Both exploring on our e-bikes

Saturday 9th May, was very sunny and warm and after a good breakfast of boiled eggs and coffee we both set off on our e-bikes. The plan was firstly to head north into Fordingbridge to have a look around and to acquire a couple of items needed. As with so many towns now, Fordingbridge is looking a bit sad with lots of shops closed. Nevertheless, it was quite busy.

Having bought the few items needed we cycled south along a lovely country lane and arrived at an area of lakes on both sides of the road. We stopped at a bird hide, occupied by two avid bird watchers with very fancy binoculars and telescopic camera lenses! I spotted, tufted ducks, shell ducks, mallards and the ubiquitous coots but overall it was relatively quiet.

On the way back we stopped at a farm shop and the LLW decided that sausage rolls were required. A local pub beckoned and we ate our sausage rolls in the garden and enjoying the lovely warm sunshine.

By now we were both feeling tired, Ray because this is by far the furthest he has cycled since the Achilles episode and Rosemary has also done very little cycling recently.

Ray was keen to watch the ladies Rugby with England playing Italy in Parma. A comfortable win for the red roses but Ray was of the opinion that improvement is needed if England are to beat the French next weekend.

Arrived at Bickton Mill

On Friday 8th May, we had a very straightforward journey from Rackham to Ringwood but finding the local Waitrose was a little tricky! However, having found it the parking was even trickier. Parking with two e-bikes on the back of the car is never easy but this Waitrose car park was quite small and very narrow in places. Having sorted that out, the LLW headed off to the store to obtain the requirements for the weekend.

The journey to Bickton mill was short and very easy so in no time we were parked outside our appartment block.

We knew that there were 27 steps up to the apartment and this required 3 ups and downs to offload all that was needed.

The bikes were taken off, the carrier stowed in the boot, the bikes parked in a garage belonging to our apartment and we were soon enjoying a cup of tea and doughnuts!

Ray decided to go for a short ride and was surprised to discover that the New Forest National Park started on the eastern side of the A338 which runs north from Ringwood to Fordingbridge and beyond to Salisbury. Having crossed the main road it was immediately easy and quiet country cycling only interrupted by a few cattle and rather more New Forest ponies. It was a beautiful evening and the countryside looked stunning.

Back at Bickton Mill, Ray was stunned that instead of showing calories expended, his bike computer, showed a message saying "do you realise that was less than half a doughnut".

There was no alternative but to head back up the stairs and open a bottle of red!

Bickton Mill

As you may recall we are members of Holiday Property Bond (HPB) and they have a tenancy programme in addition to the properties they own. We liked the look of a new addition to the tenancy programme which is in a converted water mill on the Hampshire Avon, named Bickton Mill so Ray booked it tout de suite!

We are off there for a 3 night stay on Friday 8th May and taking our e-bikes. This is the first real cycling  test of Ray's repaired Achilles tendon so we will take it gently.

The site is south of Fordingbridge and north of Ringwood and is very close to the New Forest National park.

Tuesday 31st: Gisborne

 The two nights in Hastings proved to be a big success. The sun shone most of the time, its was warm and no rain in sight.

Ray had a good ride through the vineyards and even managed a couple of short but steep hills.

The weather and traffic updates were consulted and it seems that the worst of the weather has now moved to Northland. The decision was taken to drive further north up the east coast and we have booked for two nights in Gisborne, or Gizzie to the locals. The drive was slow in parts with some windy roads up and down mountains. We stopped in Wairoa for our customary flat whites. It was unusual as there seemed to be a total absence of tourists, apart from us.

We settled in to our sea front camp site and whilst fairly cloudy, it is very warm. Ray went off for a cycle ride and found the statue to Captain Cook who made his first landfall in NZ at Gizzie. Ray was also instructed to check out the propose dinner venue - an Indian restaurant named Bollywood Star.

The restaurant was pronounced suitable and we had a walk along the seafront before enjoying a very good meal. The LLW was particularly impressed by the Okra and Peshawari Naan

We will continue to review the traffic and weather updates but currently plan to spend another 6/7 days south of Auckland before making the journey to Northland.

Sunday 29th: Hastings - a Monsoon!

 It was certainly a good idea to have a cycle ride on Friday as it started raining shortly after I returned to the camp site. This was not any rain, it was sub tropical rain and we heard about the flooding in Auckland, and  realised that this was coming our way. I'm sure you will all have seen the reports of the dreadful flooding in Auckland but the rainfall was quite extraordinary. They experienced 26.7 cm (10.5 inches in old money) of rain in 24 hours which is the highest quantity ever experienced in NZ. This is even more extraordinary since parts of Fjordland (around Te Anau and Manapouri on the west coast of the south island are amongst the wettest places on earth.

To put it in context with West Sussex, Amberley's wettest month is November and the average rainfall for November is 11cm or 4.3 inches. Auckland experienced 2.5 times that amount in one day.

Very sadly lives have been lost and a national emergency has been declared.

There was no alternative but to hunker down and we were, and are, very comfortable in our Motor Home. Hawkes Bay is known to have the best overall climate in NZ so I guess we are in a good place. It rained, rained and rained - not just torrential but monsoon like. The biggest issue was that the camp site was becoming waterlogged and Ray was becoming concerned about our ability to drive the Motor Home out.

Regular checks were made on the weather, and the roads, and we concluded that it was sensible to stay a few more days in the area. However, we decided to move to another site in Hastings 20 minutes south of Napier where there is a good site in parklands and which is very close to the centre and therefore all of the facilities. Our site north of Napier is a good one, but it is very close to the beach and exposed to Pacific weather.

