The Lost Days

Jan 9- Red Beach to Warkworth- About 36 km

Left Red Beach this morning not knowing much about the road ahead other than there is a bit of a hilly section. Yup, it was hilly alright. We both had to push a few sections but that was OK because the views were spectacular.
The secondary road out of Red Beach was a bit busy, only one lane each way and little or no shoulder. We rode the first 9km to the interchange where the main Highway 1 meets up.

There are now two lanes each way but still very little shoulder and much more traffic. This is the main hiway north from Auckland so all big trucks, buses and cars come this way as a quickest route. There are still a lot of steep hills and it is hot. We ride most and push a bit. We have made a habit already of stopping where there is shade, much easier to recharge and have a drink.

We head toward Warkworth, about 36km for the day. Doesn`t sound like much until you have to ride the hills.
A few km short of Warkworth there is a sandwich truck on a pullout so we stop to eat. Good burger and fries and some kind of Apple something smoothy.
Merry must be feeling better, there is a short hike to a water fall and she wants to go. OK, I will play you're little game. So we took the little 15 minute hike,.....UP!! to the water fall, just enough to drain the last of our strength. Glad it's only a few km to town.
We do manage to get to Warkworth to find that there is no camp ground, except for the one 7km out. Nope!!! A motel sounds good to me. Not a bad little place for the price. But we're still not camping.
We are a ways from the water here and the town folds up shop about 5pm so not much to do.Went and got some fish and chips then to bed. I'm sure tomorrow will be just as interesting.

Jan 10- Warkworth to Goat Island Park- About 21 km

Another toughish day, a bit of climbing and some good flats, but still there are more climbs at the end of the day, but in all not too bad. Then it happened,.................mechanical number 1, Merry was a bit behind on the climb and I lost sight of her around a corner. When I got to the top I walked back a ways to see where she was. She was stopped looking at her front wheel, crap, I soon found the source of the snap she heard, broken spoke, cog side on the back, me with no cog puller, but I do have spokes. Luckily, we had stopped to talk to a bike rental guy earlier and he gave us a card if we needed anything, I managed to make it workable at least to get to camp.
The worrysome part was the long down hill to the camp,..........and then the long gravel driveway up to the camp, this just keeps getting better!!
We do make camp finally, it's a little like old time Saltspring Island, pretty whole earth, I fully expect to hear people being called Willow or Moonflower!!

We were a bit short of food and there were no groceries at the site so I rode back to town to pick up a few things. As it turns out it is only a 15 minute ride with 1 good climb.
I called Paul, the bike guy and made an appointment for him to drive out and bring some tools in the morning. He showed up at 9:00am as arranged and I fixed the wheel in about 15 minutes. $20 later all was well with the world.
Later the camp manager started a big communal fire everyone sat around and force fed all the kids marshmallows..........lots of marshmallows! Then the kids went off to bed and the adults sat and had a few drinks and made supper for themselves, kinda nice.
We had our first bottle of wine tonight, not direct from a vinyard but still pretty good. Just sat and watched the locals watch the tourists.

Jan 11

We stayed at Goat island the next day to rest up and do a bit of site seeing. There is a marine park which is the main attraction here so we went down to take look, we just walked the beach/rocks and watched people and the landscape. It's good to stop and just do nothing and take rest, I / we have to remember to do that.
We can't carry much food so we have taken to eating lots of microwaveable rice packs and what ever meat type products we can find. So far not too bad but it will get better as we feel more comfortable carrying a bit more weight on the bikes.

Jan 12 Goat Island to Pakiri- about 10km

Not a long day but they tell us about 'The Hill' we have to climb to the other side of the range so we want to get on with it. As it turns out, the climb out of the camp to the main road then the next 1 km are the bad bits, we both push a bit, but get to a bit shallower pitch and ride the rest. Merry did awsome, we got to the top then mostly down the rest of the way with a bit of gravel for good measure.

The camp at Pakiri is nice, a bit more comercial then the last, good kitchen and showers, but best of all we got an outside site along the fence and facing the water, nice.
Sat on the beach and went for a swim, same old, same old,..........YAh, this sucks!!!
Bought a few groceries from the camp store, Merry wanted canned spagetti, WHAT THE HELL!!, I didn't see that coming. So we had spagetti and sliced ham for supper. Shame we had no wine.
That was about it for the day, not too excitng but that again is why we're here.

Jan 13-Pakiri to Wellsford- 34km

Now these are nice roads, not flat but low undulating paved roads through beautiful pasture land. Traffic is light and it's a bit cloudy so great for riding. Uneventful ride to Wellsford, but we found a good pie shop and had our first good NZ meat pie. I LOVE Meat pies.

