Semi-Epic Auckland to Wairoa & back

[Krayy]

Well I had the day off this Waitangi day (from both work and family), so I phoned Gunnyrob with a plan to make our dual purpose bikes a workout. "Feel like a ride?"..."Where to?"..."Wairoa via Waikaremoana and then Gentle Annie and home"..."Same day?"..."Yep"..."I'm in".

So we meet at mine at 5:45am and start with a gently cruise to Rotorua. I had had a flat on Thursday and the new tyre (thanks Cycletreads) was about scrubbed in by the time we got there, so all was well.

Brekkie at McD's then a departure at 9am and we thought we were sweet for time...how wrong we were. Two points...

Number 1, the road through to Lake Waikaremoana is one of the most beautiful in New Zealand, and as such we felt compelled to stop often for some piccies (to follow) and also we had to stop to do some mucking about to set the bikes up right for the 95km of dirt roads leading from Murapara to Tuai.

Number 2. No matter how well set up the bikes were, the number of switchbacks, off camber corners and wet patches made sure that we averaged probably around 40-50km/h for the dirt road bits. So the whole journey form Rotorua to Wairoa took almost 4.5 hours for a trip of ~250km. Bugger.

So after visiting with some family friends, refueling and paying respects at the graves of our grandparents, we were on the road again and a quarter to 3. Our plans to knock the Annie off in the same day was looking very shaky.

We made the Napier/Taupo turnoff in less than an hour and decided to bail and head for home, so turned North and put the hammer down. We managed to find a bloke in a Saab 9.3 who kindly decided to act as a radar shield for us, so made damn good time and rolled in to Taupo just 2 hours after leaving Wairoa with grins all round.

A run up highways 1, 27 and 2 saw us hit Auckland and home at 8:15pm with just under 1000km on the clock, and just in time to help get the kids in bed.

I was hurting a bit (bum and Achilles tendon) so I even managed to score a leg and back rub from SWMBO

Next ride will be the Annie and Forgotten Highway I think.

[Trudes]

Sounds awesome!! My mum and Nan live in Wairoa and I've always wanted to ride the Waikaremoana Rd, but don't think I'd want to on my Hornet... one day when I have an adventure type bike I'll do it, I've heard so many times that it is beautiful through there!
Good on you!!

[Highlander]

Sounds awesome!! My mum and Nan live in Wairoa and I've always wanted to ride the Waikaremoana Rd, but don't think I'd want to on my Hornet... one day when I have an adventure type bike I'll do it, I've heard so many times that it is beautiful through there!
Good on you!!

Certainly worth making the trip Trudes, I lived in Tuai for the better part of 5 years, nice area.
I think your Hornet would cope with the gravelled road without any drama, and you would probably fair better than Mr Kendog on his 'Zuki.

Good effort there Krayy.

[gunnyrob]

Yep, the Waikaremoana loop was lots of fun! Both the Buell & the mighty Beemer were flawless, & roads weather etc were perfect, with excellent time for the 236 km from Wairoa to Taupo.

I racked up 1026 km to and from my place, including a small diversion to Hinny's for Pizza.

[Krayy]

You don't know embarrassment until...

...you're hooning along at ~160km/h (in controlled conditions) holding on for dear life against the rushing wind and a R1200GS goes past you like you're stand still