TAURANGA TO ROTORURA
This is our sixth day and we will be taking a bit of a break after this one. We slept in a wee bit and after a BIG breakfast headed out to Rotorura.
That meant climbing to 500 metres - hence the BIG breakfast.
We had fun last night watching the opening ceromonies even with the cloud of dispair and controversy over the luge track incident - nothing another pint won't fix.
Heading out of this surfing town -uphill all the way when the rains start. Donned we now our wet weather gear ( I prefer my gay apparel anyday ) and upwards and wetwards we went. The climb was not overly steep but it went on for a long time. There were some heart-stopping steep sections but it seemed the higher we went the clearer the skies became.
After Andy replaced his tube (that's two flats in two days - the roads here are a bit rough) the sun came out and we pedalled atop a mountain for a while until the wonderful decent into this town of Rotorua. It's basically a big warm lake in the middle of the country. The warmth is mostly due to the fact that the whole place is sitting on a whole bunch of geothermal activity.
Every open hole here gurgles like a percolator. And it smells of sulfur - a lot. Steaming water drifts from open holes. Hey, my kind of place.
Today we bus to Wellington. The Capital of this great land, and believe me, New Zealand so far is getting two thumbs way up as far as we are concerned. This place is lacking in nothing. The landscape, the people, the towns and cities - all in excellent shape.
THE STATS:
Distance: 66.7 km
Time: 3:47
Average: 17.5 kph
Max: 64.6 kph
Temp: 21 - 30C
Weather: Rain and Sun
Cheers Mates,
Doug and Andy
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