Northland roads - best riding in the North Island, maybe all NZ?

[george formby]

well, thank fuck im just south of proper up north...

Ok, so you have different musical tastes.

[Akzle]

Ok, so you have different musical tastes.

banjo... Taste...
Ha.ha.

[slofox]

Exactly. And follow that up with a side trip to Hunua and up to Clevedon and Whitford.

So. If I was coming up from Te Tron to ride around the Hunua area, who can suggest an interesting route for me to follow?

[Akzle]

So. If I was coming up from Te Tron to ride around the Hunua area, who can suggest an interesting route for me to follow?

"around" the hunuas?

gtfo to ngatea ways - stop at the gardens and blaze a doobie.
up/east to lemonand. out of town on the main road, take the first or second on the right, you now have ~8km of straight (+cow shit) to wind out your bike.

left at the flats (hauraki plains/main road akl-thames)
right at miranda turn off just after mangatangi? bridge

past the pools (and bird sanctuary)
either - up the coast road to kawakawa ways - watch out for brown 17 year olds in subarus who think they can drive.
or - turn inland (left) at ??? which pokes you under the hunuas, you can carry straight ahead to papakura or turn right/north again for some fun roads to actual hunua town.

if you go through papakura, find the old motorway and take it north (great south road?) until manurewa or takanini or some shit. right left right left and you're in behind the manukau gardens (looks like shit since they've put aucklanders there), nose your way to point view drive and blat that (at a sedate 80km/h) turn right at the top out to whitford-maraetai-clevedon ways. stop at pub in clevedon (turn left for kawakawa road to find pub)

[Madness]

So. If I was coming up from Te Tron to ride around the Hunua area, who can suggest an interesting route for me to follow?

Te Kauwhata, around the lake to the Red Fox Tavern in Maramarua
Monument Road, right into Findlay Road (thank me later)
Down to Miranda, carry on to Kaiaua
Turn left at the Kaiaua gas station, fang it up to Mangatangi & come out onto old SH2 by the castle
Turn right into Lyons Rd, left into Paparimu Road
Through Hunua village, Sky High Road then (the other) Monument Road
Turn around & do Monument Road again uphill
Down to Clevedon, stop in for a doobie
Around the Kawakawa Bay coast road back to Kaiaua

[swbarnett]

So. If I was coming up from Te Tron to ride around the Hunua area, who can suggest an interesting route for me to follow?

This is what I would do: https://goo.gl/maps/shBlM. Follow the same route back to Hamilton from Bombay (Google's stupid new map editor has limited the number of way points).

With the options of 1. Twighlight Rd. from Clevedon to Brookby and back (worth the side trip) and 2. SH1 from Bombay if you're desparate to get home.

[slofox]

This is what I would do: https://goo.gl/maps/shBlM. .

This was a great ride this morning swb - thanks for the suggestion.

Due to limited time and fuel allocations, I didn't do the SH22 bit - just poked up the main drag. But then I've been up and down 22 plenty of times. I did go to the west bank of the river from Rangiriri south.

Best little gem of the ride? Findlay Road. Especially the first really tight corner that I was not really expecting...

Been 50 + years since I was up that coast. Not a lot of change - I'd forgotten how tight it is between Orere Point and Kawakawa Bay though.

Nice ride.

[Madness]

...Monument Road, right into Findlay Road (thank me later)

Best little gem of the ride? Findlay Road. Especially the first really tight corner that I was not really expecting...

You're welcome.

[swbarnett]

This was a great ride this morning swb - thanks for the suggestion.

Very happy to be of assistance.

[slofox]

You're welcome.

Tip of the hat to that man...