Whangamata to Matamata: A long and windy day

January 16, 2017

We left Whangamata for Matamata just after 9 AM. The beginning of the ride was fairly gentle but then there were 2 major hills that on paper looked like the ones that I could not ride a few days ago so I regrettably opted for a bump in the van for 7km. As it turns out the climb was not that bad but the wind throughout the day was brutal. EFI Patti did it all. I did ride the rest of the way including stretch on the Hauraki rail trail. We took this section along the gorge to avoid major traffic on the narrow roads Once off the rail trail we travelled some beautiful and quiet backroads with finally a favourable wind. We spent the night at a home stay with a lovely woman who made us an amazing dinner with wine of course. She has a stunning property that looks out over the hills and a lake that is used by the NZ national rowing team just like Elk Lake at home.

These signs are very common all over NZ indicating a narrow one lane bridge and who has the right of way. The black line has the right of way but as a cyclist everything has the right of way because everything is bigger than me.

In the town of Waihi there is this enormous open pit gold mine. Much of the Coromandel's history is based upon gold mining as an industry. This mine is currently closed due to a slip (we would call it a rock slide) that can be seen opposite my bike.

An old train station now a café where we joined the Hauraki rail trail to avoid serious traffic on narrow twisty roads. This is a great trail that we managed on road bikes but it is better suited to mountain bikes.

Patti about to enter a 500m long tunnel that goes through rather than over the hill, yea!!!

The beautiful quiet road in dairy country.

Matamata is considered Hobbiton because much of the movie was shot in this area and the old movie set is located only 5km down the road. Now a tourist attraction.

Once at our home stay I had a conversation with our hosts small flock of sheep. Baaaa!

Patti enjoying her well deserved glass of wine in the pool at our home stay.

Sunset on another great day on the North Island near Cambridge NZ.

Today's ride: 105 km (65 miles)
Total: 733 km (455 miles)

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