{"id":4129,"date":"2013-02-25T05:29:40","date_gmt":"2013-02-25T04:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/?p=4129"},"modified":"2019-12-31T05:28:25","modified_gmt":"2019-12-31T10:28:25","slug":"into-the-heartland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2013\/02\/into-the-heartland\/","title":{"rendered":"Into the Heartland"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Maori people paddled \u00a0their canoes to New Zealand\u2019s shores some 700 years ago.\u00a0\u00a0 Descendants of these early settlers still populate the East Cape.<\/p>\n

The East Cape sometimes gets a bad rap.\u00a0 Concerned New Zealanders from other parts of the country urged us to watch out for the biker gangs.\u00a0 We were warned not to stumble too far off the beaten track lest we wader onto somebody\u2019s marijuana patch.\u00a0 And we were cautioned not to pitch the tent where unpredictable youths mightcome across us in the night.<\/p>\n

As you might imagine, I was just a touch on edge as we cycled past the holiday homes and beachfront hotels of Ohope and began the journey around the East Cape.<\/p>\n

\"\"
An early morning surfer at Ohope Beach on New Zealand’s East Cape.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019d recently re-watched \u00a0Once Were Warriors<\/a>.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t seen the film, it\u2019s a sometimes hard-to \u2013watch chronicle of violence, alcoholism and gang life in one Maori community.<\/p>\n

Images of a violent Jake The Muss (the film\u2019s tough guy lead character) were invading my thoughts.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a movie<\/em>, I told myself.\u00a0 We\u2019re safe.\u00a0 It\u2019s New Zealand, not Somalia.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"
I met this guy near Rotorua, the town in which the book version of Once Were Warriors takes place. Although he looks pretty tough, this guy was really quite friendly and agreed to having his portrait taken.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The East Cape is surely one of the world\u2019s best coastal cycling routes.\u00a0 Highway 35 hugs the coast for some 400 kilometers and dips and dives over headlands jutting into the sea.\u00a0 There are peaceful coves where lone fisherman cast their lines and tiny settlements with not much more than a general store, a pub and perhaps a church or school.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"
The road runs right along the coast for much of the way.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tourists are few and traffic is light.\u00a0 Best of all, the locals are lovely.<\/p>\n

Sure, we crossed paths with some rough looking dudes decked out in leather jackets covered in what is certainly gang insignia.\u00a0 But they didn\u2019t hassle us.\u00a0 The East Cape locals we met were some of the nicest we\u2019ve encountered in all of New Zealand.\u00a0 And that\u2019s saying a lot.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0New Zealanders, I must point out, are some of the friendliest and most hospitable people we\u2019ve met in all of our almost seven years of travel.<\/p>\n

On our first evening cycling the East Cape we were invited to the home of dairy farmers Eddie and Jill.\u00a0 Eddie told us the land he farmed had been in his family for more than 700 years.\u00a0 Many of his relatives had migrated to Auckland, others had gone abroad.\u00a0 But Eddie loved the land of his ancestors and had no plans to leave.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"
Posing with our kind host, Eddie!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The following day was a series of endless climbs.\u00a0 In fact, that seems to be what most of New Zealand cycling is all about.\u00a0\u00a0 The hills aren\u2019t particularly steep, or long –but after six or seven hours of ups and downs we\u2019re knackered.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"
Just another one of the hundreds of hills we’ve conquered in New Zealand.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That night we camped at the home of another farming family. Again, they welcomed us warmly and hesitated for not even a moment before inviting us on to the property to pitch the tent.<\/p>\n

In the morning we awoke to strong winds.\u00a0 The tent was shuddering under the force of the gusts.\u00a0 Hills AND wind.\u00a0 All we needed was rain.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"
This is the beautiful view we woke up to as the sun peeked up over thehills.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another tough day of unrelenting hills was made a bit more bearable by the presence of peaches.\u00a0 Yes, peaches.\u00a0 \u00a0In another unexpected act of kindness, a local woman thrust a bag of fresh fruit at us and bid us a safe ride.\u00a0 Spurred on by all that sugary goodness, we muscled up the next few hills with a bit more enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

In spite of the energy boost, it was well past dinner time when the cycling finally came to a halt for the day.\u00a0 We\u2019d told ourselves just 10 more kilometers.\u00a0 Those final 10 kilometers, it turned out, claimed almost an hour of our day.\u00a0\u00a0 Our weary legs were revolting.\u00a0 Give us rest!<\/em> They insisted.<\/p>\n

And rest is what they got.\u00a0 Inside of a cozy caravan.\u00a0 Thanks to a warm-hearted grandmother named Katherine.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"
Posing with the kind and generous Katherine!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Katherine had seen many changes during her 68 years.\u00a0 There was a time, she told us, when the Maori language was banned in public schools.\u00a0 Sadly, her own son had grown up speaking only English.\u00a0 Her grandchildren, on the other hand, had grown up in a more enlightened period when both English and Maori \u00a0were taught at school.\u00a0 Katherine remembered the days when Rastafarian gangs wreaked havoc on the East Cape.\u00a0 Days when home invasions were not uncommon and cousins might rob cousins.<\/p>\n

Things had quieted down now she said.\u00a0 One of her distant cousins is a member of parliament.\u00a0 Another one\u2019s in the police force.\u00a0 The East Cape is a peaceful place for the most part.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Sure, a farmer\u2019s sheep might go missing from time to time.\u00a0 And you\u2019d still want to keep a few guard dogs on your property, just in case.<\/p>\n

On our fourth day of East Cape riding (another tough one of hills and headwinds) we rolled into Wainui Beach near Gisborne.\u00a0 We\u2019d left the sleepy Maori heartland behind and been spit out into prime tourist territory. We\u2019d left behind sleepy towns, pristine beaches and rolling farmland for a place of million dollar beach houses and swanky restaurants with a view.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve spent almost three months in New Zealand and the East Cape ranks right up there with the best of the South Island rides.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s often better, I’ve realized, to filter out well-meaning advice. \u00a0It’s better, after all, to forget about big screen drama and find out for yourself what a place is all about.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"
Wild Horses on the East Cape! You just never know what beauty lies around the next bend in the road.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Maori people paddled \u00a0their canoes to New Zealand\u2019s shores some 700 years ago.\u00a0\u00a0 Descendants of these early settlers still populate the East Cape. 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