Ol' man river - and a litany of chiefs
It’s said of the mighty Waikato River that there’s a rangatira, a chief, living at every bend. And in between a taniwha or two, as well. Mythic and other histories overlap closely here.
This great sense of history’s presence is a strong feeling as you bike along the Riverside Trail in Hamilton city, which is part of a much longer (70km) Te Awa biking trail that follows the great river through the Waikato heartland.
The whole length of the Te Awa Trail is not yet completely linked up, but when it is so, will run from opposite the start line of famous rowing races on Lake Karapiro, all the way to Ngāruawāhia, the papa kāinga of the Kingite movement, and of all the kings and queens of Māoridom since 1858.
The Te Awa bike trail section between the Avantidrome (just west of Cambridge by St Peter’s School and New Zealand’s new home of competitive track cycling) and Hamilton city is still being built. For now, cyclists must brave State Highway 1. The Avantidrome’s flash website has an open invitation: “If you’ve never ridden on a velodrome and want to give it a go, we offer
