January 9, 1992
To Orere Point
We began the day with a lovely Devonshire tea at the camp - delicious scones, delicious coffeee, pleasing atmosphere - and then after restocking at the convenience store we headed toward the beaches on the west coast of the Firth of Thames for our last full day of cycling. It proved to be a more difficult day than anticipated - more hills, rather heavy traffic, a stong crosswind, and again our tired legs.
We saw almost no towns or communities for the first 75k, until we reached Kaiuia on the coast. The last 15k of this stretch were very lovely, as we finally left the highway for another sparsely used side road leading up to and along the bay. The whole area was dense with bird life, including a heavy concentration of waders.
For the last 5k into Kaiuia we were joined by a very remarkable solo woman cyclist, an Aukland resident who gave us a thumbnail sketch of her last 5 years as a vagabond cyclist as we rode along, with extensive touring through all parts of Europe and a ride up the Nile to Aswan (her description squared with Barbara Savage's account - impoverished residents hurling rocks and swinging sticks at her as she passed by - and terrifying drivers. At about 3 in the afternoon, she was on her way to Aukland, with still 90k to go before nightfall.
At Kaiuia we stopped to eat and enjoyed huge servings of 'the best fish and chips in New Zealand', and then followed the coast 20k further to Orere Point, slowed a bit by two significan climbs. The Point proved to be an attractive place to stay. We pitched our tent in a comfortable spot at the motorcamp before heading down to the beach where we enjoyed swimming and wading in the warm bay and then lay on the sand until the sun fell behind the hills.
Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 1,362 miles (2,192 km)
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