Taranaki Tunnel Ride.

First Monday in June in NZ is always a public holiday as we celebrate Queens birthday.  Of course you have to live in a country that is part of the Commonwealth to get this, and to be sure I think some countries even celebrate it in a different day.  It is the last long weekend for a few months, and months earlier I had organised to attend the Gravel Riders club Taranaki ride, organised by Henry from BMW Experience.

Saturdays destination was to be Awakino, North of New Plymouth.  The route would take us through a series of gravel and sealed roads down the coast, missing Raglan and taking in Kawhia for lunch.  Some of the gravel roads were to familiar to me from when I had done the Waitomo Ride .  For me it is great to start to get familiar with some of this area, when the opportunity arises I will be able to go back and explore in more detail.

The weather played along all day on the Saturday, no rain but coolest temperatures.  As we got close  to Kawhia for lunch I went to brake just before a corner, when I realised I had no rear brake.  Later on inspection I discovered the link from the rear foot pedal to the brake was missing, I was to ride the rest of the weekend with no rear brake.  h well , just have to get on with it.

A tunnel leading down to the beach. 

Terrific view.

The Tarankai area is fast becoming one of my favourite places to visit and explore, littered with historical sites and numerous tunnels, all link together by some fantastic roads.

The accommodation at the Awakino pub for the night was excellent, and the price of just $60 including dinner and breakfast ensured no complaints from me.

Henry.

The view from just north of Awakino

On Sunday we were to continue our exploring around the "Naki".  We were joined by a few more bikes and by the time we left there was a over 20 bikes.   It was just after we left that I had the incident.

My confidence for the rest of the day was well dented.  The wet roads, lack of rear brake, and general knock of confidence saw me at the back of the pack for most of the morning.  After lunch I decided to bake away with Sue and leave the others.   We set  out and explored a few back roads ourselves.  I really enjoyed this.  I was able to relax, with out the pressure of riding with a big group and just get my confidence back.  It was a most enjoyable experience.  We discovered a few back roads and even bumped into another explorer on a KTM.  Sometimes you just have to take a backward step to move forward.

Accommodation on Sunday night was superb, and all negotiated by Henry for just $80 including dinner and full brekkie.....this adventure riding sure is hard work.  The New Plymouth international is a first rate motel and well worth the stay.

Sunday morning and the others were heading off for more exploring.  It was time for me to head back to Auckland as the kids were due to arrive later in the afternoon.

The ride home was eventful in itself with plenty of fog and wet roads to contend with.  I was having real issues at one stage seeing even a hundred meters infront of me.  It wasn't till I got to Pio Pio that it all cleared and  the rest of the ride home was quiet.

Now for those that think I abandoned Terry and went riding, well that is true, but before I left I cooked him a batch of shortbread, 2 batches of chocolate chip cookies and a tray of fudge........