Disclaimer

All opinions are my own and there was very little (or no) fact-checking whatsoever.  Also, I did not have a cyclometer and none of us were too concerned with exact mileages, so some of the quoted distances may be off slightly.

Much thanks and credit to my cycling cohorts (Robert, Carole, Eric, Fran, Jenni, Martel, Nancy and Terri)  since everyone contributed to this blog with advice, pictures and/or by their actions.  A special thank you to Fran and Robert who gave me access to all their pictures for inclusion in this blog.  A huge thank you to Eric (and Nancy) who organized this trip and kept us on an even keel. Special mention and accolades to Martel, who drove the support vehicle, thus freeing us up to do what we truly love:  cycle!

Tues Jan 17 (Kia Ora):

By Tues afternoon, had met most of the other members of the group:  Eric and Nancy, Carole and Martel, Francis and Jenni.  Good thing I was meeting them gradually -- that helped  with remembering the names.

Eric, Nancy, Jenni and Terri had met on the Viet Nam CCCTS tour last year.  Fran arrived, like me, knowing none of the group.  Carole and Martel, a mother and son team from Ottawa, were also on their first CCCTS tour and didn't know anyone on the tour.

That morning I went to Rangitoto Island where I met Bill (semi-retired dentist) and Cheryl who were just completing 3 wks of touring both islands (mostly by car). Their highlight was a fully-guided tour of Milford Track: 66 km of hiking over 4 days.   Their tour company only allowed 50 ppl/day, supplied their backpacks and three guides (front, middle and sweep who kept in contact via walkie-talkie)fully catered their meals and snacks.  At night, they had a choice between two entrees and slept in huts. They will be back!  Massive fern trees, silver and black, and lava cave scramble.

Every one else had already reassembled their bikes by the time I arrived at the YHA in the mid-afternoon.  Terri and Jenni had rented bikes since their spouses were joining them at the end of the tour for a non-cycling vacation. It took me about an hour, but I managed to get my bike back together.  Then I made a quick visit to bike shop for a spring for my front quick-release and air in my tires.

'77 Honda Civic

Nancy, Jenni, Carole, Terri, Eric

Stadium Seating

Q Theatre

Aotea Centre

Bike parking outside an office building

Ferry Building

Bike Parking at the pier

Wed Jan 18 (All the details):

I fiinally meet Terri (she and Jenni had flown into Auckland 4 days earlier).

First official breakfast where Eric makes coffee and oatmeal using his no-measure-when-cooking policy.  We sign waivers, discuss cook teams and food likes/dislikes.  Find we're pretty compatible food-wise: most like honey over sugar,  crunchy pb over smooth, and lots of fruits and vegetables.

We embark on a 30 km bike ride along Auckland's shoreline past pretty beaches full of holidaying families.  Tamaki Drive is similar to Toronto’s Martin Goodman trail (paved with one lane for bikes, one for pedestrians) but way closer to the water, and much prettier.  We stopped at the Giant Showcase (pun intended) which was a beautiful new bike store, the only disadvantage being that it didn’t carry any other brand.  It even had a shiny espresso bar which only lacked a barista (soon to be hired).

Terri and Jenni had found the best deal in NZ:  60-cent ice cream cones at McDonald’s!  Too bad I only discovered that today – there had been a whole 2 ice-creamless days!

Dinner, courtesy of Nancy, was parmesan-artichoke-sun-dried-tomato pasta with a green salad!  Simple, easy and delicious:  a keeper we all agreed.  For dessert, we had New Zealand chocolate (milk, mixed and dark) that Carole had discovered during her exploration of all the little shops in the byways and alleys of Auckland.  Santa never tasted so good.

Fran, ready to ride

View from Tamaki Drive

Thur Jan 19 (Birds on the Brain):

After breakfast, a 20-min walk down Queen St brought us to Pier 4 where we boarded theTiritiri Matangi Kit, the prettiest ferry there.  It was a perfect day: sunny, but with enough clouds to turn the water a dappled gray-green.

While queuing for the ferry, we noticed a Clydesdale of a touring bike: a folding bike painted flat black with black Ortlieb front and rear panniers and even a black roll (tent?) on the rear rack.  The only things that weren't black were the really tall head tube and seatmast which were polished chrome and as thick as my wrists.  We foung the owner and he explained that it was a Dahon frame but totally customized otherwise, the most interesting thing (to me anyway) being the internal 14-gear hub.

