East Cape Bike Run (Pt III of III) - 2007



Steve suddenly thinks he's Jimmy White!

From Tologa Bay we headed north up the East Cape to Hick's Bay which is where we were staying the night. This area is famous for it's fresh seafood so we were keen to sample the local delights. Unfortunately, it was only OK, maybe not as fresh as hinted. It was interesting to see this place on local TV a few weeks back getting a hotel 'makeover' as it was outdated, and lacked ambiance. Yeah, I s'pose that was true, but nevertheless we liked the place, the company, and the rooms were very reasonable. It was only the food which let it down, but I wouldn't say it was the worst fare I had ever had...needless to say, I am keen to try it out again. 

Above left; Rob and Steve chat to a Pommie and Irish dirt tracker over a pint.
Above right; The bikes sleep outside the rooms at Hick's Bay.

The following morning we headed towards Auckland. We decided to fuel up in a nice little seaside town called (I think) Waihau Bay. It had a big hotel on the water and there were lots of boats being launched from the ramp for the day's fishing. Now this was time (remember those days??) when a litre of fuel was about $1.15...this place charged us $2!!! I was livid! So we quickly calculated where the next fuel stop was likely to be, and whether the price was going to catch us out again, and settled on filling up here anyway...funny, no-one bats their eyelids at $2/l nowadays.

 We had breakky in Te Kaha known for it's recent famous resident, Willie Apiata VC, and this was one of the nicest big breakkies I have had in memory. Highly recommended. From there we continued through the bays and beaches into Tauranga and then directly back to Auckland. The stretch of road from Hick's Bay to the Bay of Plenty was nice and tight and windy, and from there to Tauranga big sweeping curves. Overall, this is a ride I would recommend to any Kiwi rider or tourist wanting to see the country on two wheels.

Above; somewhere on SH35 between Te Kaha and Tauranga, White Island smokes in the background.