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Post count: 90
The Mid Winter Reinga RunWe have just done the traditional run from Mangawhai to North Cape and back... here is the story of that ride..
Day OneSetting out for a three day run to the Cape, I had to get the little bike up to the start point at Mangawhai. This meant going to work, doing a case on the Thursday morning and then boarding BR5 the F650GS to get it up north. This was a dry ride, albeit windy which knocks the wee bike around a bit. However, whenever I think it’s getting a bit blowy on the little bike, I think of the fine fellow who owned her before me: he had taken her 12,000ks round South America, including riding her down to Patagonia. So given the breezes there, a mere puff here has to be of no consequence! I had sailed round Cape Horn, down Patagonia way and the Chilean Coast Guard had radioed us that it was ‘only blowing 65 knots’ so we should be happy! So riding in Patagonia is serious breezy riding! But before a run it is always good to check the gear where the cold’s getting in and whether the other bits are working as they should. Day TwoThis is stunningly brilliant... leaving Mangawhai with four bikes to meet the team from Whangarei at Whakapara, north of Whangarei. From here it is a frenetic race through the Old Russell Road... which is a fine bit of riding many ups and down and twists and turns, not a cloud in the sky and no traffic on the road... does it ever get better than this mid winter? Arriving at the Opua ferry we cross, turn into Paihia, still full of tourists even in mid winter, then out up to Kerikeri and turn to the coast once again. We arrive at the hills above Matauri Bay, the sea floor resting place of Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior.. Again: the empty road and on through to New Zealand’s most northern ville, Kaitaia where we stayed at a wonderful motel The Northerner, which was empty, so we had the run of it: the bars, eateries and best of all the huge tv to watch the All Backs play the South Africans on Saturday night. And they were most welcoming of bike riders.. (Thanks, Rach!) parking safely outside the units. We like this from motel / hotel owners!
Day ThreeThis is the up and back to Cape Reinga from Kaitaia. This is only about a 220 kms round trip, but can be tweaked if you decide to go up (or down) Ninety Mile Beach, which a couple of our intrepid troupers did... all that nice salt and sand does wonders for a bike...not! Over the last 18 months or so the last 20 ks to the top end have ceased to be the northernmost gravel road in Godzone, and is now sealed. We thought that would be fantastic until we hit the last stretch and found that it had just been re-sealed and not swept.. meaning of course that the surface looked ok but the pea metal was not dispersed and it was like riding on ball bearings.. not that I know what riding on ball bearings is like, other than I think that is what it would be like if one WAS riding on ball bearings! Before then we stopped for the customary photo-stop as seen in the pic at Te Keo, pronounced Te Kau which I understand is the Maori word for milk. The top of the country was dead flat calm, cold wind but not a white cap in sight.. look at the pic...Then back down with a lunch stop at New Zealand’s northernmost pub the famous Houhora Pub, for the genuine burger, completer with beetroot... that’s how far you have to go to get a genuine burger with beetroot and optional onions... several other bikers there having done the 40k run up from Kaitaia, for a few jugs then a ride back to Kaitaia avoiding the long arm!!
Last stop for the day before back to the Northerner was the Waipapakauri pub just out of Awanui, owned by former All Black Adrian Clarke... who had been an old family friend, whom I hadn’t seen for the best part of 50 years.. great reminiscences... he took my autograph book with him when he toured South Africa as an All Black in 1960.. I still treasure it!Saturday night in The Northerner, watching the AB’s thrash South Africa thirds.
Day Four The weather hereto had been cloudless cold but bright. Now it went a bit ickky: low raining which just hung and was not moving away. Not enough to keep out the rising sun, so we had wet roads and sun strike from the reflection of the tar seal. Bloody marvellous! Survived that and got through to Kohukohu the onto the Rawene Ferry across the Hokianga Harbour. Sunday, so nothing opened. We proceed to Kaikohe... fortunately nothing was open so we did not have to leave our bikes unattended while we sought coffee.. and then whipped through one of the great riding roads in New Zealand, Twin Bridges from Kaikohe to Mangatapere. We stopped the where the old milk processing plant has been converted into an empty warehouse.. how hard was that! And the office turned into a fine cafe which was packed with day trippers and bikers from Whangarei. A quick farewell to our Whangarei pals then we set off back down the Waipu coast and through the Gorge back to Mangawhai. Sleepover at the bach before heading back to work for the fifth day of the adventure...
Day FiveThis was the last leg. From the coastal bolt-hole at Mangawhai back to the seriousness of real life and try to get into the office before any errant client rings for advice. (Always good, that!) Setting out at 0700, still dark but the first vestiges of dawn light looms... Soon on to the main State Highway and then the motorways back down to Auckland. After and an hour and a bit coming to a grinding standstill with the Northern Motorway: traffic backed up for miles before the Harbour Bridge. These people do this commute everyday.. bloody madness... no wonder we moved to the south side all those years ago. However this means that one either sits in the lane and spend the next hour at walking pace, or you do what most other bikers do... put the indicator on and weave one’s way up the middle of the two outside lanes. Tried this but hands so cold that the touch wasn’t there so backed off a bit. Reminder to oneself: time to get a much better pair of mid-winter gloves....! (Now done: beautiful ProWinter 2.. very smart!!)All in all a great ride for a lucky break in the depth of mid winter weather. Good team of riders, and as always a ton of laughs and every type of riding, wet, sun, wind and blinding sun strike. Thanks team: another great ride. For me all the better for the drop-dead-gorgeous Spanish woman, (with the funny accent), sporting her treasured purple helmet, riding pillion. Thanks for coming, Diecie! The Loins August 2011
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