Enroute to the bird sanctuary, we stopped briefly at Gulf Harbour, a picturesque little town modeled after Portofino, with its red clay roofs.  Its harbor was crowded with sailboats, reminding me that New Zealand had the highest number of sailboats per capita.

Tiritiri Matangi is a scientific reserve and a sanctuary for rare wildlife, free of introduced pests.  In the past, Maori and European settlement had decimated the natural wildlife and forests so about 35 yrs ago, conservation efforts began with birds and plants being reintroduced.

Diana guided us to the lighthouse/visitor centre via the Wattle Track introducing us to various trees (notably the pohutukawa/Christmas), silver and black fern trees and the huge flax plants as well as the various bird species.  Unfortunately we didn’t see any red-crested parakeets but we did see tuis, bell birds, saddlebacks and even one blue penguin (in his burrow with the plexiglass lid).

At the visitor centre, Greg, the island's most (in)famous resident menaced Nancy (he was almost in her lap!) to the point where she was reluctant to finish her sandwich.  The cunning old bird (a 19-yr old Takahe to be exact) also startled Martel into dropping some cheese by pecking Martel's toe, then promptly gobbled up his prize.  It was hard to be mad at him though after hearing how he'd lost his love, Cheesecake, to the younger Takahe introduced to the island a couple of years ago.

After lunch, hiking and swimming, we caught the ferry back to AKL.

Dinner was delicious and fun chicken burritos prepared by Martel and Carole.

Most are anxious to leave Auckland, which, though pretty, is after all, full of people, noise and hustle-bustle.

Gulf Harbour, 1

Gulf Harbour, 2

Gulf Harbour,, 3

Boy, Greg

Silver Fern Crown

Old tree, Robert

Unusual bark

Happy birders: Carole, Martel, Robert, Jenni and Terri

Beach at Tiritiri Matangi

Fri Jan 20 (Bus to Gisborne):

Since the rented van only had seats for 5, Jenni, Terri, Fran and I volunteered to take the bus to Gisbourne.  So after an early breakfast, Eric drove us to the bus stop and we caught the Nakedbus to Rotorura.

We passed many farms: horse, cow, sheep and vegetable farms.   The terrain was relatively flat with the ubiquitous agapanthus, small knolls, rolling hills and in the distance, larger hills.  The farms and herds seemed quite small:  cottage-industry-sized as opposed to the mega-farms prevalent in North America.  The animals were roaming around in the fields and hills and their grazing terraced the hillsides.

We changed buses at Rotorura and since we had more than an hour between buses, did a 10-minute hike (with our luggage)  to the lakeside to have lunch. There we watched the seagulls and black swans play.

Then  back to the bus station for another 4-hr bus ride, this time to Gisbourne.

Although the official bus stop at Gisbourne was 1.5km from the hostel, the driver was nice enough to drop us just around the corner from the bus stop so we just walked to the hostel.  The hostel was relatively small with only a few semi-private rooms and a couple of dorms.  It had a beautiful deck with picnic benches and a large lawn where some young kids were playing frisbee.   That rack also contained a couple of drying racks: due to the numerous beaches, many of the people staying in Gisbourne were surfers/beach-goers so had towels, swimsuits and wetsuits galore to dry.  These racks were a nice bonus for us cyclists too!

Our room was sunny and bright, with a huge window, although the window didn't open more than a couple of inches.  The showers and bathrooms were in another building, and there was a separate guesthouse complete with bathroom/shower facilities where Jenni and Terri were housed.

We didn't arrive in Gisbourne YHA until almost 5pm (we got there about 10 mins before the van did), and then we had to go shopping to replenish our supplies.  However, Jenni and Terri managed to whip up a pork-vegetable stir-fry served over rice,  with corn-on the -cob (with real butter) and tomatoes & cheese with a home-made mustard dressing, in  a jiffy.  Dessert was fresh apricots.

Sat Jan 21 (Gisborne Farmers' Market):

 After a satisfying breakfast of eggs florentine minus the sauce (compliments Jenni and Terri), we had another bike adjustment session.  To squeeze all seven bikes into the van, we'd had to remove pedals, turn handlebars, etc. so now we ensured that they were all properly adjusted.  Nancy also had to pick up her rental and Fran's handlebars didn't seem right, so she had to head to the bike store.

