New Zealand - Day 10

The NZ road report said that the road we were to travel on North today was closed due to landslides but the road back the other way was also closed! Pauline, our lovely hostess at the Nga Puriri B&B did some ringing around the police stations and hotels and came back with the report that by the time we got to the closure points they should be fairly clear but we may have to wait a while.

So after another of Pauline beautiful breakfasts we set out from Hicks Bay headed for the Bay of Plenty. True to prediction, we came to our first stoppage just past Te Kaha. Chatted to the stop go man for quite a while (hey bro) until a big enough space was available. Huge landslides all along the highway some of which we going to require a lot of work to clear. Had two more similar stops until we got to Opotiki. Spectacular scenery all along this highway so we were so pleased to be be able to manage it.

From Opotiki on the road ran mostly along the  coast of the Bay -beautiful beaches all the way. Stopped at Whatatane for lunch and then ended up on a toll road ($2) which took us into Tauranga - a city we've never heard of but it had a massive amount t of traffic  and took ages to get through. We eventually made it to our home for the next 5 nights - Birds eye B&B - which sits on a hill overlooking Waihi which is a sizable gold mining town at the base of the Coromandel Peninsular where we will be exploring the available walks at over the next five days.

New Zealand - Day 9

Easy blog today - atrocious weather and stomach bug equals day indoors resting apart from brief excursion to the local little Manuka honey and other products cafe for morning tea.

Feeling better so hopefully tomorrow the morning will be bright and sunny.

New Zealand- Day 8

Very different day today in every way. I will download some photos to give you some idea of the day and I'll complete the blog tomorrow as we have a full rest day. Got here to Hicks Bay safe and sound though!

Forecast wasn't looking good but we set off from Napier early as the guide said it would be a 5-6 hour drive to Hicks Bay. It started raining about an hour into the trip. As anticipated, it was a very winding road through the mountains but there were spectacular views as we skirted the coastline and then headed inland across the rivers.

Stopped off in Gisborne - larger than we thought - for lunch and then on through to Tolaga Bay where we decided to take a walk out to the end of a huge jetty a bit like Urangan Pier. Got about half way but the wind and rain got a bit much so back to the car.

Very slow, winding trip but again beautiful scenery and eventually got to our Hicks Bay B&B about 5.00 - about 7 hours driving! Very nice B&B but no dinner so headed down to the local motel for a nice steak.

Unfortunately my stomach seems to have acquired a nasy bug so while we had planned to take things easy today we are being kept indoors by my stomach and some torrential rain and strong wind. Not a cycling day!

New Zealand- Day 7

Last ride day. Ormlie Lodge did not serve breakfast until 8.30 so we were able to sleep in until 7.30 which was nice. Strange breakfast though with no cereal or fruit or toast - just coffee and eggs fried or poached. Interesting. Hostess Anne-charlotte (French) was lovely though and nothing was too ,such trouble.

Off in the sunny but cool weather again and headed into some very picturesque countryside where again there were lots of Apple's and kiwifruit  being grown. Huge windbreak hedges lined the roads and the bikeway returned to running on the top of the levee banks.

Stopped at the beautiful Mission winery which is centred on an old Catholic training centre for priests - beautiful old building and it has been done up into a very upmarket restaurant and cellar door.

Jenny's  instructions let us down for the first time after that as here was some confusion over cemeteries and we could not find the intended path. Luckily we found some general sighnposting to get us back into Napier but apparently missed seeing a sheep farm - decided we've seen enough sheep anyway.

Back into Napier by 3 and had to do a bit of shopping and banking and finally dropped the bikes back with Jenny by 4. Fabulous ride which had covered over 260km with some fairly challenging climbs in parts so we've both done very well.

New Zealand- day 6

Another beautiful winters day - clear skies and no wind and max about 15. As good as it gets.

Left Hastings motel at about 9 and after retracing the route back past the golf club and aero club we headed East into wineterritory. Lots of vineyards with cellar doors - but mostly not open until we reached Te Awa  which had tastings open at 10. Good wine grown in the Gimblett Gravels area and after a bit of testing we selected a bottle of pinot noir to have sometime along the way.

We travelled on a levee bank along the Tutaekuri River across to the coast running beside huge apple and pear orchards where they were taking the opportunity to spray the trees while the wind was so calm.

We reached the outskirts of Taradale and visited the Silky Oaks chocolate factory - needless to say managed to buy some for future sustinence

Easy ride today - very flat, no headwind. Just beautiful sunny sky. Reached our accommodation which would appear to be the best yet - beautiful old double story timber mansion called Ormlie Lodge. QUITE luxurious with heated bathroom floor and beautiful furniture. Great last night of the ride. We finish the ride back in Napier tomorrow and then stay another night there  before driving up the coast to Hicks Bay where we stay and relax for a couple of days.

