Saturday Parapara round 2 Explorations

Allowed out on the last day of Collingwood headed back round to Parapara Valley Rd and rode up the highway much I did the other day. This time I detoured exploring anywhere I could. Up the 4wd DOC road, checking out a singletrack up the first knoll, with seemingly several options, none of which bore fruit.  Back down to the road and onwards up, past the access points to the zig-zag trail, up the straight and into the sort of hidden entrance to one I'd checked out the other day.  This, I thought was going to go down to the pond, but nope, it just curved back around to the 4wd lower down.  So, on up the 4wd track to the seat and onwards beyond eventually arriving at a funky gate (albeit with crosses on it) of a private Christian hideaway, next gate had lots of "Keep Out Private Property Electronic Surveillance" signs. Turned around, and climbed and rolled and back to the seat for a snack and this picture

(note the tide in, vs the tide mostly out on the previous pic from up here)...
Then zoomed down to the steep trail.  

Faster this time, fun down the steep tightness, bombing between manuka trunks and ferns.  Some flow, but also a bit of brakeage to make it around the tight bits.  Down into the valley...checked out another trail I'd spotted on Tuesday, back uphill for a bit, around a slip and then met tightness and a few steps.  Left the bike and followed it up and up for a while before giving up as it wasn't rideable.  Rode out and on down the trail, checking out another bit of track leading into this one briefly, riding through to a creek and back out and onwards down.  Fun wee blast, again faster than last time but with the stally bits included.  Across the creek and some climbing but not much out to the quad-track.  Now, another explore up a singletrack, which ended at a dam for the pond, back down this and up the zig-zag trail, not a bad climb at all, upwards chuffing to the 4wd track.  

Climbed back up this to the 'steep track' and at the top of this spotted a track heading off towards the Tukurua catchment...  hmmmmmm...  Walked down this 50m or so and could see it continuing down, wondering, wondering.  Walked back up and sat on the bike thinking, "should I? Should I? I kinda wanna. Nah, who knows where I'll end up, Onekaka? then have to bike all the way back around the road or back up...  Should I?"  Decided not to.  Headed down the steep trail, faster even than the previous time, getting into the flow of it more so and relishing it.  Around the first hairpin smoothly and on down, next hairpin, next corner, down through over the bridge and on down.  This time noticing for the first time lower down some evidence of goldworkings (piles and walls of rocks).  Across the creek and up to the quad track, and down, speeeeeeed down here and peeling off to the quarry this time.  Other bike tracks from when it was wet had turned back here but I followed onwards and found a trail off up to the left which I rode through, getting ever slower and less rideable til I was walking the bike. Then I walked a bit, more exploring, finding more gold workings, gullys, trenches, and some really deep holes.  Wandered back to the bike and back along the track to the quarry, and back onto the fast descending trail.  More speeeeed.  Wooohoooooo.

Another trail entering from the left in one of the last corners, I stopped and rode a wee way up it, finding a wee bridge over trench of a creek, then steps.  Walked a bit up this, deciding it must be coming from the walking track I'd found earlier, and also finding an old goldworking tunnel.  Deep, couldn't see much up it.  Scary.  Back to the bike, rode back to the main track, rode out to the road, and back along the gravel to the car.

More than the other day, with the extra climbing... 467m climbed and 14.4 kms covered