Ray studied the forecast and rain was predicted to stop around 3 am with a much brighter morning. The decision was taken to leave about 09:30 which would have given a few hours for water to drain away. When awoke, we were very surprised at how much had drained away and getting out looked promising.

After extensive consultation with some charming and very helpful Maori ladies, it was decided that the best option was to reverse out across 30/40 feet of fairly waterlogged grass. Ray had little choice but to agree to execute the plan and the LLW joined the Maori ladies in pointing and shouting as the 8M long and very heavy Motor Home lumbered backwards. Miraculously it worked and Cara was soon on terra firma. We waved goodbye to our new found Maori friends and tentatively headed out on the the Napier/Hastings expressway to travel the few miles south.  We had heard horror stories about the state of the roads but this particular road was in excellent condition, in spite of considerable flooding in the fields to either side, it was clear of water apart from one roundabout which had one lane closed.

In no time at all we were in Hastings and first port of call was Countdown to stock up for a day or so. The restocking was quickly completed and dinner tonight is roast chicken with a very nice pinot noir. The camp site was only 5 minutes away and as you can see it looks very serene. We had a short cycle ride through the park and are now settled down with an aperitif.

I will report tomorrow on the weather outlook and what our plans are next!

Friday 27th: Napier

Yesterday we left Martinborough for the 150 mile journey to Napier and whilst comparatively lengthy it was probably the easiest day's drive we have had so far in NZ. Very little in the way of steep, windy ascents and descents and plenty of long straight roads through lush farming territory. The biggest problem we faced en route was to find a parking space for the Motor Home at Pahiatua where we decided to stop for coffee. The LLW pronounced that, parking in an angled bay to the road, we were just far enough off the road to meet with her exacting standards. Pahiatua is a reasonably sized town, but is quite remote, and we were intrigued to discover that the coffee shop is run by Thai people who have clearly perfected NZ flat whites.

When we approached Napier we took a short detour to Hastings and Havelock North where on our last visit to the area in 2011, we were greeted by fabulous displays of Agapanthus and Jacaranda trees.  Sadly, on this occasion, the Agatha's were past their best and there was no sign of a single Jacaranda in bloom. Ray checked his photo archive and when we visited in 2011, it was also in January but about 2 weeks earlier. For the record, the photo below is one taken in 2011.

Before we located our camp site we stopped at New World in Napier to replenish our larder. The overnight stop is the Top 10 camp site at Bay View just to the north of Napier and toute de suite the BBQ was in action for some Italian style sausages accompanied by excellent Hawke's Bay Merlot.

The next morning the weather was clearly deteriorating and whilst still warm 22/23C it was clear that rain is on the way. Consequently Ray decided on a ride straight after breakfast and to cycle to Napier and back (~15 miles). Shortly after leaving the camp site, Ray encountered a fellow cyclist who stopped and asked where he was going. We are both travelling in the same direction for a few miles so became cycling buddies for that time. His name is Rob and he is a retired builder riding an e mountain bike. Born in NZ his father's family were from Norway and Sweden and his mother's from Scotland and England. We spent a pleasant ~20 minutes together until he headed off to a suburb of Napier to check on a building site for a friend, and to assess if tarpaulins were needed to protect it from the forecast rain.

The map below was photographed from out side the i-Site (tourist information offices) in Napier and shows the route as part of the Hawkes Bay cycling network.

The route went along the seafront and then via marinas and the main port of Napier around Bluff Hill and then south to the centre of Napier which is know as the Art Deco capital since it was rebuilt in that style following an awful earthquake in 1930.

Ray watched the world go by for a few minutes before starting the ride back to the camp site. This was much harder, since the wind had freshened, was now a northerly and therefore a headwind for most of the return journey. As I cycled past the marina there was a sailing class under way with lots of children in Optimists which are seen all over the world.

When I reached the camp site the LLW decided it was coffee time and had discovered that there was a cafe onsite - perfect!.

Given the forecast we decided to spend the afternoon doing some chores and catching up with admin. Not very exciting but necessary when away for 9 weeks.

Wednesday 25th: Martinborough

After three days in edgy and buzzy Welly, it was nice to arrive in Martinborough which is a quiet but very pleasant wine town. On the way we negotiated the tricky Rimutaka pass on route 2 which leads to the small town of Featherstone. We have memories of driving over this pass one New Year's day when there were gale force winds, horizontal rain and the motor home at that time shook violently as we turned each corner. It was quiet eerie as there was hardly any other traffic on the road that day and we felt very isolated. None of that weather this year but it is still quite a hard drive.

Martinborough has lovely and very safe cycling territory so Ray was happy to potter around the lanes and vineyards. 

There was a very exciting event today when Ray attended a 2 hour Governor Support training session, via Zoom, run by the LA starting at 07:00 NZ time on Wednesday 25th which was 18:00 UK time on Tuesday 24th. The technology performed faultlessly and afterwards there was an even more exciting event as NUFC played Southampton in the first leg of the League Cup semi final. In a tight game the Magpies scored late in the game and once again kept a clean sheet so a 1-0 advantage is taken to the return leg at St James' Park on 31st January.

Afterwards we enjoyed a lovely lunch at Poppies vineyard which we think is new since our last visit to Martinborough. Poppies seems to have cornered the market in vineyard lunches, it was very busy on all three days we have been here and we needed to book. We cycled there and back but the LLW was insistent that we take the shortest route and particularly on the way back after Ray was allowed two glasses of Pinot Noir.

Tomorrow we start heading north again and the current plan is to stay for a couple of nights at Napier on the east coast. It is a fairly long drive and expected to take ~ 4 hours