Noel and Maria Walker and ourselves started our trip to Napier with a run up to Coromandel on the 28th. An overnighter in Coromandel saw us relaxed and ready for a run up to our next stop which was a farm stay just outside Coleville. A great place to stay and a good oportunity to take a run up to the Cape after dropping our luggage at our digs. The ride up from Coleville township is about 27 kilometres of mostly hard packed gravel but there are some knarly stretches of tight windy bits with bad corrugations close to the Cape and the holiday traffic made it a liite fraught at times 😮 Some of the big boys didn't want to keep left for a couple of bikes which meant for some tricky times!! There are some of the most beautiful little bays along this stretch of coastline and the old Pohutakawas are spectacular. The camp site at Fletcher Bay was busy with fishers and boaters and folk just chilling out and we relaxed in the grass for a half hour before mounting up and heading back the way we'd come. An uneventful ride back with a chance to view the coast from the other direction. A fortunate siting if a truck with a big fishing boat coming up the hill towards us gave us the chance to pull over to a relatively safe parking spot while he took up the whole road on his way past. Anywhere else would have been a major problem for us.Four very dusty riders arrived back at Coleville tired but satisfied and in time to pick up some supplies for dinner that evening in our farm homestay. The following day we were to go horse trekking then the day after on the bikes again for the journey south around East Cape and on to Napier. As I'm writing this from home you'll be aware that the plan changed but that is another story. 😐Take care out there.Malcolm and Jean
