Up North...and back again
up north... to many hills, to much traffic. As cyclist I recommend to get the ferry to Devonport to avoid the busy harbour bridge in Auckland. Leaving the suburbs takes a long time and already now you can experience what will be the main theme in the Northland: hills. Concerning traffic I avoided the main road and choose some scenic unpaved detours along the coastline. Weather was ok, warm during the day, 3 days with rain (out of 8), one of them really soaking wet. Highlights where the coastline, the bays and beaches. Waitangi Treaty Grounds, best fish & chips in Mangonui, Cape Reinga, cycling the 90 mile beach, the gigantic Kauri trees in Waipoua forest, a nice bike ride btw too. A warming fire in the spacious kitchen of a camp site while it was raining outside. I met a few cyclists on the road most of them from Germany or Switzerland. Some people do the long New Zealand trek and walk from Cape Reinga to Invercargill, just last night a young brazilian/ italian girl was very enthusiastic about carrying her 30kg backpack all the way down south and reporting her adventures. I met gumdiggers, fisherman and Kumara farmers. And Irish folk with hurley or should I say camàn right at Cape Reinga. Now back in Auckland after 8 days and trying to catch the ferry early morning to Coromandel, where there will be a bicycle race tomorrow (I was lucky to avoid the Auckland marathon one day later, that would have meant roads closed for some time).
up north... to many hills, to much traffic. As cyclist I recommend to get the ferry to Devonport to avoid the busy harbour bridge in Auckland. Leaving the suburbs takes a long time and already now you can experience what will be the main theme in the Northland: hills. Concerning traffic I avoided the main road and choose some scenic unpaved detours along the coastline. Weather was ok, warm during the day, 3 days with rain (out of 8), one of them really soaking wet. Highlights where the coastline, the bays and beaches. Waitangi Treaty Grounds, best fish & chips in Mangonui, Cape Reinga, cycling the 90 mile beach, the gigantic Kauri trees in Waipoua forest, a nice bike ride btw too. A warming fire in the spacious kitchen of a camp site while it was raining outside. I met a few cyclists on the road most of them from Germany or Switzerland. Some people do the long New Zealand trek and walk from Cape Reinga to Invercargill, just last night a young brazilian/ italian girl was very enthusiastic about carrying her 30kg backpack all the way down south and reporting her adventures. I met gumdiggers, fisherman and Kumara farmers. And Irish folk with hurley or should I say camàn right at Cape Reinga. Now back in Auckland after 8 days and trying to catch the ferry early morning to Coromandel, where there will be a bicycle race tomorrow (I was lucky to avoid the Auckland marathon one day later, that would have meant roads closed for some time).
