On the road: Auckland to Waihi

After a great breakfast we headed over to Triple X Motos to pick up the bike. It took a while to organize our packing and finish the paperwork but we were on the road by 11am or so. With the help of Mr. Zumo (our GPS) we were able to easily navigate out of town while remaining on the left side of the road.



We are very pleased with the bike. It is a Triumph Tiger 955i. Comfortable riding position, good power and handling. We don’t have quite as much luggage space as we are used to but with some reorganization it will work just fine.

Waiting to cross the one lane bridge

Our planned route covered approximately 350K. from Auckland to Thames and then around the Coromandel Peninsular. The destination was Poets Corner B&B near Waihi. At the entrance to the Coromandel Peninsular one has to cross a long single lane bridge. Single lane bridges are quite common in NZ. Usually one direction has priority over the other. The priority in indicated by sign as you approach the bridge. Some bridges are controlled by traffic lights. Since the end of the Christmas / New Years holiday season was approaching, there was much more traffic than the bridge was able to efficiently accommodate. It took over an hour of stop and start traffic to make our way across. We were later told that some drivers have experienced up to 5 hour delays returning to Auckland!


The late start and the lengthy delay meant that we would not be able to complete the planned loop around the peninsular and make it to the B&B in time for dinner. A check of the map indicated that there was a gravel road shortcut though the hills from Tapu to the east shore road. We thought we would give it a try and it turned out to be a good solid road and interesting trip.

About 45 minutes before we reached our destination we encountered some rain showers. We decided not to stop and put on the rain gear. We just pushed on to the Poets Corner B&B. It rain off and on but we stayed warm and got only a little damp. Once again the GPS was a big help finding the B&B along the narrow winding network of country roads.


Waihi Beach

The Poets Corner B&B was a real treat. A beautiful house and yard, perched on a hill 300 metres above and 2 K from the Pacific. Our hosts John and Marg made us a fabulous dinner of grass fed beef, vegetables from their garden and some great local wine. We are not exactly roughing it!