New Zealand- Day 5

We both slept like logs in the lovely comfy bed at Abbotsford Lodge after a great dinner with the hosts Chris and Nicolette- we were the only guests as for most people this is not the tourist season! We could not leave until Jenny had delivered our lunch packs as the 65 km ride today passed no cafes or shops.
We set out at about 9.00 and the route took us back through the neat  little town of Waipawa and then back out to the undulating hills - this time with a backdrop of snow covered mountains to the West.
Still predominantly sheep and cattle with some turkeys and horses thrown in but the scenery kept changing throughout the day so it was a beautiful ride although quite hilly - we climbed about 524m today but the second half of the day was flat or downhill. It was a beautiful winters day - clear blue sky and NO WIND and max temp about 15 so just perfect for cycling.
Morning Tea stop at picturesque little Argyle East school next to a beautiful little stream. It was about 40km on to the next village hall so we stopped for a salad roll lunch on top of one of the hills.
We were passed by a convoy of old tractors escorted by an equally old LandRover apparently out for a rally. We passed them stopped for lunch a bit later.
On into the outskirts of Hastings where we stopped for a coffee at the Golf Club cafe and watched planes towing gliders taking off from the adjacent airport.
Got to our motel by 3.30 which was pretty good going for a hilly and fairly long day. But beautiful cycling weather.
Shorter flatter day tomorrow heading to Taradale with lots of wineries and good weather forecast. Even better news is that Maryborough had 15ml of rain today!

New Zealand -Day4

Quintessential New Zealand is probably the best way to describe today's ride. Rolling green hills and valleys and thousands of sheep and lots of Angus cattle plus birds. The forecast was for strong winds and possible afternoon showers so we decided to start a little bit earlier to get as much distance covered before lunch as possible.
We had breakfast in the lovely lounge of the St Andrews retreat overlooking their lake complete with ducks. Got away at about 8 and headed back into Havelock North and then Southwest on Middle Road.
The briefing paper for the day said it was ***Effort Alert  involving 586 metres of climbing. Generally just rolling hills but there were about 3 serious climbs involving small chain rings and big back cogs but not too bad - Elizabeth will tell you the truth when we get home!
Absolutely beautiful scenery though with the farms just a mass of green. NZ farmers seem to be doing very well at the moment judging by the size and grandeur of the homes which seem to occupy the top of every hill - a bit like Ireland in 2008 just before the crash so hope the same thing doesn't  happen again!
Middle Road with all its hills extended for about 30km and was obviously the favoured training ground for all the local cyclists who went past at a great rate of knots and also the motorcycle route for the speeedhounds who tried out the corners on the numerous hills. Entertaining.
Weather stayed beautiful with just an occasional hint of yesterday's wind until lunch time. We reached the roadside pub at Patangata right on lunch time so enjoyed a chowder (guess who) and a pie (guess who) and coffee in the back courtyard with some of the locals. More Aussie news. Over it.
A fairly easy ride for the remaining 15 k into Waipawa along the banks of a river - again just beautiful scenery, thousands of sheep including a herd of black ones and even some great sheepdog work to stop and watch as the shearing was under way. Fascinating.
Arrived at our accommodation Abbotsford Oaks which is a massive old children's home built in the 1920s and now restored into a beautiful B&B by our hosts Chris and Nicolette. We are the only guests - Nicolette told us that NO ONE does these rides in Winter! Only the insane apparently but today was just beautiful - the wind was starting to come up for the last 15k and the predicted rain has just started now at 5.30 so we made the right decision to set off early.
Won't leave until 9 in the morning as Jenny has to bring our lunch as there are no shops of cafes for the whole trip. Sounds like fun.
We are having dinner with Chris and Nicolette tonight as there is no restaurant in Waipawa apparently.
Forecast for the morning is good with no wind. Heaven.

