Karangahake Gorge-ous

Gold

If you've never been to Karangahake Gorge, you have to get there.  It's really as simple as that.  Paeroa is famous for the golden liquid in L&P, but there's also gold in them there hills - trail gold and good times, too.

During the school holidays, Oliver and I decided to go for a ride together through the long tunnel and along the rail trail.  He has a keen interest in "the olden days" and I thought he'd like the mixture of machinery, history, and a bike ride.

Karangahake Gorge is located between Waihi and Paeroa on SH2.  What were once derelict old tramways and railways, have been re-cut and restored into walking and cycling paths for visitors to explore the remnants of mining operations in the area.  Information boards give a good run-down on the history and show photographs of what the area looked like in the mining hey day.

We started at the Karangahake Hall carpark (where there is now no hall after it was burned down by an arsonist).  The trail actually goes all the way from Thames to Paeroa and down to Te Aroha.  We were riding part of the side trail that goes from Paeroa to Waikino and was previously reserved for walking only, but is now open to cyclists.

Oliver was apprehensive about going through a dark tunnel on his own, so we chose to ride the half bike.  He was even quite scared of going through the dark tunnel being towed behind me, until I explained that he could wear a light on his helmet just like the miners did.  His eyes lit up.

Our big long bike-and-a-half was a bit tricky to manoeuvre through the stone gates at the start of the trail, but we got it through and set off down the path.  We had to push up the ramp, along the bridge over the road and into the start of the 1 kilometre long tunnel.  

I could see the beam from Oliver's light flicking from one side of the tunnel to the other checking out the dark brickwork as we rode along.  I paused to look up some side tunnels, but they never went far and were more likely there as a place for people and equipment to shelter from a passing train.  There was a constant trickle of water on the tunnel walls and we would sometimes get dripped on. We splashed through the puddles as we rode.

I could feel the extra stoke from Oliver's pedalling and we got through the tunnel pretty quickly.  As we emerged into the daylight at the other end we could see the trail continue onto another bridge (across the river) and some information to read.  This was also a good spot to stop and look at the construction of the tunnel, and all the layers of brick that were used.  The thick brick wall is visible behind Oliver in the photo below.

From the tunnel, we had another 6km ahead of us to get to Waikino.  There was an older couple on city bikes ahead of us and we soon passed their bikes locked up to a signboard next to a walking track.  They had backpacks on and looked like they were set for a day of exploring by bike and by foot.

The first bit of big infrastructure we saw was the Victoria Battery.  The dark black archways and decayed hoppers did not look at all inviting to Oliver who was happy to observe from a distance and look at the photos on the information boards.

The stoke had faded from the stoker, so I pushed the pedals on towards Waikino.  Riding alongside the river was beautiful.  The views were gorgeous.  We passed under the road through an underpass and stopped at the Waikino Railway station for some lunch.  Here we learnt that you can take your bike on the train to Waihi to continue your education on mining history there.  Waihi has a huge opencast mine and historic pumphouse that are worth a look too.  Not for us; at least not today.

We felt refreshed after lunch and with a little extra pick-me-up of a chocolate bar, we were soon heading at top speed back along the rail trail towards Karangahake.  I'm not sure if it was slightly downhill, a tail wind, or the chocolate, but our progress seemed effortless.

We zoomed through the tunnel even faster than the first time, only slowing down to pass walkers going in the other direction.  We had to look at the floor to avoid blinding them with our powerful helmet lights.

At the end of our 14km journey we were both happy with how the day had gone.  Oliver had been a great companion for me and he had enjoyed conquering his fear by riding through the tunnel.  Actually he was just stoked with having a light on his helmet, and wore it almost all the way home in the car.

Karangahake Gorge is a fantastic place for families to explore together.  We have been through the Windows Walk three times because the kids find it so interesting and it's a relatively short and easy walk.  We'll be back to cycle the rail trail again and hopefully take the train to Waihi as well.  For those who like a few more hills, there are quite a few tracks in the gorge that lead up the mountain and camping at Dickey Flat is also popular.

I think I've just convinced myself I need to do an overnighter in there somewhere.  Adventure awaits!