Coromandel Bike Ride

#1- Cathedral Cove

#2- Overlooking the Hauraki Gulf/South Pacific Ocean

#3- Biking buddies in front of Kauri tree - left to right - Owen (guide), Mike, Allen, Len

#4- Water garden at Rapaura Falls Park

#5- One Tree Hill in Auckland- dormant volcanic cone and site of the largest pre-historic Maori settlement in the region


The Coromandel area is a peninsula that is East of Auckland. The area is where a lot of people from Auckland have weekend/beach houses (called a bach here, pronounced 'batch'). The bike ride I did started in Auckland. From here, we were bused to Clevedon. From Clevedon, we were on our bikes for 6 days until we reached Rotorua. The roads were fairly quite around Coromandel. We spent a number of miles riding along the coast line. At the tip of the peninsula, we headed inland --- which means mountain passes. We stayed at motor lodges (room with a kitchenette) most nights. One night we had a farm stay. John and I stayed with a family that had a 'lifestyle plot'. They had around 20 acres and planted maize- they even used Pioneer seed! They also had some sheep and cattle. I learned that maize is what corn is called that is for seed or fead for livestock. Corn is what corn is called that people eat.

Some of the fun things we did on the ride - took a narrow gauge train ride through the bush, saw a HUGE hole where they were digging for gold, went to a water garden, visited some lakes, went to beaches, saw the 13th largest Kauri tree in Coromandel, watch volcanic steam rising from the ground and rode our bikes.

I biked around 250 miles and was challenged on at least 10 mountain passes. You can check out this link if you want more info on the route.

For those bikers that come visit, I now have some great ideas for day rides!