Down Under (& right a bit): Wellington: Rimutaka Rail Trail

Decided we had spent a bit too much time being chauffered around and that we needed to get some proper exercise in. Therefore we headed to the nearby Rimutaka Rail Trail. A disused railway line that used to run through the Rimutaka mountain range and now used a as a walking/cycling track.

Quite an impressive feat of engineering as it happens - laying the track itself was no mean feat and the trains themselves were pretty nifty - capable of scaling gradients that would leave most modern trains gasping and wheezing.

We were again blessed with superb weather, brilliant sunshine with not a cloud in sight -as George calls it, "another beautiful blue dome day".

With George and Liz as our companions again, we borrowed a couple of bikes and headed for the summit, approximately 5k away.

The ride was quite a bit tamer to what Rich is used to, uphill, but fairly steady and not at all technical. But that was probably for the best as it has been a while since he has ridden and the bike was a little too big.

We reached the summit in good time and took a quick snack while taking in the views and the rusting engines that had been abandoned at the summit. Took a quick nose at some information about the railway and some old sepia photos that showed what it was like in the good ole' days.

Set off again and were soon plunged into darkness...the trail passes through several of the old tunnels, some of them quite long. The longest one was 1km and our feeble headlights made for interesting riding as the trail in the tunnels was potholed, some filled with water.

Three tunnels later and with no mishaps we arrived at a Gorge that was once spanned by a huge embankment that had since washed away. This meant dismounting and walking the bikes down a steep bank, across the rocky stream and up the other side.

We had been descending for a while now and with some members not as fit as others and everyone suffering with sore derrieres we decided to stop for lunch. Still eschewing bread where possible Rich had a salmon and avocado salad. Unfortunately the bumpy ride and heat had melted the Avocado and turned it to a paste which covered everything.