Mahia – Napier The art deco capital of New Zealand
As if by magic we have arrived in Napier (the art deco capital of New Zealand) this evening, and are a seafood extravaganza plus a Hawke’s Bay bottle of rose down, and its barely 10pm!
Considering we were in Mahia only a few hours ago, it would be nothing short of a miracle to think we could have ridden the 160km road between here and there in such a short space of time.
Trailer trash
Suffice to say it is still nothing short of a miracle that we are actually here because at times during this afternoon we thought we might never see Christmas. You see we got a last minute lift from Lynn from the Mahia campground who single handedly (she never put two hands on the steering wheel during the entire two hour journey) dropped us and our bikes off in Napier at six o’clock. Driving her car and trailer at 110kph in the slow vehicle bays on this treacherous, steep, windy and narrow road, she wondered why the Holden behind her never overtook her. The guy didn’t stand a chance!
Anyway we and the bikes did arrive safely, us slightly shaken, and the bikes a little bit scathed from rolling around in the trailer, but nothing a bit of electrical tape won’t fix.
We’re pitched up at the Kennedy Park campsite (NZ$53 per night) in Napier ready to recover from today’s traumatic journey. Looking forward to exploring the art deco capital of New Zealand over the Christmas period.
Pitched up in the art deco capital of New Zealand!
Not perfect weather this morning, but safe enough to get back in the saddle for the planned 40km flat ride to Wairoa, where as it turned out we never reached!
Morere – Mahia
We had a change of plan after about 8kms when we stopped at Nuhako for a drink.
Nuhako Dairy
Chatting to the locals in the shop, and going on what we’d heard from previous people, it sounded like the side trip to the Mahia Penninsula was a must-do, so who were we to argue! And we were not disappointed – a quiet scenic road passing isolated beaches with a few moderate hills and great viewpoints.
Mahia Beach is like a little holiday resort with a pub and a dairy, and lots of holiday homes (mostly still empty, but that will change in a few days time). Plus the campsite (with its new owners who took over just 4 weeks ago) has a nice café on site, and for the moment we have the place to ourselves! It is NZ$40 per night.
Mahia Beach, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
Running out of time
Camped at Mahia Campsite
Now how long we stay here at Mahia remains to be seen. Time is moving so fast and we are moving so slowly, and that’s what we’re really loving about this trip. That said we have a wedding to get to in Nelson, and our ferry out of Wellington is on the 28th December. At this rate we know we will never make it there by pedal power alone so we have called in the services of Intercity bus and have booked a bus from Napier to Wellington on the 27th December.
The “red sky at night is a shepherds delight” saying didn’t really ring true this morning as we woke up to a very gusty, grey Gisborne. Maybe that’s what shepherds like, but it’s not what two cycling tourists who are already somewhat nervous by the road ahead want first thing in the morning.
Gisborne – Morere
The gusty start set the tone for the day, and after a bit of hanging around waiting for the rain to clear we said our goodbyes to Gisborne.
Today’s challenge lay on the 60km stretch of State Highway 2 from Gisborne to Morere. It is a road busy with traffic and logging trucks, and although the first 30kms were flat we were faced with a series of long steep ascents and descents.
Roadworks on State Highway 2
Just as the morning nerves were settling down, we were chased by two fearless Rottweiler farm dogs who miraculously avoided being hit by the oncoming traffic in both directions.
The increased volume of traffic is now something we have to contend with, and for the most part drivers are respectful and do their best to give us space, but of course there is the occasional one (usually a SUV driver!) that deserves our wrath and associated hand signals.
Hills and headwinds
Today we had our biggest hills to date. The first was a 4.5km fairly steep one up Kopua Hill (120metres elevation), and a 3km downhill, before another 8km steep climb up to the top of Wharerata Hill at an elevation of 510metres. At times we resembled the hare and the tortoise, with Dave always taking the lead, but then me overtaking him on his rest breaks.
We were certainly ready for our picnic lunch at the top, but we didn’t hang around for too long as the wind would’ve skinned you! Great views overlooking Poverty Bay and Gisborne.
The viewpoint at Bartletts Hill overlooking Gisborne & Poverty Bay
If we thought the headwinds made it tough going uphill, they were much harder to contend with on the downhill. It was scary at times, impossible to hear the following traffic, and certainly a white knuckle ride as the gusts buffered the bikes on every bend.
