Today was a great cycling day! Sunny, warm, gentler terrain. Have I said that before? We left Hicks Bay around 8 am hoping to get most of the riding done before it got too hot. It never did get hot, probably because we were hugging the coast most of the time and the wind and water kept temperatures cooler. Perfect riding conditions. What else can I say about this day? Mary was unfortunate enough to be the first one to get a flat tire on this trip but fortunate th...

The ride to Hick's Bay was a tough one! It was only 83 km but it seemed to take forever. We started out feeling good and well rested under sunny skies and light breeze. Mary and I started out together but she soon zipped past and I was on my own and remained that way for the rest of the day, with Mary and Jennie way ahead and the others - Eric, Terri, Carol and Bob behind. I tootled along enjoying the scenery until the first real hill - straight up- and the next ...

Today we are having a free day in Tokomaru Bay, a sleepy little village with beautiful beaches and vistas. The cover photo was taken from the deck of our little cabana at Brian's Place our hostel home for one more night. Yesterday was a long ride from Gisborne, about 95 kilometers according to my GPS, with others saying it was either more or less depending the calibration of individual bike computers. I will accept 95 k as close enough. That is the longest ride ...

Today was a day off as teams planned menus and gathered supplies for our trek up the coast. Apparently past Gisborne we will not be seeing any large towns for the next 4 days so we have to stock up on groceries now. It was a good day to explore the city on foot. I started out walking into town with Mary. We visited a local Cidery where they make all kinds of cider, mostly apple Cider. We had some tastes and bought a bottle of their honey wine - very sweet , more...

This is our second full day in Gisborne, or maybe it's the the third? Yesterday we did a short ride- 50 some kilometers on a beautiful sunny day. Last night was our turn to cook - see photos. That's always a bit stressful for me but I think we did okay. Today we rode out to the Eastwood Hills Arboretum. A real showcase of the worlds most amazing trees and vegetation. Riding up robot was a challenge - very strong headwinds and one super long, steep hill! I realize...