Kaitangata - the lost village

Kaitangata loosely translates from Māori to English as, 'Kill a man and eat him' (kai being food and tangata being human, or people). Likely the name comes from cannibal feasts held there after tribal fighting in the district between Kāi Tahu and Kāti Mamoe. (from Wikipedia)

So we went to Kaitangata. Not for dinner. But for a mountain bike race called the Black Gold Trail. Where "participants will travel through an awe-inspiring tour of scenic bush trails and forestry roads, giving opportunity to catch a glimpse of the famous Wild Horses living in the forestry of Taratu. Winding your way past historic mining sites you will feel the courage of yesteryears underground heroes....."

We packed our bikes into the car (which was no small feat given the lack of any kind of bike rack):
... and headed down the road to Kaitangata. We managed to get there 10 minutes before the race started. Just barely enough time to register and to throw our wheels back on and to catch the second half of the pre-race meeting.
The choices were 45km and 20km and since the description on the website had made it sound quite easy we opted for the longer one. The ride was magnificent! Single track trails through the forest:
... had been connected by stretches of logging roads:
... and third-level gravel roads:
We passed through areas that had been logged recently:
.. and areas that hadn't been logged in decades:
One of the most awe-inspiring moments of the whole trail was when we came to the top of one of the ridges and saw this:
.. and this:
We both had somewhat underestimated the race, time-wise and difficulty-wise. And got our butts kicked. In the end it took Andy about 3 hours and I finally rolled across the finish line after 4:40 hours.
The good thing is that everybody had finished by that point and was hanging out at the finish line and I got a big applause. (Andy got nothing - that's what happens when you finish too early!)

We hung out there for the awards ceremony since they were raffling off a bike. Even though we had no idea how to get that home if we'd win it. But then again - it was only 50km back to Dunedin and I am sure I could have talked Andy into riding it home :)