With a hole requiring a patch on the brand new tube I found the glass embedded in the tyre that had been behind both of today's and possibly yesterday's also. (I cannot speak with certainty about yesterday's because an old patch did need to be removed and under it a huge slit, so it may have been responsible for the first. )
Back on the road after a couple of delays and a bit of "pit practice", the rain returned in the form of occasional showers, just enough to be annoying and have you putting on and taking off the yellow coat.
I was quite pleased with the route selection as the road had a lot of old Tarmac :-) The road undulated and climbed and eventually a significant downhill and we were down onto the flat near sea level.
After passing through a large kiwi fruit area I came to the new SH2 route to Tauranga but it was a tollway with no bikes allowed. The old highway goes much the same way and still on the flat, so no great impediment. After lunching under some big oak trees outside a school at a place called Waitangi (no not the famous one) I continued in until presented with the roundabout at the other end of the tollway, where the toll motorway becomes the real SH2 again. I needed to go only a couple of km on the highway, but it too had a sign saying no bikes. Fortunately I was looking the other way at the time ;-) and I was only going to the ASB stadium exit, it had to be a lot safer than the motorway into Istanbul. Off I went as planned toward ASB where I would skirt around south of the city and then up into the Motor Park on the southern edge of the city. As I approached the upward sloping exit ramp to ASB I could see a residential road parallel to the left, so a veer to the left across the grass and a railway line and I was at the residential street away from the motorway. There was a star-picket and wire fence I needed to lift the bike over so that meant unloading bags. As i loaded the bags back onto the bike at the adjacent bus stop shelter a white ute with yellow lights and orange cones on the rear drive slowly past. I avoided any eye contact both then and after it had done a 180 at a roundabout and passed me riding up the road. I'm guessing I now know their approximate response time.
If they can thwart route planning so successfully in Tauranga what will Auckland be like? The residential street turned industrial and soon I was on SH26 skirting town to the south with no bike banning signs. Mind you, the road looked, smelt and tasted just like the motorway i had not been allowed on and one truck driver tooting a horn obviously hadn't noticed the lack of bike banning signs. - but I'd come from a residential area onto it passing no signs saying I couldn't be there.
Into the camp I got myself a basic cabin and asked to put my tent up for a while to dry, they agreed. Drying was very quick in the now blue sky & sunny heat of Tauranga, so the sleeping gear was put out to be doubly sure it was dry also.
With chores done I headed into town to the info centre then off to Mt Maunganui as they said I shouldn't miss going there. After a little bit more trying to navigate roads on a bike in a city with bike banning signs everywhere I finally managed to legally ride to where I wanted to go. On the return trip.
I stopped at the wharf at the fresh fish market, as there were a heap of people either at tables or queued to order Fish and Chips. Here you select the fillet you want from one of many varieties, they weigh it and charge by the kg as you'd expect at a fish market, but then they cook it for you with chips. I can though early recommend the Tauranga Fresh Fish Market for Fish & Chips.
At Tauranga it again rained quite heavily overnight - more than the website said like yesterday, so with unknown holes in the tent I was glad I had a cabin. The weather forecast going forward looks good so tenting will hopefully again be an option, if I can assume that any slight prediction of rain means don't tent because their predicted mm are way off.
From Tauranga it's an up down up down trip north to Waihi then across to Paeroa through Karangahape Gorge. There's no camping areas at or near Paeroa so I looked at options and selected a B&B. Late in the morning I make a call and secure a room. I meet a old fella on a bike at the supermarket at Katikati and quiz him about the gorge. He tells me that there is a rail trail in the gorge and that all bikes should use it, that it's clear to follow and its surface is good. I'm not sure what the gorge rd is like, I shine a narrow lane each way and double yellow lines making it hard for people to pass me, rail trails have great gradients so I'm happy to use the rail trail and not incur the wrath of the drivers. I use the road from Waihi to wai???? Station then join the trail at the start of the gorge. The trail passes some old gold mining areas with remnants of rock crushing batteries etc then follows the river to a tunnel.
The man at Karikari said you needed lights as the tunnel was black as pitch. They wouldn't do much but I had a head torch and a bike light with two small LEDs in it. It turns out the tunnel does have lights, it's definitely not what you'd call well lit, but it was enough to cycle by. The Paeroa side of the tunnel crosses farming land is less interesting and a bit more gravelly but a good choice for getting to town. I had plenty of time the weather was brilliant and it was a very relaxing afternoon. Brenda the B&B host was very friendly but boy could she talk.
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