Gisborne Getaway Part II: Have Bike Will Travel

With a fervent wave and both arms wide open, Tim greeted us at the driveway. “Welcome!” Tim said.

It was a wonderful feeling to be greeted by our hosts for the next few days. “We finally made it!” I said.

“Come on in.” Tim replied.

As our car was parked in front of Tim’s, I asked if it was ok for us to park our car here.

“You’ll be alright there, don’t think we will be using much of the car.” Tim replied. That was a sign of what was to come for the next few days.

They had a beautiful home made out of logwood. We were given the grand tour and were greeted with a pleasant surprise in our room.

“How cool is this!” Gwyn exclaimed, holding up a piece of invite that welcomed us and displayed the internet code.  “We must do this for our visitors as well”.

Witty welcome

As both Tim and Juliana are ardent cyclists who commute daily by bike, we thought it was a good idea to get them a bicycle bookend that we stumbled across in a shop at Napier.

Sitting pretty above the fireplace

Tim’s passion for bicycles was evident when he showed us his workshop or should I say playground. There was a handful of bikes mounted on the wall and a cabinet with all the necessary tools to dismantle and rebuild a bike. Tim was a techie who could assemble a bike on his own. He is also one of the few talented individuals who could restore scrap and give it new life.

Tim's playground.

"For Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...?"

The next day, we were lucky enough to try out the range of Tim’s arsenal of bikes. Gwyn went on a Peugeot lady’s bike which offered a very upright riding posture. 

"How classy!"

I decided to have a go and...actually quite enjoyed it

Next along came the single speed and fixed gear bikes. It was my first time riding a single speed and the experience was quite uncertain at first. I wasn’t sure how to handle a bicycle without breaks on the handle bar. It took some time understanding and adjusting to the way single speeds work but once I did, they were a joy to ride.

Getting to know the single speed

"drop bar too low"

"So this is what they call the fixie fixation"

While Tim was the bike techie, Juliana was the master chef in the kitchen. Her BBQ Portuguese chicken was so tasty, we were immediately thinking of recreating it on our own. We were also introduced to a healthy new form of breakfast - rolled oats with nuts soaked in milk overnight and served with cornflakes and yoghurt the next morning. Juliana, you'll be glad to know that we have successfully adopted this breakfast as part of our daily regime.

The following few days would be led in the true ERP spirit of LCSG. Eat, Ride Photo.

Evening at Shark Bay

Foldies ready for action

Great beach at Poverty Bay

Live folding demonstration outside the crafts fair

Beach at Sponge Bay

Lunch platter 

James Cook monument, first European to discover New Zealand

Cruising by the beach

Daily breakfast

Outside the mini rose garden

Former Ladies club house

Extremely windy day at Tologa Bay

We had a blast, all thanks to our wonderful hosts, Tim and Juliana. Already in the pipeline are plans to return later this year. Gisborne, we love you!

For Gisborne Getaway Part I: The Road Trip, click here.

Gisborne Getaway Part I: The Road Trip

3 weeks of year-end holidays was a blast. It’s not something we’re accustomed to but it certainly did not take us long to get use to! We decided to pay our friends, Tim and Juliana a visit in Gisborne.

We were greeted with the warmest welcome at Tim & Juliana’s. The hospitality we received was off the charts, so good that it would have topped Lonely Planet’s number one by a mile.

Warm welcome to Tim & Juliana's

Gisborne is a small city located off the east coast of New Zealand. It is located on the north island and is about 7 hours drive from Wellington. Because of the way Gisborne is sheltered by higher terrain to the west, it gets heaps of sunshine throughout the year, especially summer. The climate is also generally warmer as compared to the rest of the north Island. Somewhat, like a sun catch area of the north island.

For our readers planning a similar road trip, we broke the drive up from Wellington to Gisborne into 2 phases which worked out very well for us. Phase 1 was from Wellington to Napier which took us about 4 hours. Apart from a 7 km no passing, bendy drive on State Highway 3 (SH3) along the gorge from Palmerston North to Woodville which can be tricky in wet conditions, the journey to Napier was an easy and pleasant drive. It’s quite interesting too, stumbling upon the towns of Woodville and Dannevirk along the way.