We proceeded to the farmers' market where  we sampled venison sausages, brie, macadamia nuts, strawberries, oranges, mandarins, and honey, all locally-grown or produced.  There were a few local wines as well, but those samples weren't as plentiful.  Poor Eric had the largest panniers and lugged home 8kg of apples, and 3 kg of oranges.  Fran, with the second largest pannier, got 5kg of tomatoes. The rest of us got off easy with a few strawberries and rock melons.

Jenni

Carole

Eric

After dropping off our purchases and making a quick lunch, we headed off to Ormand, a short 35km ride.  The roads were quiet, and for the most part, well-maintained.  The scenery was wonderful, mostly farms and wineries.  The highlight for me was finding wild blackberry bushes.  We took some home but they didn't travel well:  they ended up leaking all over the contents of Robert's bag, including his jacket.  Fortunately, we found a sports arena where he was able to rinse it, and the next day, there were no stains at all.

Exploring the forest

Lunch on the road

Curious cattle

Daimler at the beach

Making dessert

Fran and I were next up for dinner.  We started off making chorizo-corn salad served over rice but forgot the corn.  It, and the tomatoes and cucumbers, were well-received anyways. The piece de resistance was dessert:  strawberry shortcake made with fresh strawberries and cream.  (I learned it only takes about 10 mins to hand-whip cream.)  That was a big hit!




So far, we'd done more eating than cycling!

Dessert is served

Sun Jan 22 (Eastwoodhill Arboretum):

Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, fried eggplant and toast.  Then we were headed to Eastwoodhill Arboretum,  a 75km round trip.  We were eight since Nancy had homework, but Martel decided to join us.

There was quite a headwind for most of the way out and once out of Gisbourne the road was chip-and-tar, so not the smoothest of surfaces.  However, it was basically flat until about 10 km from the arboretum.  Then we hit a steepish hill that lasted for about 1 km, with grades ranging up to 10% (that was our group's best guess).

After arriving at the visitor centre, we had lunch.  There were very few people at the arboretum, probably because it was overcast and had even drizzled for about an hour.  After lunch, some of us decided to do one of the recommended walks around the grounds.  There were huge ponderosa lemons, as big round as your hand, and ripe, too!  However, we refrained from picking those and contented ourselves with picking small yellow plums instead.

The trip back was a blast!   The sun came out, and it was mostly downhill, with a tailwind  -- brilliant!  On the way back, some stopped for a wine-tasting session.

Back at the hostel, Eric and Robert were the chefs and prepared an amazing meal of barbecued lamb, stir-fried green beans and mashed sweet potatoes (kumare).  Sylvie, who was from Kelowna, BC and currently on a year-long world tour, was our guest.  Dessert was cantaloupe with strawberries and ice cream!  Deliciously refreshing.

We had our first heavy, though, short-lived burst of rain during the evening, and temperatures really cooled off so that we could sleep comfortably.

Eastwoodhill Arboretum, cathedral

Mon Jan 23 (Year of the Dragon):

This was a rest day which most of us spent doing errands and exploring Gisbourne.  It was a sweater day with blustery winds and even a brief shower in the morning.

Some of us visited The Cidery and sampled their wares which included their own ciders (apple, pear, mixed fruit), as well as Bulmers.  They also had a honey wine and liqueur which were absolutely delicious.

Fran and I visited Bikeys which is owned by Freddy Salgado, maker of bamboo bikes.  Interestingly enough, he uses flax, instead of hemp, to tie the frame together.  This harkens back to the old days when flax was a major New Zealand export to Britain.  According to Mr. Salgado, bamboo, when properly cured, can be just as strong as carbon fibre and he's currently doing research to find the strongest flax.

It was Martel and Carole's dinner turn again and they did not disappoint:  a wonderful pasta with mussels and salmon accompanied by a green salad full of cashews and craisins.  Robert provided the wine to toast in the Chinese New Year, the year of the Dragon: Eric thought we'd be dragon our butts the following day.  Dessert was a mix of chocolate, nuts and raisins with the added advantage of doubling as GORP for tomorrow's ride.

Most of us called it an early night since we had to pack and get rested for our first real riding day.