very nice.

Lunch at the Beach Deli (photo by John)

Only six of us took the 2:15pm train back to Wellington, having lost Dayll and Steve who live in Paekakariki, and John B who returned to Paraparaumu where he lives. Colin decided to get off at Pukerua, intending to bike the rest of the way home to Titahi Bay.

Only six of us took the train back to Wellington (photo by John)

It had been a good ride – 26 km all up – and the weather held off. We got home just before the rain set in.

We were really lucky the ride had not been planned for Thursday, as we had some really heavy rain, all day, with the result that there was flooding in some areas, especially by the Hutt River.