Woodville
For those into antique and vintage collectables, there are lots of antique / 2nd hand shops along the main stretch of Woodville. For the food junkies like us, there is Yummy Mummy – handmade cheesecakes that everyone must try.  You can’t miss it as it’s just along the SH. They have an assortment of flavours and we went for the strawberry cheesecake. It was damn good.
 

"Their cheesecakes damn good."

In Maori history, it appears that Woodville was a traveller’s preferred rest point. We can understand why. Located at a crucial intersection between traffic from Wellington, Palmerston North and the East Coast, it’s the perfect rest spot. We had our first mini break at Woodville and you’ll be pleased to know that the public toilets are very clean too.

Dannevirk
Dannevirk is a real interesting one. Coming into Dannevirk, we were greeted by numerous Viking posters that puzzled us. It turns out that there is a large Scandinavian influence in the area, dating back to the 1870s. Early settlers from the Scandinavian nations, namely Denmark, Norway and Sweden built their homes around the area. Today, there are many Kiwis in the area that have Scandinavian ancestry.

The climate seemed cooler and wetter, as compared to Wellington. We heard that this was the way the early Scandinavian settlers liked it.

"Is that a viking?"

"Why so many vikings?"

Farewell Dannevirk!

Scandinavian heritage was evident en-route to Napier.

Napier
We arrived and stopped in Napier just in time for lunch. Napier is the next biggest city after Palmerston North en-route to Gisborne. Our first impression of Napier was that it was quite a touristy area. There were lots of tour buses and visitors. There also seems to be an unofficial dress code for Napier. The locals were quite well dressed for New Zealand standards. The atmosphere was quite “chi-chi” or “atas”, which is quite uncommon in New Zealand. Frankly, we did feel a bit underdressed with our flip flops and casual tees.

There are several Art Deco architecture around the city that would make every photographers focal point.   

Napier, art and deco capital of New Zealand.

Napier 60s theme

Phase 2 was the drive from Napier to Gisborne that took about 3 hours. The drive from Napier to Gisborne is not the most pleasant. There are lots of sharp corners and narrow roads. The distance is a lot shorter but time taken was much longer because of the very tricky and windy bends along the way. You know you’re in for a treat when you find a bend named the Devil’s Elbow on the map. Ironically, there are also a lot of heavy vehicles that patronise the route and it doesn’t help when you have an impatient tailgater hounding you. It’s important not to feel pressured and go at your own comfortable and safe pace. Stop at the side and let the vehicles past you if necessary. Coupled with wet conditions, we navigated the course slow and easy and got there in the end.

The perfect stopover after the challenging drive was Morere Hot Springs, thanks to the hot tip from Tim. No better way to wind down from the endless windy roads than to soak oneself in a hot spring pool. It’s amazing how 30 min in the pool can rejuvenate the mind and body. “Feels like I just came out from a massage”, Gwyn.

"Everyone should stop over at Morere Hot Springs after the Devil's Elbow and that long drive"

"Hot spring effect better than V"

Re-energised, we made our way to Gisborne where we were met with the warmest of welcomes from Tim & Juliana. It proved to be the start of what would be a wonderful week.

For Gisborne Getaway Part II: Have bike will travel, click here.

Cycling along Kapiti Coast

Our first summer experience is proving to be hot, hot, hot! It's close to the Singapore heat but less humid. Because it was cooler outside than indoors, we brought our bikes out for a spin today.

One of the simplest yet greatest joy of riding is the feel of the wind against your face. On a hot day like today, that feeling is priceless.

Kapiti Coast Coastal Route

The Kapiti Coast is about 50 km away from Wellington city. Compared to Wellington city, the climate is known to be warmer. Despite being only 50km apart, the weather in both places can be quite different. Commuting daily, many times have we board the train along the coast with sunshine yet only to be greeted with downcast and drizzle in the city. Just yesterday, we read about flight delays at Wellington airport due to low fog. We were like "what fog?"

Apple & Buck came out to play

We rode along Raumati beach, one of the many beaches along Kapiti Coast. There is a flat and wide shared path for both pedestrian and cyclist.

