Old Steve
19th May 2012, 15:24
Got up early, or relatively early for a Saturday morning, and threw on all the gear. Beautiful blue sky day, bit of a cool southwester though - more about that later.
Headed out of Tauranga up over Pyes Pa Rd towards Rotorua, went across the top of Lake Rotorua through Haumarana, turned down to the turn off to Whakatane and rode around the eastern lakes and through the twisties , passed Kawerau and on through Awakeri to Whakatane. Came back through Edgecumbe, Matata, along the coast, took a side trip to Maketu to buy a bag of hot chips cos the hands were a bit chilled (refer cool southwester), then joined the traffic for a slow dawdle home through Te Puke. 240 km, 3 hrs. Fantastic.
I stopped at Rotoma on the way through, and there must have been a half dozen tuis singing in the trees beside the road. It was just that sort of day. Through the forest between Rotoma and the turn off to Kawerau the road was still damp in places in the shade of the trees, and some of the corners are a little rough from the heavy trucks coming from the mill. Also quite a few small patches of chip seal repairs on the Haumarana Road.
All in all, a wonderful ride. Now I'm painting the garden shed. Oh well, into every life a little shit must fall, at least the paint is drying fast.
Headed out of Tauranga up over Pyes Pa Rd towards Rotorua, went across the top of Lake Rotorua through Haumarana, turned down to the turn off to Whakatane and rode around the eastern lakes and through the twisties , passed Kawerau and on through Awakeri to Whakatane. Came back through Edgecumbe, Matata, along the coast, took a side trip to Maketu to buy a bag of hot chips cos the hands were a bit chilled (refer cool southwester), then joined the traffic for a slow dawdle home through Te Puke. 240 km, 3 hrs. Fantastic.
I stopped at Rotoma on the way through, and there must have been a half dozen tuis singing in the trees beside the road. It was just that sort of day. Through the forest between Rotoma and the turn off to Kawerau the road was still damp in places in the shade of the trees, and some of the corners are a little rough from the heavy trucks coming from the mill. Also quite a few small patches of chip seal repairs on the Haumarana Road.
All in all, a wonderful ride. Now I'm painting the garden shed. Oh well, into every life a little shit must fall, at least the paint is drying fast.