Tauranga to Gisborne - the East Coast

Keith, Heather, Bessie, Bruce, Me
Heather and Keith


Me, Anna, Ian



A hard day at the office - Ben's new look, a cotton shirt and lycra shorts
Anna and Ian
Why take 2 bottles into the shower when you can just wash your clothes in the sea - and go


Another beast of a hill out the way


Hicks Bay



Free fruit


Daisy - a wee beastie
Caravaning at Eddie and Jo's

Eddie and Jo
View from Eddie and Jo's garden








Kim's place in Ohope








Papamoa beach

Route:
Tauranga was quite a difficult place to get out of but Mark, a friendly cyclist, escorted us out of town all the way to Mount Maunganui. From there we headed down the coast to Papamoa beach and then on to horrible Highway 2 again. It wasn't half as bad this time though. We stopped 20kms down the road at a place called Te Puke to have a day off and let the old legs recover. Trish Hughes from Te-Puke Holiday Park very kindly let us stay there for $3 a night(1.50) after we explained what we were doing. The next day we set off on roughly an 80km ride to Ohope where our friend Lisa's sister Kim lives. What a great ride. We had a tail wind the whole way, no hills to climb and a great big shoulder to ride in at the side of the road. We sailed into Ohope in no time. Ohope is a beautiful, peaceful wee place by the sea. We camped in Kim, Quinn and Paul's garden, relaxed on the beach and swam in the sea. These guys really made us feel really welcome. Leaving Ohope, we set off on our epic ride round the East Cape. This whole area is owned by the Maori people and in most parts is extremely isolated. The road was so quiet the whole way round and the scenery was spectacular. It was a really tough ride of nearly 400kms over mountain passes for the most part but we're glad we got to see this part of the country. One of the highlights of this part of the trip was meeting an an amazing couple called Eddie and Jo. These good people welcomed us into their home near Omaio, fed us freshly caught snapper and offered us a night in their caravan. We had a great laugh and left the next morning on a high about the wonderful people you can meet on the road. The next 2 nights of the East Cape ride we camped in the woods and in some trees by the roadside. The sun was really hot for the most part which made the climbs even tougher. Ben got his legs burned one day and now looks like he's wearing stockings. Our mileage has been going up and up and we did our first 100km + day yesterday. We bumped into another cycling couple Anna and Ian, who like us we're cycling to Gisborne. So we cycled there together in a peloton at high speed, stopping for lunch on the way. These two, who live in Germany are on a 4 month cycling holiday in NZ. We had a great day with them. Cycling into Gisborne was a great ride. The coastline is lovely, with massive waves and loads of surfers. It seems like a cool place with lots of young boys with bleached blonde hair and flip flops who look like extras from "Home and Away". When we finally reached Gisborne after cycling 105kms, we reached the house of Heather and Keith, our friend Carol's parents. What a welcome. We had a great meal, beers, a beautiful bed to sleep in and this morning we are here on our own with a key to come and go as we please. Thanks for making us feel so at home and introducing us to the delights of gay dolphins and the Cossy Club. We've had such a good time with you two, you are both brilliant. So today, after finishing this blog, we'll head down to Gisborne for a couple of wing mirrors for our bikes and a trip to the beach. Later we're meeting Anna and Ian(the cyclists) in the pub and then tomorrow, setting off to Lake Taupo. I realise that heading up to Taupo from Gisborne is doubling back on ourselves but we want to see the best parts of the country and it's apparently stunning round there.The sun is shining and it's 24 degrees. So far we've done 750kms. We are really starting to get into the trip now that we've got a few miles under our belts but you do need to rest when you can so we are taking full advantage of everyone's offer of hospitality. A heartfelt thankyou to everyone who has helped us so far. The world is full of good people, despite what the media tries to make us think.