After pedalling through a lush landscape, with a few puddles left over from Saturday to avoid and one swamp monster to meet, participants in Sunday’s Great K Valley Cycle Adventure are still smiling.

Immersing themselves in the scenic beauty of Kopurererua Valley, cyclists embraced the challenge of deciphering clues and completing tasks along the way, all in pursuit of coveted spot prizes and vouchers.

“It was great! It was really good,” says Tauranga Sunrise Rotary member Kathy Webb.

“It was lovely to see lots of families there, mums and dads and kids and some of them were really little. A couple of dads had babies. And the kids were great, it was a real family day.

“Everyone was really happy.”

In second place with 69 points after completing the 25km course was Kiri Gillespie’s team, winning a $40 voucher. Photo: Kathy Webb.

The ‘family friendly, scavenger hunt by bike’ event, which is not a race but an adventure, ran from 10am – 2pm on Sunday, April 21, with the starting point at the 17th Avenue access into Kopurererua Valley. Start times were at 10-minute intervals between 10am and 12 midday.

Teams made up of up to six people, of family, friends and workmates, followed clues along either a 10km or 25 km trail through the valley, joined in team challenges to score more points and had an opportunity just by participating, in coming away with fabulous prizes from local sponsors such as Mr Ride Tauranga, Ingham Mora, Pak’nSave. 

Tauranga Sunrise Rotary president Michele Beaton says there were around 40 teams.

“Some people turned up on the day, so 40-42 teams. I think everyone who had booked, came,” says Michele, who has yet to complete a debrief with her Rotarian team that helped run the event.

Vince Ford. Photo: Kathy Webb.

New to the cycle adventure this year is Tauranga cyclist and accomplished author Vince Ford, with his wife Andrea and daughter Matija joining him. Vince gave a brief talk before the prize giving at the end of the event on connection and well-being. In 2023, Vince completed Tour Aotearoa from Cape Reinga to Bluff, and says cycling is good for mental health and clears the head.

Vince also told the gathered crowd the story about Taurikura.  In a disagreement with her grandfather one night Taurikura turned herself into a mokomoko - lizard and created the nearby Kopurererua River as an escape route out through the Waikareao Estuary on her journey to Karewa island. She is said to live there to this day as the ancestor of the famous mokomoko – the tuatara.

“Vince Ford was great as he did a speech at the end and a talk about the Māori story behind the valley. People were sitting on the grass listening,” says Kathy.

Participants in Sunday's Great K Valley Cycle Adventure had challenges to complete, including finding 'Swampy', getting a selfie with him, and for extra points guessing who was the well-known Tauranga entity inside the camouflage ghillie suit. Photo: Supplied.

Also new to the 2024 cycle adventure was the appearance of the well-camouflaged ‘Swampy’, a local well-known Tauranga resident dressed in a ghillie suit.

Participants in the puzzle solving, map reading scavenger hunt were required to find Swampy, take a selfie with him, and for extra points guess who he was.

The mysterious 'Swampy', turned out to be none other than former Tauranga mayor Greg Brownless dressed in a ghillie suit. Photo: Kathy Webb.

“The swamp monster ‘Swampy’ was a hit,” says Tauranga Sunrise Rotary president Michele Beaton.

“He had a ball. He’s well-known, and we told people he’s been in the public eye in the last ten years and is a philanthropist.

“It was five points for taking a photo with him, and another five points for guessing who he was.”

Michele says Swampy also wandered around the start area before the event started, so some people took the opportunity to snap photos then.

“Swampy – that was funny,” says Kathy. “He said funny things like ‘I have to eat some salad’. Most people didn’t know who it was.”

It was later revealed that Swampy was none other than former Tauranga mayor Greg Brownless, with only a handful of people successfully guessing his identity.

“I’m glad I’m not a real swamp creature, I would have got very wet living there last night,” says Greg.

Participants in the family-friendly Great K Valley Cycle Adventure on Sunday. Photo: Simon Beaton.

Tauranga had a deluge of rain on Saturday night, with Commons Ave at Mount Maunganui flooding and plenty of soggy ground left behind in Kopurererua Valley for cyclists to navigate around.

“I walked only about 500 metres up the track,” says Greg. “It was great family day activity which gets people out on their bikes or walking, and it was fun interacting with them as the swamp creature.

