In Wellington it was peak hour traffic and rain, so we slipped east through Upper Hutt to wine tasting and shopping in Martinborough then to Masterton.

On the way to Hastings, after Danevirke, we came across Norsewood and the recreation of a Norwegian Village, church and all. Johannas World. Very Nice.

Woodville had an extensive Wind farm with hundreds of massive propeller generators, well worth the visit.

With our new found Ulysses friends Fran and Mal in Hastings we had a great stay and got to know locals who had tried Queensland but moved back to the New Zealand colours.

The roads to Napier and Gisborne had their own lookouts and attractions, the weather now warmer and very windy. A Waitangi Day Parade went past as we stopped for a coffee break "fika" in a park along the river in Wairoa.

We stopped for a handle at a local pub in Roatoria (getting some surprised looks from the local Maori clientele).

The first mainland based people on the planet to see the sun go up each day live at East Cape where roads were very winding. So also at Hicks bay, so we continued to Waihau Bay for night camp, a good spot for sport fishermen.
We rode to Whakatane via Ohope, crossing some very coarse and wet road works. In Whakatane we used a high power water jet on our bike and trailer. "Wh" is pronounced "F" so Whakatani is Fakatani and Whakapapa is Fakapapa.

We entered Coromandel Peninsula along the coast line through Waihi, Pauanui, Whitianga and Coromandel on fantastic bike roads and it was easy to see why it’s a favourite area amongst motorbike riders in New Zealand.

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