Tues Jan 24 (Gisbourne to Tokomaru Bay):

Nancy left the group early this morning, headed to Tauranga to visit friends and continue with her studies

Carole made French Toast, with two home-made compotes (bananas and nectarines) for breakfast. And we could top it off with real maple syrup!

WIth Jenni to supervise, everything was packed, the van loaded and the riders sent on their way shortly after 8 as planned.

The route was simple:  follow Hwy 35 north 91km to Tokomaru Bay with a lunch break at Tolaga Bay.  Hwy 35 has only one lane going in either direction, has a chip-and-tar surface and usually, only an 8-inch shoulder.  The road was made for sporty liitle two-seaters: winding through the countryside on narrow, twisty roads through some of the prettiest hills and farms I've seen.  We only had two-wheelers, though.  The traffic, though light, was 80% logging trucks, empty or full.  For the most part, they were pretty respectful, slowing down and/or passing us with lots of space.  But sometimes, due to a curve or oncoming traffic, they got closer than we liked.

It was sunny but with strong, cool winds.  Fortunately, the winds were generally cross/tail winds and became headwinds only briefly as we rounded sharp curves.  As we discovered at lunch, they were strong enough to knock our bikes over even though
we tried to put them in sheltered spots.

We made pretty good time in the morning, only stopping occassionally for pictures when we came across an exceptionally pretty beach.  The beaches were usually deserted; whether due to weather or just a lack of people, we couldn't tell.  I do know that most of the roads branching off the highway said "No Exit".  And there are no other towns or hamlets in the 50km between Gisbourne and Tolaga Bay.

We arrived at Tolaga Wharf just about noon, a wonderful picnic stop.  After lunch, we strolled out onto Tolaga Wharf, which, at 660m was the longest wharf in the southern hemispere.  However, the railing was crumbling at some spots so there's a Save-the-Wharf society working towards its restoration.  You hardly notice that though because you're surrounded by an turquoise sea back-stopped by a cliff of wam sandstone.

Tolaga Bay itself is tiny, less than 20 structures fronting onto Hwy 35 with a handful of people sitting on porches or steps.  We continued on our way .  There was one hill we felt sure was about 12% grade for at least 0.5 km. The entire hill was about 2.5 km because hills in this part of the country are never just up and down, they switchback several times.   Despite this, we arrived at our day's destination, Brian's Place, before 4pm.  The driveway was a steep uphill, but once at the main lodge, we decided it was worth it: Tokomaru Bay lay below us in all it's glory.

Kira and her boyfriend were leasing the YHA from the original Brian who'd decided to break from running the place a couple of years ago. After welcoming us warmly she gave us a tour of the place.   It's cosy:  the main lodge has a living room and kitchen, 3 small lofts, and a bedroom as well as 2 composting toilets and 2 large, airy shower rooms.  In addition, there are 3 small cabins and 2 tent-sites.  It was a good thing Eric had booked a year ago:  two other cyclists who showed up had to be turned away since Brian's Place was full.  Terri and Jenni elected to stay at the main lodge, Carole chose the 1-bed cabin, and Martel the hilltop tent, so Fran and I shared the 2-bed cabin.  That left Eric and Robert with the 3-bed cabin.  The cabins, (accessed via a narrow, grassy path lined with solar garden lights) and the hilltop tent had amazing views and were very quiet since they were apart from the main lodge. Since we didn't have to draw the blinds, we fell asleep to moonlight and the muted sound of waves, and woke with the sun's first rays.

Brian's Place, main lodge

Main lodge deck, Jenni, Martel and Fran

View from main lodge deck

View from main lodge kitchen

1-bed cabin: Carole

View from Martel's hilltop campsite

Our 2-bed cabin: Fran and Mary

Our cabin

3-bed cabin:  Eric and Robert

Dinner was a mouth-watering spaghetti with a green salad finished off with a home-made apple crumble.   Again, yum!  After dinner, we discussed how we'd describe the place: "1969 hippie" opined Eric, "Perfect" pronounced Martel.  As it turns out, Martel's description turned out to be the best.

Wed Jan 25 (Tokomaru Bay):

This is a rest day, so we had a late and leisurely breakfast:  fruit-salad, oatmeal and toast prepared by Jenni and Terri.

Afterwards, some checked out the shops (2) in Tokomaru Bay or the tavern for internet/refreshments, or went swimming.  We tried visiting the Te Puia Hot Springs but learned that the pipes had broken many years ago and therefore, there was only a small pool outside in the open.  A family had created a small pool in a gray, brick building and for a modest fee, you could use the pool.

Some of us went horse-back riding with Brian the police officer (Tokomaru Bay is so small, he's not terribly busy doing official police duties), his son Marcus and Isiah.  So we set off:  Robert on Cage, Carole on Jack, Martel on Derek and my on Rommey.  Of the quatet, only Carole had real experience since she'd owned a horse for several years.  No longer road-bound, we went across the fields, splashed through streams, and scrambled up and down gullies.  Plap, plap, plap went my butt against the saddle, pfftb, pfftb, pfttb replied Rommey's butt as we cantered up the hills.  I was concerned about Rommey, but Carol explained that the gas was a byproduct of the tremendous energy expended by the horses as they carried us up the hills.  There was one hill where we got a stunning view of Tokomaru Bay.