“It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed acting the part.”

Along the way, teams were challenged to earn points by completing activities, such as seeing how many people in their team could stand on a small square of paper. Photo: Simon Beaton.

Amidst laughter and camaraderie, cyclists of all ages navigated the winding and sweeping trails, and found themselves completing fun tasks such as throwing eggs to each other to catch, and seeing how many people in their team could stand on a piece of paper.

“The weather held fine,” says Michele.

Over 40 teams competed in the event, which Michele says was a “similar size, if not bigger than last year”.

“Most teams had four to five people, and some had six.  Some were just two people.”

The course on Sunday had some lush spots due to rain from the day before. Photo: Simon Beaton.

The 25km course had 25 points awarded for the course and up to 50 points for games. Timing of completing the course was only taken into account if there were tied competitors on points.

The Morris family won the $60 voucher for first place with 70 points. Close behind them with 69 points was Kiri Gillespie’s team winning the $40 voucher, and in third place with 66 points was Christina Browne’s team winning the $20 voucher.

Christina Browne's team won third place in the 25km course adventure.  Photo: Kathy Webb.

The 10km course awarded 10 points for the course, and up to 50 points for games. Three teams all finished with 53 points, so their finishing times were used to allocate out first place to the Searle family who completed the course in one hour and 34 minutes, second place to the Napier family who finished in one hour and 35 minutes, and third place to the Shand family who finished in one hour and 46 minutes.

Sponsors of the day included MyRide Tauranga with their donation of a $400 MyRide Tauranga voucher which was used as a spot prize. Pak’nSave donated bananas and muesli bars for the competitors and NZ Windows provided their trailer barbecue as well as sausages, onions and bread for a sausage sizzle.  

Holland Beckett donated $400 towards the event, with Ingham Mora providing an event marquee, Tremaines providing photocopying services, and SignCo providing event signage.

The participants waiting for prizegiving after completing either the 10km or 25km challenge on Sunday. Photo: Kathy Webb.

Funds raised from the Great K Valley Cycle Adventure are going to the Graeme Dingle Foundation, a charity established since 1995. A leader in positive child and youth development the Graeme Dingle Foundation currently works with over 27,000 five to eighteen year olds throughout New Zealand, and three of their programmes are run in the Bay of Plenty.

Over the last four years, NZ Rugby has made the Graeme Dingle Foundation their ‘Charity of Choice’ with NZR’s national teams including the All Blacks, Black Ferns, Māori All Blacks, Under 20 All Blacks, Black Ferns Sevens and All Blacks Sevens involved in some of the mentoring and support campaigns.

The foundation’s Western Bay of Plenty manager Dan Allen-Gordon brought along apparel from the All Blacks, Black Ferns and Māori All Blacks to give out as spot prizes on Sunday.

The Morris family won the $60 voucher for first place in the 25km course with 70 points. Photo: Kathy Webb.

With the sun out, those who haven’t cycled through Kopurererua Valley before Sunday, got to experience it for the first time.

The combined Rotary Clubs of Tauranga have been assisting Tauranga City Council with regeneration of the valley since the millennium, with annual planting, rat trapping and fundraising efforts.

Tauranga Sunrise Rotary member Indeevar Duhan. Photo: Simon Beaton.

The Kopurererua Rotary Centennial Trust, established in 2004, played a significant role in raising funds to purchase more than 120,000 plants and trees during the first ten years of planting in the valley.

Ngāi Tamarāwaho is mana whenua of Kopurererua Valley and have done a lot of work in partnership with the council in the valley and with its river, and also in raised awareness of Puketoromiro Pā located towards the southern end of the valley.

The Great K Valley Cycle Adventure also took cyclists across the cycleway bridge in Kopurererua Valley. Photo: Simon Beaton.

“It was the foresight of councils in the past that purchased the land, and community groups that helped to plant it,” says Greg.

“And this event shows you can raise money for groups and have fun at the same time.”

Not only that, but families and teams of friends competing each year in the Great K Valley Cycle Adventure thanks to the Tauranga Sunrise Rotary club are creating some cherished memories and celebrating the joy of spending time together outdoors.

The mysterious and entertaining 'Swampy', turned out to be none other than former Tauranga mayor Greg Brownless dressed in a ghillie suit. Photo: Supplied.