There was no camp ground in town so we opted for a motel, very nice and clean, nice people running it, it`s not camping but it`s nice. AGAIN!!
Another 2 cyclists stayed as well, Sophi from Belgium and Stuart from Sweden. Ended up going out for dinner with them and had a great talk about nothing. Just good to talk to other travelers.
Caught up on some E-mails and off to bed.

Jan 13-Wellsford to Mangawhai Heads- 36km

Another pretty easy ride today but the heat makes the miles seem sooooo long. Got to the camp at around noon and that was it for the day. Got a fill in camp site with no shade but we were beside a great Kiwi couple, Jo and Dave, who had their caravan set up with an awning, complete with chairs and a fridge we could put a few things in.
We ended up spending the evening with them and Roxy and Kevin, 2 of their friends who stopped by and had a great time. We had a bottle of wine, so we each had a few glasses, but then Dave started handing out beer to Kevin and I ( Merry begged off ) but I accepted, knowing full well I would pay in the morning. I managed 5 beer and 2 glasses of wine that night, felt little if any buzz off them and woke up clear headed in the morning, not sure why, but I should have been a wreck. I think I love beer now!

We turned in about 12:30am, long after quiet time and still had to put up with the tittering girls next tent over, unfortunately we couldn`t get too upset because they were Jo and Dave`s kids, oh well, we finally got a little sleep, dispite the flood lite shining on our tent all night.

Jan 14-Mangawhai to Ruakaka- 32km

We talked about staying another night but thought it prudent to not push our luck with the beer thing that we knew would happen again the next night, so we packed up and headed toward Whangarei, about 64km. Again not great mileage for the day but the heat is killing our progress. Both of us felt very slugish today and decided to stop in Ruakaka about 32km down the road.
We had been warned about the campsite there, it was described by a lady a few days ago as a `refugee camp`, lots of rules and elbow to elbow tents. Well the tents seemed to have thinned out but the rules were still in place. When we arrived, we had to ask for an exception to let us ride our bikes to our camp site,` because bicycles were not allowed in the camp ground!!!` nor were push scooters or skateboards!!! Too many signs to mention, warning of what you are not allowed to do and they advertise as "The BEST FAMILY CAMP OF THE NORTHLANDS!!"

Anyway they made a production out of finding us a quiet site by trees, which turned out to be in the middle of a field, close to some wilted sticks and adjacent to 2 families with 27 kids. OK they only had about 5, but they were not quiet!
Oh well, we made the best of it, took a walk to the town center just down the road, in the 27 degree heat, with NO wind. About 5km later we are still looking of the town center that was supposed to be 3km away. I need a drink of water.....You have the water!!........No you have the water.........DAMN, we forgot water. We do not even pass a convenience store to get a soda, nothing, so we keep walking. We finally come around a corner and there it is, one small dairy store, a fish and chips takeway and a realestate office. Oh well at least we will get fish and chips. We order our food and while Merry waits I go out to see about a taxi. Yah, no such luck, no taxi, but the Mauori guy I asked, Nigel, said he would give us a ride, NICE!!! Even got my first real Mauori greeting, a hand shade and a light forehead bump! Cool. Nice guy, talked about the local economy and how things were going, They too are feeling the encroachment of other cultures, mostly orientals but also Europeans and Americans.
Got back to camp and had our fish and chips ( the worst so far ) and read for a while. It was still quite warm and close but we headed to the tent and still got a pretty good sleep.
Merry's Addition: In our quest to find the best fish and chips we weren't expecting fish and chips from Chinese Food Takeaways. We have been on the look out for Salty Bobs daily catch restaurant and pub but alas it has not been found very readily. Other restaurants serve fish and chips but at $26 we have to say no and move on. We heard that there is amazing Fish and Chips at Merida heading to Coromandel so that is on our list when we start heading south.

Jan 15- Ruakaka to Whangarei-40km

This was to be another easy day, all flat, good pavement, but still a bit hot. And it was such untill it happened again. Twangggg, Merry broke another spoke, same wheel, same side, DAMN!! We were only about 13km from town so I did a quick adjustment to get her going just to get to town. I was a bit concerned about the down hills for her but she took it in stride and we got in OK.
Being Sunday we could not order a new wheel until tomorrow, so we found a cheep backpackers hotel in the down town area. Hung out for the rest of the day, ate some more and read some more, I see a pattern forming!
We stayed at the `Grand Hotel`, it was a nice old place that was under renovation so we seemed to be the only people staying there, in fact we seemed to have the place to ourselves, not even any staff to speak of, very freaky. Apparently though, the queen stayed there in 1940, I would imagine it would have been a bit more Upscale back then.

