Whilst Taupo‘s charms for many tend to gravitate to those myriad of activities directly associated with the lake, the town has an outer ring of delights which combine to anchor Taupo as a wonderful base for activities which nurture the soul. One of these is riding the (2 day) 84 km Timber Trail in the Pureora Forest Park - to the western side of the lake.
My wife and I rode the trail on non e-bikes last week and felt both a sense of achievement and genuine joy at the experience.
The Timber Trail is truly beautiful situated, as it is, within some original forest as well as more recent regenerative native forest. Fully opened in 2013, the trail now enjoys some 20,000 plus riders a year who share a collective camaraderie as they slog up some uphills, navigate around muddy patches (it’s a high rainfall area) and enjoy the (on average) downhill incline if riding north to south. And all stop and contemplate the engineering skills of 3 of the longest suspension bridges on any NZ cycle trails (the longest being an impressive 141 metres, suspended some 53 metres above its valley floor).
A variety of half way point accommodation is available from glamour camping (Camp Epic), The Timber Tree Lodge - both situated right on the trail - and the bit more removed but utterly delightful Blackfern Lodge where we stayed. After a hard days ride to arrive at this oasis, with its stunning grounds, enchanting waterfall, trout spawning stream and home to the rare Whio (blue-duck), was really special especially as there was a hot tub on offer with views over the stream to soothe somewhat sore muscles.
None of the great NZ cycleways, of which the Timber Trail is but one, come about without an enormous amount of vision, commitment and effort and as I rode the trail I took my hat off to a range of those to whom we owe a debt of gratitude including:
those initial protestors, much vilified at the time, who worked so hard to stop the logging of this native forest (think the likes of brothers Stephen, Bernard and Sam King and their co-activitists who in 1978 drew public attention to this depleting forest by clambering up various giant Totara with food supplies for a month to protect these treasures of the forest).
The central government, in this case an initiative of then PM John Key, to commit to a network of (regionally sustaining/reinvigorating) great cycleways which some at the time might have seen as a rather quaint but hardly commercially significant trophy project.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) charged with delivering on this cycleway: one only has to look at those suspension bridges to appreciate how demanding that task was and;
Lastly to that legion of volunteers, of whom we saw some on our ride, who work so generously to keep the trail in good working order without which the bumps, the muddy patches, the general trail surface would quickly become the worse for wear.
Much to feel blessed about here. Not only is a wonderful forest area now under protection, at the same time it is being enjoyed by so many - not only those like us who bike through it but also our treasured Whio, Kokako, Kakariki and NZ falcons all of whom now have a safer place to call home.
Credit: Rupert Holborow
