January 5, 1992
To Whakatane
We awoke fairly tired from fighting headwinds all day yesterday. Ahead lay another 100k of beach to Whakatane. The first stretch was especially pretty - more bay-hopping, similar to yesterday's riding.
The Omaio store was not yet open (this is Sunday), so we looked forward to a limited diet for the first half of the day when we would reach Opotiki. With the exception of a fish store in Torere which sold us drinks (and which provided us a synopsis of local Maori history), we found nothing open for about 60k.
The ride along the beach was for the most part fairly easy today, but there were exceptions. One long climb took us to the saddle over Maraenui Hill, and gave us great views to the east and west along the coast. At the summit, I scrambled up a very primitive, unmaintained trail to the lookout at the top for even more spectacular and global views. By the time I returned to Rachael and the bikes though, my socks and shoes were thoroughly coated with burrs, which I was still plucking off as I rode for the rest of the day.
This stretch also involved a long, looping detour inland to cross the Motu River, which slowly flowed out of the deep, dark bush valley to the south. At Opotiki we refueled at a tea shop, and then continue on to Ohope. Our ride was briefly interrupted by a short hike to Te Papaka, a Maori village/fortress site overlooking Ohope beach.
The real highlight of the day was the short but agonizing climb of the saddle between Ohope and Whakatane. We found another great overlook at the top, but were both very tired and starting to feel the need for a day out of the saddle. In Whakatane we found a cabin at the motor camp, then wandered back to town to see what was open on Sunday night - not too much, but we did find a reasonably inexpensive restaurant.
Today's ride: 63 miles (101 km)
Total: 1,179 miles (1,897 km)
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