Jan 16 - Whangarei

Had to order the wheel so it would not be in until Tuesday. We spent the day walking miles, they had nice waterfall on the edge of town with a hiking trail back into the city, that took up a good part of the day. The town `Basin` as it is called, is the center of the yatch marina, lots of neat shops and restaurants. Not too hard to while away a day here

.Had a nice supper at the `Fat Camel`, Lamb and veggies on a pita, a beer, some salad, humis, tea, coffee, you know, New Zealand food.

Jan 17- Whangarei to Paihia- 85km by bus

Got the wheel at 10am, fixed the bike and we then had to make a plan. Merry got the weather report saying there was a cyclone off shore that was heading toward us, we wanted to get out of town but knew it would take too long to ride to Paihia, so the bus it is. Actually as we were riding on the bus we talked about it and decided this is probably a better way to get to see more of what we want to see. Instead of 2 or 3 days getting to a place, spend 1 day on the bus and spend 2 or 3 days exploring on bike around the area.
As we were getting to Paihia, the wind started coming up and we were really glad we were not riding.
In Paihia we got a room at "The Mousetrap" backpackers hostel, really neat place. It's an old house built by a sea captain,it even looks like a boat inside, lots of wood and nautical fixtures.
When the storm hit, we did what normal people do, put on our rain coats and went for a walk! It was great, warm and raining. We picked up a few groceries and decided, again, to abandon camping for a few days until the weather comes around. Spent the evening just lounging and reading.

Jan 18- Paihia

Spent the day exploring on the bikes. The weather has already cleared, still a bit cloudy but warm and a bit windy. Rode out to the local water falls, did some gravel road up a part of a mountain ( big hill ), then back into town. Took the ferry across to Russel to check that out. Really pretty little town, took lots of pictures of the old houses and shops, Merry wants a balcony just like those!!!! Nice summer project!
The high light of the day was riding UP!! to the site of the signing of the British / Mauori treaty. Damn steep hill, great workout, nice view.
Booked for the bus tour to Cape, Reinga tomorrow, it goes all day from 7:00am to about 7:00pm, so to bed and start all over again.

Jan 19- Paihia

BUS Trip to Cape Reinga
Usually bus trips are not my deal but this one was good. When we booked it, Jake, who booked the trip advised a different one then we saw this brocher, there seemed to be a lot more younger people on it. Jake said it was directed toward more to more activities. Perfect we'll take it.
Headed north did the regular stops to see big trees and old bushes, nice but not too exciting. Stopped to pick up lunch and off again north. Cape Reina was much as I had remembered it. They are really stressing the significance with the Maori culture. The tip is the jumping off point for Maori spirits. It is a very breath taking view, it's hard to take it all in. We bought a New Zealand Christmas Tree - the and planted it up by the flagstaff. They sell trees in an effort to stop soil erosion in this area. They take a GPS location of your tree and will send you photos of them as they grow if you ask. Pretty cool.
After the cape, back on the bus for about 10 minutes then we stopped at a beach and the driver was the first one in the water, I like this guy, Craig really likes his job and gets right into it. Did some body surfing for a while, had a quick sandwich, then back on the bus, towards the sand dunes for sand boarding,!!!!! YAAHHHOOOO.

 This is going to be fun, and it was! It's just like tobboganing except on sand! The dune are really high and no lifts, so we only got 4 runs in but they seemed to think that was more then usual, some of the KIDS only did 2 or 3 not that we were counting.
We both did great and no broken bits. We had sand in a lot of strange places but Craig said we had one more beach stop to clean it off.
We got to 90 Mile Beach on the bus via a river bed, hard packed sand and water, in a tour bus! This is Cool!!! The beach is actually considered a hiway, 1A to be exact, complete with speed limit, but it is only open 2 hours each side of high tide, so knowing the tide tables is imperative, or you lose your car!! Fun to be speeding along in a bus on a huge wide beach with vehicles parked here and there, people out fishing from shore or just hanging out, no lines on this road, you stop pretty much where ever you want, do what you want and everybody has to go around you.
So once we were off the beach and back on the paved hiway it was pretty much a straight shot back to Paihia, with one stop for fish and chips Waitaruke.
That was a long day but a great day, just really good to do physical stuff.

So Here it Starts!!

