Paihia Day 2

We made the mistake of assuming we were safe from the mozzies here and woke up to a lumpy itch fest after a very pleasant evening on the balcony.

For me, today was biking day, yippee! I booked a mountain bike and set off on my first New Zealand ‘Great Ride’, the Twin Coast Trail. It is a 87 km ride across the country from the Bay of Islands to Hokianga but I did a 91km out and back ride as the bike wouldn’t have fitted in our tiny car for a lift back!

I saw 6 other cyclists on the entire ride but chatted to lots of beautiful cows and saw lots of birds, none of which I would be able to name.

The trail runs along an old railway with some old suspension bridges.

There were lots of gates to slow cyclists down - you have to get off to get through each one.

This sign made me pedal faster. 

It was extremely hot with very little shade but fortunately I found places to get water, including a friendly fire engine, as you do.

I turned round at Kaikohe Pioneer Village, where a very friendly Jack Russell attempted to help me eat my cookies. It was a knackering but fabulous bike ride.

Meanwhile, Rusty had found a supermarket and a good book so was also a happy bunny!