Thursday 19 December, 2013
Our longest distance to date. I must admit I was a little concerned about the distance, knowing that we would be hitting hills in the second half of the ride. However, we had little choice. It was either 74 to Rotorua or 63 to Ngongotaha.
We started early at 7:15. We had stayed in a pub/inn (Horse and Jockey) last night and were able to get up early and leave as soon as we had breakfast. I thought it might take us a while to do this ride and wanted to be on the road early. It was a great ride. We took Highway 27 through horse country it was a fairly quiet road. Although the speed limit on these roads is 100kph!! The road for the most part had a good shoulder and we were able to go quite quickly until our half-way point at Fitzgeralds Glade. We stopped there for ‘lunch’ at 10:30. Ralf had a salmon phyllo and kurmara pie (New Zealand sweet potato), I had a big savoury muffin, that kept us going until Rotorua. The Fitzgerald Café was in the middle of nowhere, but exactly half-way between Matamata and Rotorua, perfect.
The best part of cycling instead of being in a car is when you see something of interest you can stop and take photos or find out more about the area.
The hills were not too bad steepest grade was 9%. My legs have finally remembered what they are supposed to be doing on hills. They also remembered they do not like hills! Just as an aside since cycling into Devonport from Chris’s place I have not been in my big gear once !!
We took State highway 5 into Rotorua which has a wide shoulder, although the traffic was fast we were safe on the shoulder. We arrived in Rotorua found the iSite and a campground and we are taking a rest day tomorrow. We were going to take in the Maori Cultural show tonight, but at $110 per person decided against it. No doubt we will meet lots of Maori on this trip and we can talk to them one-on-one.
On our walk to the grocery store we came across the Night Market and Eat Streat. A little market and food stalls. We decided not to cook for ourselves tonight and partake of some street food. Lovely falafel, tabouleh, couscous and hummus and tzatziki and a salad.
I also found a newly published Pedallers Paradise book. These books give you loads of info on routes, terrain, bike shops, accommodation/campsites and services for the North and South Island.
I am writing this blog swigging wine from the bottle, because the kitchen does not have any glasses and Ralf is having a beer while reading the Pedallars Paradise book. Life is good.
Tonight as we walked back from the supermarket Ralf said, “I don’t think I have ever been more relaxed and calm”. This is what it is all about. The only thing we worry about is which way to pitch our tent.
This will be our first night sleeping in the tent when it is raining.