The grand finale of the horse trek was a ride along the beach where Robert and Martel's horses went chest-deep into the waves.  Needless to say, Robert and Martel got very wet!   It was an amazing couple of hours and we were very glad to have done it.  It was a perfect way to see and remember Tokomaru Bay.

That night's supper was a vegetarian chilli with sweet potato-banana casserole accompanied by a honey mead from Gisbourne.

 

Thur Jan 26 (Tokomaru Bay to Hicks Bay):

We're off to an early start since we have 89 tough kilometres to go.  So breakfast is simple: oatmeal and toast.

The morning was fine -- manageble hills with enough downhill to catch a second breath and get rested for the next hill.  The worst part was having to ride through almost 500m of freshly-poured chip and tar:  our side of the road had been gravelled minutes before and the truck was pouring gravel on the other side of the road as we rode by.

We stopped for lunch at St Mary's Memorial Church in Tiki Tiki which had some beautiful wood-carving inside.

The afternoon was a different story:  the hills were steeper and longer, the air hotter and the winds stronger. I dreamt of Rommey galloping to my rescue.  Fortunately for me, I misread the "Hills for next 8 km" sign to mean "Bumpy roads for 8 km" or I would've sat in the middle of the road and bawled like a baby.  Unfortunately, Fran and I both thought it felt like one 8-km hill.

But we finally made it into the Hicks Bay Motel, which was the exact opposite of Brian's Place.  It was a large, motel complex with cookie-cutter adjoining units and a parking lot full of cars and motor boats.  We had two units with each unit having a deck, kitchen, living room, bathroom and 2 bedrooms.  They even had a TV (which we never bothered turning on).

Robert, with Eric's assistance, whipped up creamed-corn, egg-drop soup as a starter, with stir-fried chicken and vegetables in noodle soup as the entree.  Spicy and delicious!  We even got room-service since no one unit had a table big enough to fit all eight of us and the chefs were in the other unit.

Throughout the night we could hear the wind rattling the door latches and buffeting the building.

Fri Jan 27 (East Cape Lighthouse):

Breakfast was Chinese stir-fried rice, courtesy of Robert.  At breakfast, we decided we'd visit the East Cape Lighthouse, the world's eastern-most lighthouse.  

We got about halfway through the 20km of gravel road to the lighthouse before we decided to pile into the van for the rest of the way.  Robert soldiered on with his bike, though, and met us at the lighthouse.

We had to climb, by foot, the last hill to the lighthouse.  We were buffeted by the strong winds as we took in the views from the summit.

Then it was back to Te Araroa for fish and chips and abalone fritter (dark, salty, minced) and ice cream.  Before heading home, we stopped to admire Te Waha-O-Rerekohu, a 350-year old pohutukawa tree.  It was massive.

Once home, we had to tend to the bikes: tightening screws, wiping off dust and cleaning our chains.   There was very little we could do about the gobs of tar stuck on our bikes.

That afternoon, it rained off and on, sometimes lightly, but sometimes in sheets that pounded the roofs.  We were so glad to be snug and dry in our rooms.

Sat Jan 28 (Hicks Bay to Maraehako, 82km):

We set off with high hopes today, optimistic that it would be an easier riding day than the last.  And our hopes were justified.   The hills weren't as steep or as long and at the end, one of the odometers said it was only 74km.

We had our first flat today.   At lunch, I heard a loud pop, and Jenni, who was near my bike, actually saw my rear tire go flat. Turned out that the valve stem, a rubber one, was shredded.  We figured it must be from the rough terrain (chip and tar, the gravel road to the lighthouse).  With Jenni and Fran to help, we had the new tube (metal valve stem) installed and the wheel back on bike so that I could continue on.

We were staying at the Maraekho  Bay Retreat, the only area hostel owner by a Maori, Pihi, and his sister, Puna.  The retreat was right at water's edge and reminded us all of the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.   Almost built into the hillside, it was a mulit-level building that had grown over time, with almost more decks and balconies than there were rooms.  It had a hot-tub and hammocks from which you could look out into the bay whilst listening to a small waterfall that trickled ten feet away.  Children could spend a month playing hide-and-seek there, every corner a possibility, every room a mystery.

There was an outdoor dining area with a huge outdoor grill and oven.

There were mosaic tiles/designs and paua shells embedded in the driveway, in steps, in the floor, in a myriad of places you'd least expect.  Rope was used as a decorative touch throughout the rooms, even as the towel holders.

You could go deep-see fishing with Pihi, putz about in one of their play kayaks, or rent one of their sea-going kayaks.  It was so remote from an urban centre, we'd have to take our rubbish with us since the nearest place to get rid of garbage was 20 km away.

From the rooms, it was only steps (horizontally or vertically) to the water.  Brian's Place was wonderfully charming, but you couldn't find a better location than this place.

That night, Jenni and Terri cooked a lasagne using polenta instead of noodles and silver beet instead of cheese, followed by apple crumble for dessert.  Again, a resounding success!

The bad news, Jenni informs us, is that we've run low on bread so we won't have our normal-sized lunches.