Day 20 - January 30, 2023

Day 20:  Paihiatua - Greytown

If we get a northerly you'll have a Porters Pinot in your hand soon after lunch.  If we ride into a southerly breeze you'll just have to wait until dinner time!

It was a long day for me on the mountain bike, but pretty forgiving terrain.  Net downhill and the little bumps along the way are actually easier on my positioning than absolute flat.  

Other than the poor internet, I found the Brown Trout Motel quite comfortable.  

I find that, in general, I take a lot more pictures in the morning than in the afternoon.  I'm always interested to see the terrain du jour and the morning light is usually very good.  And - between my slowness and the picture taking, I just get further and further behind as the day goes on.  

As we set out this morning, I noticed that the surrounding hills were less tightly folded than those further north.  Views were more wide-open.  We're definitely in farming country today - lots and lots of cattle and sheep.  In some areas, though, there was still some logging activity (and logging trucks) going on.

When I first spotted this guy he was positioned on the ground in front of the sheep waiting to go to work.  By the time I got my camera out he was on the ATV probably waiting for his human to decide the next move.

Pretty much all the way from Cape Reinga we've been following these cycle route signs.  Some have names attached to them and some simply mark the way.  

Also from the beginning we've noticed that many hillsides look like the terraced hillsides in the Himalaya where rice is grown.  Nope, no rice here.  Instead, the terracing is created by generations of livestock traversing the hills.  

Lots of sheep in these pens!  Well over half of the sheep we have seen have been recently sheered.  These poor ones are probably very warm these days in their full coats!

More views before lunch..............

And after lunch.  The clouds are starting to build............  Also - as the terrain continued to flatten out we started to see more crop farming.  The farmers on the trip tell me they saw potatoes, turnips, cabbage and corn.  

The high water levels in all the rivers are an indicator of the abnormally wet summer they've been having in this area.

I saw my first vineyard and winery, as well as a lovely field of sunflowers.  Yes, that pink thing in the middle is an inflatable pink flamingo floating on a small pond.

I was so slow today that they had packed up the lunch table after I had a small helping of salads.  No bread, meat, cheese, fruit or desserts for me.  Good thing I had my PB&B sandwich packed.  Kerry also kindly offered me lots of food upon arrival in Greytown.  I was a tad hungry after pushing that bike for 117 km.   Thankfully it was pretty easy terrain.

We are due to take the ferry to the South Island on Wednesday.  Just read today that our ferry is currently out of service (engine problems).  Hopefully they'll have it resolved in two days...........

We're in Greytown tonight.  A relative metropolis with a population of over 2000.  It was awarded the title of New Zealand's Most Beautiful Small Town in 2017.  Guess I should get out there to take a look!

Stats for the day:

Distance:  117.1 km

Elevation (Garmin):  1833' up, 2014' down

Elevation (RWGPS):  3832' up, 4025' down.  Once again I'll believe the Garmin.  A pretty mellow climbing day.

Weather:  18C - 28C.  Scattered clouds.  A few sprinkles after lunch.  Some of the faster folks got drenched, but I guess today it paid to be slow.  Perhaps a bit of a tailwind in the morning, but not so in the afternoon.