January 5th to 7th -Canada to Auckland
Oh what a lost few days.
Getting on the plane from Edmonton to Calgary was great, they didn't even charge us for the bikes! Some times it's good when people don't know anything about their own jobs!!
Anyway, got to Calgary and all hell broke lose. One (1) hour stop over to change planes, from a domestic flight to an international flight. That means we have to go through U.S. customs!!! With two bikes, two huge duffle bags and a steel hip!!! Jerry!!!! What the hell!! So we are literally running through the airport to make it to the baggage carousel to pick up our stuff, Yah you guessed it, NO BIKES! Jeezz, didn't see that coming. The nice lady from Air Canada got on her little walkie talkie and asked around about a few mountain bikes. Yup, one of the baggage handlers knew where they were but they were "HUGE" and he needed help? Must have been 'Give a Putz a Job Day at Air Canada'. So Merry and I split up, she went to the customs line with the bags and I ( and the nice Air Canada lady ) waited for the bikes.
Plane time 8:55
Got the bikes time 8:30.........then off to customs.......Got patted down real good........took my 1/2 bottle of coke........a cola.............then asked us to tear open the bike bags so they could swab them for explosives or stuff. They had no luck. No weapons of mass destuction here! Hey but we got through to the flight with about 2 minutes to spare. No Problem!!!
 Air New Zealand TOTALLY ROCKS!!!! Had a blanket, pillow and head set waiting on each seat, we`re talkin` economy here! Chicken or pasta for dinner........chicken please........Holy Cow...this tastes like chicken! Really good chicken, and mashed potatos and a bunch of other food that was good! Watched TV and some travels shows about New Zealand and tried to get some sleep. NICE!!
 Got to Auckland at 5:00am, put the bikes together, got on a bus and were at the Hostel by 7:00am, too easy.
 Spent the next two days walking around down town, suffering from jet lag and shell shock from the sticker price of the basic neccesities of life. What the hell, $3.50 for a small cup of coffee? We stopped for a light lunch, 2 very dry ham, cheese and avacado sandwiches and 2 cups of coffee,......$26.00! $5.50 for powerbars. We thought we`d beat the restaurants prices by buying our own groceries and making good healthy food, a little cheese, a nice loaf of bread, some greens, a few tomatos...................$30.00 for groceries. We did find out that there is a 15% GST on everything and the price on stuff includes the tax, Oh well, when in Rome.

　
We did find our first fish and chips shop so we sat by the water and taunted the sea gulls.

So we are finally off riding tomorrow, taking a ferry out of town to miss all the city traffic. It will put us about 15 km north of Auckland and make a good place to start riding, seems like a good idea so far, we`ll see.

TB Blog Jan 8,2011
Auckland to Red Beach
About 11 km by Boat
About 10 km riding
Now I remember how hot it can be around here. It was about 26ish today, but was it HOT on the bike! Lots of climbing for the first day. We both had to walk a couple hills but I am still impressed how well we both did on the hills we did climb, seeing as we have not been on the bikes for a few months ( a couple years in Merry`s case ........good on yah mate!! ).

We found a nice little camp ground called Pinewoods just off the shore, a place called Red Beach, we were both happy to find a place fairly close so we didn`t have cycle far for the first day.
Got the tent up, changed and straight to the ocean and went for a swim, OH that was good. So far, this is great.

On the boat heading for the start of the cycling bit


After a nice frolic on the beach, we walked to the local grocery, bought a few things for dinner. Our first home cooked meal, not a bad way to end the day.

Merry's addition - Holy Sweet Mother of Pearl the hills are steep!  Good thing is it downhill on the other side :)  My delicate constitution and fair skin... OK I'm not used to this kind of heat and blistering sun so was not ready for what hit us off the ferry.  Some consolation is that the New Zealanders are suffering from the heat as well.  It has been fluctuating between 26 - 28 degrees C these last 4 days and people are complaining!  It is hilarious.  Seriously, the hills are just like coming out of the ferries on any of the Gulf Islands in Canada - you start at sea level and have to go up, and up and up.  It was a fun although short day.  The campsite is very close to the beach and we watched the Ocean Lifeguard competitions - exciting to watch.  I am really looking forward to the next leg - which is yet to be determined. 

We are just sitting talking to a couple from Vancouver who are heading back after 6 weeks touring NZ and say it is more expensive than touring Europe for the prior three months.  They were so excited to get to this campsite as it had free showers.  Everything costs - they charge for plastic forks, packaged ketchup etc if you order fries for example.  Wow.

The Beginning is Near!!!!!

It's only a few weeks untill we leave and we are still working on the bikes and packing and repacking to see if we can make it all fit, hey, look at that, we have too much room,..............yah, not really. We have a lot of camp gear and cloths and wet weather gear, but it's amazing what you can get into panniers.


The basement looks like a bike shop! I kinda like it! Merry, not so much.
  There are a lot of little things we still have to get together. We have lists of stuff we need and that list keeps changing. Eventually we are going to have to pack everything and just leave, if we have our tooth brushes and a few credit cards, we'll be OK.