Wellington to Upper Hutt: with some backtracking to search (in vain) for my

waterproof trousers)

Tuesday May 22, 2018, 38 miles (60 km) - Total so far: 4,663 miles

(7,505 km)

With a fair bit of time before catching the train up to auckland, we planned a mini-tour of the Wairarapa valley. This is day 1!

Having heard great things about the Rimutaka cycle trail, we decided to at least follow it as far as Upper Hutt (And then again in the Wairarapa) - as ever, avoiding the off road sections due to our road wheels. Not sure we would actually recommend cycling to the start of the trail in Petone, however! Yes, a cycle path is marked on google maps.....BUT it is pretty half-arsed for a good chunk. Think motorway with 1m wide shoulder....and trucks passing at their usual speed. Our advice - take the train!

From Petone, you can follow the Hutt river trail which is somewhat patchy, but does keep you away from the road. Very very few signs for the Rimutaka, however...... Aside from losing my waterproof trousers, it was a fairly uneventful day. The search mission added about 12 miles. Here's our route:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1589555060

We stayed at 'Wellington's Kiwi holiday park' which is a quiet spot in Upper Hutt. It's definitely winter here now, so we opted for a $45 cabin. Good kitchen and bathroom facilities, and very quiet (not really camping season I guess!)