Day 11 Waihi Beach to Mount Maunganui 63km A strange day. Awoke to rain so stayed in bed hiding till it stopped, around 6.30ish. I've been getting quite bad hay fever so took a cetirizine as per normal. Started to feel very strange, giddy and unwell. Decided to cycle on anyway. 20 minutes in I realised I'd taken a sleeping tablet by mistake. Nurses get suspended for less. The morning was a bit of a blur. We were cycling SH2, a busy, busy road. One of my responsi...

Day 10 Tapapakanga to Waihi Beach 106km The first 60 or so km were flat without much to say for themselves. We sped through Paeroa (home of L&P apparently a drink well known in NZ, Lemon and Paeroa) stopping only to try it (sweet and lemony) before heading on. We had been warned repeatedly to avoid the Karangahake Gorge because of it's narrowness and general danger so we wobbled our way along an old railway track turned into a series of walks. It was lovely...

Day 9 Auckland to Tapapakanga 88km Difficult getting out of Auckland. The guidebooks were hazy, but as Phil pointed out, "How would you tell someone how to get out of London". Anyway, we made it. It took all morning and a bit of coffee(flat white) to do it. Then after a couple of good pieces of roadside advice we decided to add several tens of kilometres to our route and get off the main highway and go via the coast. Thankfully cool and overcast today so we ma...

Day 8 Orewa to Auckland 38km We awoke to a sense of reality. Covered in midge bites. The price of eating outside at dusk. Antihistamines on board we set off for Auckland. Arrived chez Phil, dumped our stuff and ran for a bus into the big city. An afternoon spent in the museum. Patchy, interesting, was the verdict. Then a frustrating hour looking for high vis singlets(they don't exist) before we met up with Phil and Tahnee at the amazing Sky Tower for a meal at r...

Leigh to Orewa: 48km A 6am start for Mark to watch the rugby with Phil and Les. A lie in for me! In a bed! After a leisurely breakfast cooked by the amazing Les (Les and Colyn, friends and neighbours to Phil) we headed off once more. Along the Hibiscus coast towards Auckland. The great thing about travelling slowly is that you don't miss much. A bag of succulent ruby grapefruits at the roadside for $3, a farmers market where we bought supper for later (ciabat...