It's a eary start so up at 5 am and on the road by 5:30am
As I head up the first hill of the day I take it slowly as i know there will be many hills to come over the day
Taking care on the gravel road as I head down towords S.H.1 at hukerenui where I turn lift on to S.h.1 for the next 10 km before turning off on to Russell road at whakapara with there being pacher of mist around and stars over head
Riding along Russell rd as the sun starts to come up the road starts out some what flat before the hills start with a climb and a long deset down to helena bay where I see the sea for the first time of the day before the road starts climbing - over the next 40+ km the road drops down to sea leavel before climbing the next hill out of the bays
The weather is nice blue sky with a bit of wind in places
Some times riding the road is a bit like a roller coaster other times its just hard work at one point I past a road that's around 10 km shorter to Russell but gravel and looks like it heads over a few big hills - maybe next time : )
Some where along the way the name of the road changes to rawhiti rd then to manawaora rd before passing the other end of the short cut road (Russell whakapara rd) from there the road is called Russell whakapara rd until I pass the turn of to okiat (aucks? Rd) - just passed the turn there's a few bits of old ship parts from one of the ships sunk near by for diving on - makes for a odd sight
So why did I turn for okiat and not Russell ? It's because the (car) ferry from okiato to opua is only $1 per person - the (foot) ferry from Russell to paihia is $7
Getting to the ferry just before it leaves ( there are 2 car ferrys that take turns -maybe 10 -15 mins to cross ) I pay for the ferry out of some of the money I find on the side of the road that I leave in my handerbar bag for things like this
At opua I climb up the hill on to S.H.11 turning lift towords Kawkawa 11 km away - in places the tar seal on the road is riped up - going up a short but hard hill I spot what looks a bit like a set of 10 pins in this case some things set up to make the road safer ?- would work better if more people knew the road rules and drove better
A few km before the town of Kawkawa the road cross's over a set of rail lines - this rail line was the first one in the north island ( or some thing like this ) it's now used as a vintage rail way - well the part that's still open - they are planing on re opening the line to opua
Kawkawa is a some what odd town as the rail line runs down the middle of the main st (S.H.1)
Stoping at a bakey for some food - at this point I'm getting sick of musley? bars I take a 5 min break before getting back on the road - back on S.H.1 I work my way over a few smaller hills and a larger long hill before passing the turn off to my friends place at hukerenui having deside as its a such a nice day I will just keep riding and see where the road will take me ( doing my "I wonder where this road will take me" : ) riding along the main road until I get into town (whangarei) I deside to head to the airport - why ? Well I never been there by bike yet so why not : )
Riding beside the sea? For a bit before the road climbs up a hill and pass's some shops before getting to the airport where I keep going along the road for a few km just to see where the road goes before turning around and heading back to the bridge - passing though a police checkpoint at one point (where they take a good look at my bike friday as they wave me though )doing a do a loop of the two river(sea?) bridges ( the one near the city centre and the new lifting bridge ) then it's time to do a bit of shopping before heading the 30 odd km back to my friends place having some fun on a gravel road for the last 6 km
So how far did I ride today - around 200 km -over the last week or so I done around 450-500 km on the bike - some what of a change from doing 70 km a week ( one ride a week ) now who's idea was it to do a 70 km day the day before doing a 200 km day - opps things like that tend to happen around me some times
You know you on a long bike ride when see the sun rise and the sun set on the same ride
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