Our Ride To Waihi Beach

We new today was going to be a long one, we had over 400 km to ride, which ended up taking us 11 hours. The morning was slow as we made our south from The Bay of Islands towards Auckland, So many road works and heavy traffic. The road builders lay down a concrete layer first then wash it down, we arrived just as the washing began and ended up covered in the stuff !

Tony, our Maori guide, had to leave us at Auckland, which was sad as we had formed a huge respect for him. He was the NZ version of RL Stockard, for those who knew him. He will rejoin us at the end of our tour for the farewell dinner though.

The afternoon saw us clear Aucklands heavy traffic, a bit like the M25 in the rush! We rode on to Kawakawa Bay where we had a stop for a whopping ice cream but then had a two and a half hour ride to finish.

Wahi beech is a lovely place and we are here for two nights, riding the Coromandel Loop tomorrow before returning here. The landscapes just keep getting better but we were too tired to appreciate the last 100km today.

Bed calls but a later start is most welcome for sat.