55km of coast road from Coromandel to Thames
Leaving home on Coromandel Harbour
About 15 km south of Coromandel looking north over Manaia Harbour
About 25 km south of Coromandel - summer shot with Pohutukawa tree in flower
Saturday, 16 June 2012
Challenge: Your ride
Martha, from the Living Among Tourists scooter blog has challenged other moto-bloggers to post their "path most travelled" ride. As I live on a peninsula in NZ, most of my rides take the same 55 km route down the coast to get off the peninsula. You might think the same trip is boring, but it's anything but with a technical, twisty road right by the sea - made for 2 wheeled transport!. We'll start with a map:
Same spot, looking south over the Firth of Thames
Te Mata beach holiday homes, about 30 km south of Coromandel
Thames Wharf, 55 km south of Coromandel - fishing boat right outside chip shop!
Thames historic township, originally based on gold mining
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Geoff.....our north american friends will struggle to top that!
ReplyDeleteNot sure about that mate - there's some lovely rides already posted. I don't take it for granted though - did the Thames run on Wednesday on the bike in perfect conditions for a wee bit of shopping. See - there was actually a purpose to the ride :-)
DeleteContrast the Firth of Thames with the Thames estuary!!
ReplyDeleteQuite magnificent views!
N
Similar, but with less traffic :-)
DeleteDefinitely a hard to beat 'commute'.
ReplyDeleteJust when I thought I had my desires under control you had to post those pictures. You do that on purpose, right?
Sonja hon, would I do that to you?
DeleteWell, the answer is of course I would, but it wasn't deliberate, honestly :-). Stop grizzling, you have summer!
We have the coldest and wettest June since weather statistics began... need I say more?
DeleteSorry to hear that! If it's any consolation, we had a slight frost on our lawn this morning :-).
DeleteThanks, Geoff, for taking the challenge! I didn't think anyone this far away would take notice! What a completely wonderful surprise to find your message this morning. I'm with Sonja here....wow. Trade all the cows and cheese in Wisconsin- and even the Packers- for your views- heck, your entire country. I've wanted to visit for years and years...
ReplyDeleteMartha,
DeleteThank YOU for the challenge - it was fun! Yeah, we're about as far away as it's possible to get. You'll see some great narrative and photos of the south island in the American Touring New Zealand blog on my Great Links sidebar.
Thanks again!
You really do live in paradise dont you Geoff?
ReplyDeleteI'd grizzle too .. that's what it looks like in winter, the other seasons must be perfect enough to break your heart!! I'm just as envious as Sonja.
Hi Brenda!
DeleteWell, where we used to live pre-retirement in the central north island, it was at 400 metres altitude and the winter frosts used to go down to about -7C. It's much warmer on the coast at this time of year but we've got used to it and moan if it gets to zero overnight!
Geoff:
ReplyDeleteNothwithstanding your outstanding photos, I can't get the fish & chips out of my mind. I'm craving some right now . . . You know that riding comes second to eating.
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
Bob:
DeleteHaha - they don't get much fresher that, unless it's off our boat!
The only time eating gets in the way of travelling is when I'm with Jennie in the car. When I'm on the bike, a flying visit to Subway or a gas station meat pie does me just fine :-). I do like good breakfasts though when I'm on tour with the lads.
Now that is one hell of a commute. Stunning area you live in Geoff, if we are back in NZ we'll definetly be visiting there for sure.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve
DeleteMost of the entire Coromandel Peninsula is like that - over 200 km of twisties! Always plenty of room and good food at our place!
BTW, I'm assuming that Flyboy is your brother. He wanted an academic paper I have on radar detectors conducted in WA but I don't have his email addy. Could you get him to send it to me via the link on my blog please? Cheers...
If there was a prize to be awarded, I think Martha would definitely have to award it to you - and we're all a little bit jealous.
ReplyDeleteBrandy,
DeleteThank you but I thing all of us regard each other's patch special, simply because they are different to what we're used to!
Sensational pics and a truly beautiful environment. What is the climate like overall?
ReplyDeleteThanks Jules!
DeleteDown at sea level where we are, summer temperatures max out in the low-mid 30's C and in winter, we can get a slight frost on the lawns on maybe half a dozen days. Annual rainfall is between 1100-1600 mm although I'd swear that more than that falls in July, our wettest month! All in all, a pretty reasonable climeate for riding in. Similar to your patch I'd imagine, although your summer temps are likely a bit higher.
At my age (and means) I've come to accept that there are beautiful places on earth that I will never see in person. NZ is one of them! But if heaven is "paradise", then maybe I'll be riding those roads someday!
ReplyDeleteAlways breath taking to see your country and YES I am envious....Awesome ride! :=)
Hi Deb and thanks for dropping by!
DeleteI think a lot of us suffer from the "age and means" problem! With the kisd off our hands though, we're trying to make up for lost time! I worked in the USA in 1996, but not near the Appalachians regrettably. It's definitely on our Bucket List, along with Canada.
Safe riding!
Geoff - having gone 'cold turkey' and slowly accepted that you would only blog occasionally you're now playing with our minds by blogging a bit more regularly with the usual high quality... thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi Loui!
DeleteI sincerely apologise!! The biggest part of my work within IAM has been delayed for a while whilst we continue to work on a training database so I'm making the most of it while I can. Thank you for the very kind words!
Cheers and hope you're treating the Striple how it deserves to be treated :-)
Damn you Geoff - all those photos are making me homesick, and desirous of a road with some real switchbacks....aahh, the Coro loop.......
ReplyDeleteOur local loop (about 110km around the block from home, with a coffee and bakery about half way around) isn't too bad, with lot's of swoopy bends, of the sort preferred by the G.L.W.(good lady wife,she's not one for tight corners on the FZ1), but, as most of it is through bush, narrow seal with wide pea gravel margins, there is little margin for error and any speed above a dawdle demands strict attention and concentration.....
Gidday Jon!
ReplyDeleteThought you were a native Aussie :-). Well, I guess that WA is at least 50% Kiwis! Just to make it worse for you, I've just been down there today (sorry). There's not much of a margin on the Coro Loop either with the way that a lot of cagers cut blind corners, especially in the tourist season.
Safe riding!
You'd be right there. I had the traditional "Volvo on the wrong side of the road" occurrence on the road from Kawakawa bay to the Firth of Thames, once. The Coromandel roads do need to be treated with more respect, by bike riders. The numbers of wayward four wheel drives can get quite alarming, espec on public holidays.
ReplyDeleteNative Aussie - no, I've only been here 6 years...
Jon,
DeleteI like Aussies a lot anyway so no worries either way!
I think that the commonly-held beliefs about Volvo drivers is based on fact. Same goes for white vans. I had to point one back onto his side of the road last Thursday when riding back from Thames. Can't be sure but I think he also had a mobile phone clamped to his ear too, sigh.....