24th March 2017
I sleep well and wake fairly early, and have a long chat with my girlfriend back in the UK. The ability to use my mobile like this, at no extra cost, has really been a bonus for the last few trips I've done...
I pack the Adv, secure in its rooftop parking space and set off into a cool, damp morning at about 0950...
On Mike & Leanne's advice, I ignore Bettie for a while and continue out of town for a couple of kilometres...
Until I come to the tranquil Peringa Park...
...where there's apparently a new bridge...
Hmm - not too impressive...
Ah
- that'll be the one then...
There were a bunch of kids in a van in the car park - and for the first time since I arrived in New Zealand - I felt it wouldn't be a good idea to be out of sight of the bike...
...so I made do with taking pictures from the road...
On a fine day (when Mount Tarakini is not wreathed in cloud like it is today), you can get a great shot capturing the bridge and the mountain.
Seems I'll have to leave that for another time...
Bettie steers me back out onto Highway 3 towards Hamilton and I ease the speed up to just over 100kph...
The road surface is dry, but there's a definite threat of rain in the air...
It's a pleasant ride, though the temperature never gets past about 68°F...
I'm booked back into the Roselands Motel in Tauranga this afternoon - it's about 300km...
I have a good, fast (by NZ standards) ride, until I feel the need for some breakfast...
I stop at this café...
...which clearly has a bird problem...
...as these warning signs suggest. I order my meal, then go outside to sit at one of the tables on the veranda - and see first hand what the problem is, as I alert Barry...
...who has stepped away from his muffin to look at my Adv, that the birds are demolishing it...
He breaks off the piece they have pecked and throws it an a nearby table and the feeding frenzy that ensues make it seem like a Hitchcock movie...
My - unusually austere looking - breakfast arrives and Barry and I chat about bikes (he's riding a Triumph Tiger 1050), weather - "It always rains when I go on a group ride" and other stuff. Barry is on his way to join up with three mates near Napier for a long weekend of riding gravel trails in the area...
After we have finished - and the birds had cleaned up every scrap after us - we get kitted up and I notice a soft drizzle has started.
I refuse to accept this reality and substitute my own - and don't get togged up at all.
I set off on Highway 3 once again, giving Barry a wave, and stop for fuel about seven kilometres down the road. By this time I can see that this is just a shower and there is bright sky in the direction I am heading. This will turn out to be the only precipitation I see today...
The roads stay wet for a while longer - and it's always wise to keep an eye on the road surface after rain anyway...
Once again I am making really good progress - there's not much traffic and, this being a main route, there are plenty of passing lanes if you can't get a decent view for an overtake elsewhere...
The weather ahead looks promising...
...although I'm not sure I'd want to be crossing the range of hills inland at the moment...
The road occasionally has a series of bends, which keeps you alert...
...but most of the time it's clearly designed to take heavy traffic as easily as possible from A to B...
I arrive at Otorohanga, which has a very busy main street...
...and a rather garishly painted Kiwi...
Bettie then starts steering me across country...
...on a series of smaller roads, eventually connecting me to Highway 29, which bypasses Matamata and will take me to Tauranga...
I would have a job pointing out the route on a map now, but it was a good collection of fun roads to ride...
...as they were twisty...
...and went through some very pretty countryside...
This chap...
...switched his light bar on just as I approached - but it turns out he was going after someone coming the other way...
I pull in to the Tavern at Te Poi "Home of the big cow"...
Rubbish, isn't it?
However, parked nearby...
...was this refugee from American Graffiti...
I asked the owner (who can be seen in the first pic) if he was going to the Beach Hop, but he says it's forecast to rain and he doesn't have the best weather protection...
It's beautifully built...
...and I should imagine has a pretty good bhp to weight ratio...
But is that the kind of thing you'd want to go fast in?
Onward!
Not far to go now - I have a brisk ride up over the Kamei hills...
...and down the other side - where it feels considerably warmer - 78°F on the thermometer...
...along the toll road (must remember to pay to after posting this)...
...and the extinct volcano Mount Maunganui comes into sight. A few minutes later I am being booked in to my room at the Roseland Motel and uploading today's pictures...