Hot pools
It was a relief to arrive safe and sound at Morere, and even more of a pleasure to spend this evening soaking in the hot pools, especially since we paid only $2 extra each to have the entire place to ourselves! It felt indulgent and oh so relaxing despite branches being blown down left, right and centre. (The campsite was NZ$36 for the night.)
Tomorrow we’ll move on to Wairoa and hope the winds die down.
You know you’re back in civilisation when instead of waking up to the warmth and light of the rising sun, the early and rather annoying morning alarm call is traffic noise! In particular the loud logging trucks who are on the road from first light – welcome to Gisborne, New Zealand’s most eastern city, and known by the locals as “Gizzy”.
That said it was still a beautiful morning to wake up to. We are camping by yet another beautiful beach (Waikanae Top 10 Holiday Park at NZ$44 per night) which is slightly busier than most we’ve been on, but by no means crowded.
Waikanae Top 10 Holiday ParkWaikanae Beach Reserve
Tolaga Bay – Gisborne
Thankfully the sun made a welcome return today after it’s short lapse yesterday. It had been a clear blue sky when we set off from Tolaga Bay for the 60km ride to Gisborne, but by mid morning the clouds had rolled in and on a steep climb inland we were caught out in a short, sharp thunderstorm.
Caught in the rain!Lunch spot
By the time we’d rejoined the coast for our picnic lunch we had dried off completely, thanks in part to the constant headwind we were facing which got stronger the closer we got to Gizzy. Just as we pitched up the heavens opened again, but as always there was sunshine after the rain. This time in the form of a brewery – Gisborne’s Sunshine brewery was just around the corner from the campsite!
Gisborne City
Since we were in the “city” this morning we thought we’d go out for a slap up breakfast instead of making our usual muesli and fruit. But after walking the streets for two hours we couldn’t find a single place serving a fry – definitely a gap in the market here for a good breakfast café that opens before 9am! An afternoon coffee spot proved almost as difficult with the first couple of places we tried already closed at 3.30pm!
We had a similar experience this evening – this time we fancied fish and chips takeaway for dinner and had spotted a fresh fish place on our breakfast hunt, but when we got there at 7.30pm it had been closed half an hour already! We raced around town on the bikes and eventually managed to snag a takeaway from a restaurant that at 8pm was shutting up for the evening.
This opening late and closing early malarkey is frustrating for hungry and grumpy travellers! But all was forgiven as tonight Gizzy put on a show stopping sunset for our romantic fish supper on the beach. Life is good, again.
We think it is day 18 of this New Zealand cycling tour! Reluctantly we had to move on from Anaura Bay this morning as we were running out of supplies. We can only carry about two days worth of food with us. The only reason we managed to stretch the stay to three nights was because of the kindness of others.
Packed up at Anaura Bay
Kiwi kindness
Our fresh food supplies, and most of our dried foods, apart from a handful of nuts and a few gooey marshmallows, were depleted. We could have, if we’d needed to, survive on ice cream, chocolate and coke from the camp shop, but thanks to a surprise delivery to the tent by Victor on his ride on lawnmower, we had freshly caught and hot smoked lemon fish for lunch!
And for Saturday night dinner we tucked into locally caught crayfish, venison and steak, all courtesy of an invite from some lovely Kiwi and South African camping neighbours. We managed to supply the wine (quantity, not quality in this instance), by paying Victor for picking up a box of wine when he drove to the store in Tolaga Bay.
Going fishing in Anaura BayEating the rewards of the fishing trip!
The kindness did not stop there. Once we were packed and ready to go we had offers all round to drive us up the hill, and with the daunting prospect of that 2km climb in the midday sunshine who were we to refuse. Anything for an easy life!! This is our experience of a New Zealand cycling tour.
Teamwork at Tolaga Bay
It meant the afternoon ride to Tolaga Bay started with a steep downhill, followed by a fast, flat and easy 18kms.
In no time at all we had fresh supplies on board, and as the fastest tent pitching team in the south, Olive was up, and it is time for us to relax once more. We could get used to this life…
Olive pitched in next to no time!
We’re pitched up here at Tolaga Bay Campsite ($NZ32 per night) for a couple of nights.
Hi, we're Sharon & Dave an active and adventurous Irish & English couple who've been travelling together for more than 20 years. These posts are our travel stories and personal journeys. Follow our adventures to see where we've been and where we're going next!
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