Over the last couple of months I have recorded a load of POV bikes videos from recent travels. I have previously made many POV videos from Thailand bike trips and they are catalogued in a somewhat OCD way under “Roads of Thailand“. Now I can populate “Roads of NZ“!
Highway 38 branches off to the east of Highway 5 south of Rotorua and looks like a quick way to Wairoa. It isn’t! But it is far more interesting than the single digit highways north and south (Highway 5 and 2) which are quicker and sealed (but longer). Highway 38 gets interesting as you head out of Murupara, the early home of a young Jacinda Arden and New Zealand’s Prime Minister at the time of posting. The road is unsealed for large swathes as you head in to and out of Lake Waikaremoana so be prepared for slow but satisfying progress. The lake area provides plenty of outdoors activity for the people who make the effort to get there. See the New Zealand Department of Conservation’s entry her for Lake Waikaremoana for more details.
This video is a 20Km section north of Lake Waikaremoana and starts where the highway becomes unsealed for larger sections. It does appears more sections will be sealed as you can see from the “Featured” image!
These are simply POV videos from the front of my bike using an ageing Garmin VIRB. I post them as I usually spend ages on Google Maps trying to work out if a road is bike friendly/interesting when preparing a trip. These POV videos may help others in that process and I offer up to fellow bikers and travellers alike. I don’t expect many will watch from start to finish but dip in to get a idea of the road and sceneary!
Ride carefully and always within your ability. The video shows elevation graph, longitude and latitude, distance along the route and a squiggly line representing the road with a dot showing the current location. This video was shot in March 2020 (early Autumn in NZ) and roads do change over the seasons and with age.
Leave a comment if you have an up to date report.
The Regional Manager 