Good day...
I sleep well and wake fairly early, and have a long chat with my girlfriend back in the UK. The ability to use my mobile like this, at no extra cost, has really been a bonus for the last few trips I've done...
I pack the Adv, secure in its rooftop parking space and set off into a cool, damp morning at about 0950...
On Mike & Leanne's advice, I ignore Bettie for a while and continue out of town for a couple of kilometres...
Until I come to the tranquil Peringa Park...
...where there's apparently a new bridge...
Hmm - not too impressive...
Ah
There were a bunch of kids in a van in the car park - and for the first time since I arrived in New Zealand - I felt it wouldn't be a good idea to be out of sight of the bike...
...so I made do with taking pictures from the road...
On a fine day (when Mount Tarakini is not wreathed in cloud like it is today), you can get a great shot capturing the bridge and the mountain.
Seems I'll have to leave that for another time...
Bettie steers me back out onto Highway 3 towards Hamilton and I ease the speed up to just over 100kph...
The road surface is dry, but there's a definite threat of rain in the air...
It's a pleasant ride, though the temperature never gets past about 68°F...
I'm booked back into the Roselands Motel in Tauranga this afternoon - it's about 300km...
I have a good, fast (by NZ standards) ride, until I feel the need for some breakfast...
I stop at this café...
...which clearly has a bird problem...
...as these warning signs suggest. I order my meal, then go outside to sit at one of the tables on the veranda - and see first hand what the problem is, as I alert Barry...
...who has stepped away from his muffin to look at my Adv, that the birds are demolishing it...
He breaks off the piece they have pecked and throws it an a nearby table and the feeding frenzy that ensues make it seem like a Hitchcock movie...
My - unusually austere looking - breakfast arrives and Barry and I chat about bikes (he's riding a Triumph Tiger 1050), weather - "It always rains when I go on a group ride" and other stuff. Barry is on his way to join up with three mates near Napier for a long weekend of riding gravel trails in the area...
After we have finished - and the birds had cleaned up every scrap after us - we get kitted up and I notice a soft drizzle has started.
I refuse to accept this reality and substitute my own - and don't get togged up at all.
I set off on Highway 3 once again, giving Barry a wave, and stop for fuel about seven kilometres down the road. By this time I can see that this is just a shower and there is bright sky in the direction I am heading. This will turn out to be the only precipitation I see today...
The roads stay wet for a while longer - and it's always wise to keep an eye on the road surface after rain anyway...
Once again I am making really good progress - there's not much traffic and, this being a main route, there are plenty of passing lanes if you can't get a decent view for an overtake elsewhere...
The weather ahead looks promising...
...although I'm not sure I'd want to be crossing the range of hills inland at the moment...
The road occasionally has a series of bends, which keeps you alert...
...but most of the time it's clearly designed to take heavy traffic as easily as possible from A to B...
I arrive at Otorohanga, which has a very busy main street...
...and a rather garishly painted Kiwi...
Bettie then starts steering me across country...
...on a series of smaller roads, eventually connecting me to Highway 29, which bypasses Matamata and will take me to Tauranga...
I would have a job pointing out the route on a map now, but it was a good collection of fun roads to ride...
...as they were twisty...
...and went through some very pretty countryside...
This chap...
...switched his light bar on just as I approached - but it turns out he was going after someone coming the other way...
I pull in to the Tavern at Te Poi "Home of the big cow"...
Rubbish, isn't it?
However, parked nearby...
...was this refugee from American Graffiti...
I asked the owner (who can be seen in the first pic) if he was going to the Beach Hop, but he says it's forecast to rain and he doesn't have the best weather protection...
It's beautifully built...
...and I should imagine has a pretty good bhp to weight ratio...
But is that the kind of thing you'd want to go fast in?
Onward!
Not far to go now - I have a brisk ride up over the Kamei hills...
...and down the other side - where it feels considerably warmer - 78°F on the thermometer...
...along the toll road (must remember to pay to after posting this)...
...and the extinct volcano Mount Maunganui comes into sight. A few minutes later I am being booked in to my room at the Roseland Motel and uploading today's pictures...
Good day...
