An earlier start than the very leisurely seven o’clocks, as with so many staying in the same place someone is bound to wake and rise early. That suited as with the thunderstorms cutting Day 3 short, there was an hour or two of extra riding to catch up to the five-day plan. The misty rain we rolled into wasn’t enough for waterproof layers as we were soon off the Forgotten World Highway and heading south.

A little pleasant climbing to start.

The formed road petered out to a gate leading to an unmaintained public road – with signs warning as much. This was where we’d start to discover just how much more difficult that storm had made things. It was a bit muddy as we approached and followed the Tangarakau River, the predominant light brown clayey mud wasn’t too bad but the small patches of grey papa were tacky and soon started sticking and building up. It came close, but thankfully there was never quite enough to bind the wheels completely. With ample patches of grass to ride on, progress was slowed – but not confined to walking.

Leaving the river, to cross Okara Stream and begin the climb out.

Now you tell us.

Rachel and Gina caught up and we climbed together. I see now that we skirted the boundary of Whanganui National Park, I had little idea at the time. Soon we were within a mere five kilometres of where we camped on the first night of the paddle down the Whanganui – only a fortnight before. So much to see in such a small area! Which goes for much of New Zealand really. The surface was more grass-covered and less muddy for the climb, and the cloud kept the temperature down.

The descent on rough farm track to and along Kuri Stream was much fun, riding just on the safe side of loose. I had to slow at times with a couple of herds of cattle to negotiate. We regrouped at each gate – I must have been getting some energy back as I opened and closed plenty! At the farm buildings, we visited the kennels to make use of a high volume hose to get much of the mud off our bikes.

Finally I got to the Bridge to Somewhere! The same as the one to Nowhere, it is slightly more accessible – there is one road to it.

The dirty Kuri joining the “clean” Whangamomona on its way to its Whanganui confluence.

The biggest climb of the day (only a couple of hundred metres) took us out of the Whanganui watershed and back into Taranaki. At the crest I was curious about the Matemateonga trailhead – the other one is near the second night’s campsite of the recent river trip. Might be worth a good hiking adventure someday.

But don’t stray – there was a proliferation of similar signs all the way down the sweet Mangaehu descent.

After noon now, we rejoined sealed roads and stopped in the shade outside a school – eventually finding some water. Easy riding, occasionally a little lumpy, down the valley was still quiet before a pinch climb and short section on the highway towards Stratford; thankfully we turned south before town and headed for Eltham and a good cafe stop. We said our goodbyes to Rachel and Gina trying to accommodation for the night – so it was with some surprise we saw them two hours later rolling through Hawera as we finished our ice cream and dinner.

With plenty of daylight left, we left them again to shorten tomorrow’s ride to the finish, off into the evening heading southeast on a convoluted route that did a good job of mostly avoiding the busy highway.

Looking towards where we’d, in a roundabout way, come from and wondering if there was another afternoon thunderstorm unleashing.

The cap of clouds dissipated as the sun sunk.

The last of the sunlight, it was a nice evening to peel off an easy forty kilometres – characterised by mostly flat dairy land interspersed with dropping into drainages and grovelling up the other side.

We actually put lights on our bikes for the last little stretch of highway into Patea. Just as we were riding into town, I was turning on my GPS’s backlight and noticed the route did a sudden turn right through some farmland. This hadn’t been mentioned; we dutifully followed it for a couple of kilometres down farm tracks and past plenty of curious calves. Back on another edge of town, we found a large implement and hay shed that looked a bit like a council works’ depot and definitely suitable for a place to bed down for the night. Turns out that the detour through private farmland was an unintended anomaly from the mapping software that left a farmer bewildered as to why his land was sudden popular with cyclists; oops!

A lovely evening of riding to finish another great day on the Renegades Muster – our longest yet, but even less climbing than previous days. Great fun, the highlight was the farm section – particularly that descent!