Flat and wide path by Raumati beach

The island at the back is Kapiti Island. Hence, the area Kapiti Coast. It's a nature reserve that allows a controlled daily number of visitors on the island. You will see lots of native flora and fauna, some endangered, like the Kiwi bird. 

It was so warm, we rode in shorts and flip flops. We couldn't lose the helmet. NZ being one of only two countries in the world that require helmets by law.

It was a hot day and the sea was calling out to us. We had no second thoughts on dropping our bikes, especially Gwyn who left in a jiffy.

Gwyn ejected from her Brompton

The water was cool and refreshing. If only we had our beach gear on us, we would have gone for a full dip. Thank goodness for the year end holidays, we will be back for more.

For the folks at LCSG, Tour de Middle Earth?

One for the LCSG crew

Just chilling by the rocks

It was a great way to spend Christmas eve, rolling by the beach and just chilling. Hope you had a good Christmas Eve too.

We wish all our readers a Merry Merry Christmas! Life's a journey, enjoy the ride!

Choo Choo Ho Ho Ho

It was Ho Ho Ho on the Choo Choo train today. The Capital Connection ran a decorate your table challenge on board their trains today and the response was extremely positive.

Decorate your table day

Props were all out in multiple array of colors. There were mini replica trees, toys, caps, socks, gift wraps and everything Christmassy. Passengers turned up with their Santa suits. There was even room for an actual tree.

Christmas tree

If you didn't know, Kiwis take their decorations very seriously. The amount of detail and effort put in was amazing. It was fantastic. Random strangers got together, props were passed around and everyone got involved.

Us included, we did our part and joined in the fun. Ho Ho Ho.

Joined in the fun

What started out as decorate your table soon transpired into decorate your entire cabin and get everyone moving. The festive mood around the cabin was certainly evident. Random people chatting, photo-taking, giving out chocolates and strawberries.

We were fortunate to be in a cabin that was in it to win it. Midway along the trip, some passengers started singing Christmas carols. 

In it to win it

It was quite the experience and not something we would come across in Singapore. It wouldn't be feasible to have a similar contest would it. There is probably not going to be enough space!

Six days to Christmas. Can't wait!

Summer time

Summer is here and the flowers have come out to play. Just the other day, we were greeted with some surprise additions in the garden.

Blooming Lily

What used to be a green bush blossomed into purple flowers out of nowhere.

Flowers that appeared "out of the purple"

The Pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) aka the NZ Christmas tree has timely started producing brilliant red flowers. And no, they are not rambutan trees. It's one of New Zealand's many native trees under threat from possum attack, and has been marked for conservation.

NZ Christmas tree

We had friends and fellow cycling enthusiasts, Juliana and Tim visit from Gisborne during the weekend. We knew Juliana and Tim through LoveCyclingSG. It was like a mini LCSG experience - Eat, Ride, Photo.

We took a short ride to Raumati Beach Village for lunch at Banana Leaf, newly opened Malaysian restaurant. They do one of the more authentic satays in Wellington.

Yes, we were guilty of the classic "finish eating then take picture" move....   

Lunch @ Banana Leaf

After lunch, we headed down towards the beach for the killer group shot. Superman: Man of Steel premiered early. Tim had his superman moment when he ripped his shirt off to reveal his LCSG roots.

"Bo Jio!" jested Gwyn.

To the right, LoveCyclingSG in NZ

The weather was awesome. We tried to sneak in a bit of Kapiti island into the shot under the glaring sun.

It was good fun and great catching up with Juliana and Tim. I'm sure we'll ride again soon. Maybe in Gisborne? :)

 

To the left: The evergreen pose

We rolled along towards the train station where we bade farewell. On our way back, Gwyn and I had an up close and personal encounter with a fellow stallion. We stopped along the road, stretched our hands over the wired fence and said hi. 

From one to another, the horse seemed to be interested in our steel framed stallions. We don't blame him, the Bromptons do attract quite a fair bit of attention.

Up close and personal

Eyes on the stallion.

Summer is beautiful and Christmas is approaching. As the clock counts down to Christmas, we just can't wait for the holiday season! There's lots to do and I reckon more riding and blogging should be on the list.

Till then, to all our readers, keep calm and ride on!