Day 2 - Tue 18 Nov
Left Whangarei at 9am. Rik was a good boy and stopped for fuel at Waipu. Carried on to Wellsford for another coffee at Peppers Cafe again
After coffee kept on to Auckland, via Helensville - lots of clouds looming, so we stopped to tog up and a quick smoke.
Back south via Auckland through the city - missed it yesterday - without wets!!
The Skytower was very impressive, almost doesn't lookk real!
Kept dry, but very windy and quite cold so glad of wets for once! Stopped at health food cafe at Mangetawhiri for no coffee and no loo break - carob shake and green tea an a water shortage (but obviuosly not if you're selling it!)
Good chat with Fijian bloke behind the counter at he health cafe - threatened (with a broad grin on my face) to poke him in the eye for knocking Wales out of the World Cup last year! Nice guy....
A not very nice ride up to the Coromandel Peninsula - windy and a bit boring. But then crossed on an unexpected bridge into Thames where we stopped by a park for a quiet loo/ciggie/coke break and got out of the wets.
The bridge by Thames was a long single lane one, with towers at a couple of the passing places!
The Coromandel Peninsula is fab! Beautiful coastal scenery with a strange mix of luxury beach-front holiday homes and shacks! Still windy but a warm wind!
Fab biking roads, if a little scary in places! They aren't joking when they warn you of a washout.
Pulled into the Paradise Lodge on the edge of Coromandel town - the clue is in the name! 3 luxury spa units - blew the accommodation budget for the night ($165)! They look as if they have not been refurbished longer than a couple of months, lovely.
Dropped off bags and after a quick chat with the owner and a cup of tea, set off to Colville - apparently the road runs ouot after that!
Colville - a quiet place! It consists of a Buddhist retreat, 1 cafe (closed) and 1 corner shop (also closed!). Had a cig and came back....
Gorgeous biking up the peninsula! Mussel farming on the beach at Coromandel - lovely little place - must tell Graham and Jayne (ex-pat friends) they need to get up for a visit. Took ages to get to Colville - petrol iffy (Doh!) - but took no time at all to get back tho!
Refuelled in Coromandel and picked up scallops and chips for me and a HUGE burger thing and chips for Rik. Just made the off-licence before they shut at 7pm and got 4 bottles of ready-mixed JD and coke. Back to the motel, ate dinner and drank lots and had a spa bath. Heavenly, although I had to bin out, laid down on the floor in lounge and fell asleep/passed out!! Just managed to come round (3am) and am writing this now.
So glad we didn't miss out on the Coromandel peninsula - the long ride was worth it.
Met Paradise Lodge hosts Phil and Patrick McLean.
Mileage today - 439km
(273 miles)
Mileage total - 689km
(428 miles)
