NZ North Island (yeah I couldn't think of a catchy name)

nev

Super Térrarist
Our trip started in Auckland. We flew in on Friday afternoon and checked into a hotel in the city. Spent the afternoon and evening wandering around central Auckland. Had my one and only beef and reef for the trip at a pub near the hotel. Disappointingly none of the other places we went to had it on the menu. (or they did, but not when I wanted a steak).

There were a couple of cruise ships in the Auckland harbour. The Sun Princess,

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and the Arcadia, which got underway while we were wandering about,

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Saturday morning we headed out to collect our bikes. A Spanish business man who was in town for a conference was collecting an R1200GS for a week of touring at the same time we were loading our bikes.

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Day 1 we were heading north. Once we were out of town we stopped to check out the view, and the machines which we would be riding for the next 2 weeks. This was my XT660R

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and Jo's G650GS

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Our destination for the day was Paihia, on the east coast of the peninsular about 250km north of Auckland. Instead of the highway we navigated a route through many backroads and graded farm roads.

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One of the highlights of the day was the Mangakahia Road running north up to Kaikohe. Magic sweepers in the afternoon sun. Eventually we arrived in Paihia.

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nev

Super Térrarist
Day 2 was a tourist day. Int he morning we went on a 4hr boat trip around the Bay of Islands. Another superliner the Queen Mary 2 was

anchored in the harbour here for the day.

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Saw a pod of dolpins

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Toured through the bay

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It was too choppy today for the boat to go through the hole in the rock.

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One of the islands we stopped at

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went for a short ferry ride and toured through some of the backroads

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saw what might be the world's smallest fire station

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A big plate of paella for dinner.

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nev

Super Térrarist
Day 3 we hightailed it south, only stopping once or twice between Paihia and Auckland. Headed out to Pukekohe for lunch. The light fitting

in the burger shop where we had lunch.

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Then we hit the dirt again around the west coast

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To Raglan for the night, and a well deserved coldie

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nev

Super Térrarist
The following morning we met platypus121 (Bernard) for some of the bakery's now infamous "back beans on toast" then set off around the coast roads south of Raglan.

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Stopped at the (Waireinga) Bridal Veil Falls for a short walk and some photos.

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Kawhia petrol station must have one of the best water frontages in the world.

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South of Marokopa the road climbs into the hills

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My map showed that this was mostly unsealed but a lot of the road was sealed. When we reached the highway Bernard heads back towards home and Jo and I keep travelling south, taking some backroads through cattle country to New Norfolk.

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nev

Super Térrarist
FOllowing morning we start with a loop around the Mt Taranaki volcano. Due to the weather systems created by the volcano being so close to the sea, the western side of it is a lush rainforest and there's a magic little road which runs through it.

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We visited a lighthouse

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or two

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we rode up the side of the mountain to the Dawson Falls ski area

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Then headed up the Forgotten World Highway. What a fantastic road. This is not the road, that is a railway track which follows the road. What an incredible effort must have been required to build a railway through such mountainous terrain. The railway passes through 26 tunnels on this track.

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Stopped in the shade in the Republic of Whangamomona

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Rode through the Hobbit's Hole tunnel.

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Enjoyed the ride through the gorge on the unsealed section of the highway.

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Upon arrival at our motel in Taumarunui I have a quick check of the bikes. I had been watching the rear sprocket on the Beemer for a couple of days... today it has deteriorated considerably.

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We had already booked into the motel here for two nights. I called the bike hire man and told them that the chain/sprocket replacement was required. A short time later I got a call back. The parts would be in town at 10am tomorrow morning. I just needed to meet them at the bike shop in town where they would do the work.
 

nev

Super Térrarist
Next morning we met Ian, one of the bike hire guys, at the local bike shop. He was hand delivering the parts to be fitted. He told us his tale. The previous day, the Spanish guy on the R1200GS had called from Napier reporting that the bike had a fault. The Warning light was on the dash. Ian rode a replacement R1200GS from Auckland to Napier so they could swap bikes and the Spanish guy could continue his trip. That was done and he decided to ride the bike back to Auckland as it appeared to be running ok, despite the warning on the dash. As he rode he noticed it was handling a bit poorly. He put a bit of air in the tyres and the bike handled better, and the warning light turned off. Doh. Then he got our call. They organised for the parts to be couriered to Hamilton, and he rode 300km from Napier back to Hamilton, slept, collected the parts, then another 150km to Taumarunui to bring them to us. After hearing the story of the 800km trip for a low tyre pressure warning, I told him any sense of guilt I had for making him come 250km from Auckland to deliver parts which were actually requiring replacement had been lifted from my shoulders!

Today we planned a lazy day. Just a trip around Lake Taupo, and lunch in Taupo.

We stopped at a crap lookout

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This interesting looking sign was warning police or their agents who entered the property were in violation of a treaty and would be subject to a fine, imprisonment, stripped of all assets, including vehicles, helicopters and of course, uniforms. There must be a hell of a story behind that !

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Some of the sights of Taumarunui
Racing trucks,

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Thunderbird 2

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and where would we be without More-Pork magazine.

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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Day 2 was a tourist day. Int he morning we went on a 4hr boat trip around the Bay of Islands. ......


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Not doing things by half, aye? :eek::bees:

Love the pics and yarns....more please.
Great to see some of our November-ride again...from a different angle.
:clap::glu
 
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