New Zealand - Day 3

Tail wind? What tail wind??
Today dawned bright and sunny and after a very good muesli/coffee breakfast we headed around to the Takaro Trails office just around the corner to collect the bikes and instructions etc. Got away by 9.30 and headed down the seafront bike path to the town centre of Napier for a wander around the art deco city.  Much has been done to the seafront and town centre since we were last here in 2008. Bit of souvenir shopping and on our way.
Bike path all the way as we headed south straight into a pretty fierce south-westerly wind which just got stronger as the day went on. Not too bad but some gusts towards the end of the day did push us around a bit. Quite cool so we did not remove any of the warm clothing for the whole day.
Mainly followed the coastline past beaches and wetlands teeming with birdlife of all shapes and sizes including swans and geese and many types of finches. Most of the ride was on top of huge levee banks built to contain the rivers but that meant we were quite high and exposed to that lovely breeze.
Reached little village of Te Awanga where we could have had lunch at the posh Clearview Estate winery but opted instead for a little roadside fish and chip shop where we had the biggest oysters we've ever seen and beautiful crumbed fish and chips. Had a great chat with some locals who let us know about the crazy political events back home. Unbelievable.
Had a really hard push for about 12k back into Havelock North where we are staying at St Andrews retreat which is a  beautifully peaceful B&B on about 20 acres of landscaped gardens. Quite stunning.
Off to town for dinner. Ate at a place called Maine which Jenny from Takaro had booked for us. Seeing as we had spent a fair bit of the day riding beside apple orchards we had cider instead of wine and it was beautiful. Came and went from here by taxi but we've never seen taxi metres click over so fast! About 10cents per second we reckon! Lovely meal though. Pretty good first day which would have been better without the 20k plus wind but very beautiful ride nevertheless.

New Zealand - Day 2

Woke up to dull rainy and cold weather this morning - just as well today was a driving not a cycling day!
Headed into Palmerston North for breakfast at The Coffee Club in the middle of town. Easily found a park at that time but they have the most user-unfriendly parking system we've ever encountered - made worse when you're standing in the freezing cold wind and heavy rain and the machine won't take your card or your coins. Getting soaking wet and cold I decided that we could argue with any parking attendant who happened along so we had our bacon and eggs and coffee with free parking.
The main road from Palmy to Napier is closed due to landslides so we had to take the old saddle road which we were told was pretty winding and dangerous but turned out not so bad even in the pouring rain - in fact a spectacular drive with beautiful scenery but only able to stop once for photos.
We stopped in Woodville (pretty depressed) and Dannevirke (clearly a Scandanavian settlement) where we enjoyed a beaut hot chocolate in the old trustees building cafe. More rolling green sheep and cattle country - lots of new lambs obviously not enjoying the cold and wet - and then stopped in Hastings for lunch. Quite a big centre and very well preserved with heaps of second hand shops, gift shops etc. Nice break.
Got to Napier with bright sunny sky but still a cold wind at about 3 and took a stroll along the front. Obviously much better off around here - lots of Mercs, Audis and Jeeps etc. Booked into the Navigator Apartments which are very nice and we are booked into Shed 2 for dinner by Jenny the bike tour organiser. Dinner at Shed 2 was excellent. Both enjoyed braised beefcheeks and shared a chocolate and pear creation for dessert.
On the bikes heading back to Hastings tomorrow morning and thankfully the weather forecast is fine but still some wind around - but it will be a tail wind at least. 

The Saddle Road

Someone forgot today was Thursday!

Central Hastings - very well presented city 

New Zealand - Day 1

Wé arrivéd in Wellington slightly ahead of time (3 minutes to midnight instead of 1 minute to midnight) after  pretty good flight from Hervey Bay and Sydney. Virgin served interesting  snack - frozen celery and dip! But Air NZ made up for it with a very nice  chicken casserole for dinner.

Got picked up from the airport by the hotel shuttle and had a very comfortable night. The instructions for the Apex hire car were to ring them from the shuttle stop at the airport. Left the luggage at the motel and walked to the airport and phoned for the pick-up. Bus soon arrived and we asked him to take us to the motel to pick up the luggage. No problem, which motel? Airport lodge. Off we go and soon realize we seem to be heading the wrong way. Is this the way? Yes, have to go around one way road. Ok. After a few more minutes, pull up outside strange hotel. Sign says Airport Hotel. No, we said airport lodge motel. Oh dear, airport lodge motel is right next door to Apex office - back through the airport and back to where we had started!
Successfully navigated out of Wellington and as we only had 180km to travel today we ca lled in to little beach towns along the way. Titahi Bay was the first with beautiful surf coming into a beautiful little bay with colourful boatsheds. Bit depressed as a centre but managed an ok coffee and apple tart for morning tea.
Next stop was Paraparaumu which was obviously a much trendier place with beaut little shops and cafe's. Being lunch time we went into a little cafe that was almost full (good sign) and had the most BEAUTIFUL steak and kidney pie, salad and coffee. Extra good as it was blowing a very cold northerly outside.
We ran into a bit of rain on the last leg of the drive into Palmerston North but it is now clear and sunny - still blowing and cold though.
Dinner tonight with Nephew Michael who works here and off to Napier to start the bike ride tomorrow.
Great first day - beautiful drive along the scenic coast and great food. Very relaxing.Had a MAGNIFICENT meal with Michael tonight at Neros Restaurant in Palmerston Nth. Probably best menu we've seen anywhere and beautifully prepared. Tiramisu not QUITE as good as the one last year but very close second. Fitting finish to a great day 1!!