As per my earlier blog, I slept badly and restlessly..ultimately jumping out of bed for a 6.30 am start. I showered, had a quick coffee and bite of food, last minute packing and then……I looked out the window and it was pitch black!! I had not thought about that…and my front light cannot be mounted whilst the front pannier in place..

What to do? Another cup of coffee of course…updating Facebook correspondence and messages…then out the front door, lock the house and then, where are my gloves??

Groan? No idea and I’m locked out of the house and bags all packed…..thinking, thinking, thinking….oh, there is a ground floor window open for Indie, the cat…so here I am breaking back into the house, over the kitchen sink.  Gloves nowhere obvious but oh look….. John has a pair…I am sure he won’t mind me borrowing them??? Well I hope not!?!

Little traffic made early progress easy. A lady cyclist (Liz)  approached from behind and we chatted and she offered me to follow her. I stopped after hearing weird noises from my bike…turns out my rear pannier had dropped and was rubbing on the tyre so some adjustments on the strapping fixed it.

Liz had stopped at a house and beckoned me, and then there were a few more, Renee, Dianne and Paul. It was lovely to ride with them for a bit, before we needed to part ways. Dianne kindly gave me a rear tail light to use, as mine had died due to  operator error!

So I rode up and down hills all day as you can see from my graph and my route is below the graph.

It is not often one gets to see both the west and east coast of a country, in the one day. With the adjusted route today I got to do that.

The sculpture above was one of a few for a local business. I loved this one too.

The local business where Rhuby had a rest…

At the 50km point the winds started to pick up. I have been watching weather reports more than usual once I became aware of Cyclone Hola in Vanuatu and its trajectory towards North Island.

A couple of nasty sidewind gusts got the old adrenaline going down one descent.

This was the view from a great loo stop.

Not far from here was a lookout with views ( funny that, who would have thought a lookout would have views!?!). In the last photo you can just see the west coast.

From the lookout it was only about 10 km to Wellsford, where I was very glad to arrive. A fairly non descript town but I enjoyed a great lunch at the Blue Cat cafe… spinach, bacon and cheese salad, an iced coffee and a yummy raspberry icecream.

Whilst I ate my lunch, a young couple came in and wanted to talk to me about my bike, and what I was doing.  It is meeting people like this that actually provides me the encouragement to keep going. It is so refreshing.

Eventually I turned off the highway heading for Mangawhai, and then Mangawhai Heads.  I purchased some food for dinner and snacks at the local store, lent my bike pump to a couple of kids to get them moving, and peddled off to my accomodation.

Tonight I have a bedroom in the house of a lovely lady who has been outstanding in her hospitality offering snacks, wine, cake…maybe I should stay as the weather forecast is not promising. Winds of over 120k kmh.

On that note, Uncle Don rang… he’d watched the weather …and he rang in to see how I had fared today, what about tomorrow and oh, guess what? He has my riding gloves!!

I wanted to show two other photos. The first is my face post 116 km with wind exfoliation….and the second my washing..yeah yeah, not exciting but i love this rail idea in a laundry!

So I’ll sign off now as I listen to the wind howling outside.

I write this when I should be asleep. It is 3.32 am and I have been awake…overthinking…crying… I have also been thinking about Peter Pan.

Thinking about things I am thankful for, thinking about things that cause me sadness.  Missing out on much needed sleep.

Walt Disney said, “that’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up”.

We all need to grow up but at times it is nice to have some of Peter’s spirit …it is a balance though.  I think I have some of his spirit, but I am grown up and also have self respect, dignity, value of my self worth, integrity and self preservation.

So on the eve of my challenge, I tried to calm my restless thoughts by being with good people…solid, dependable and reliable.

I had a great lunch ( naughty but nice French toast…) and thankyou to Gervase and Deb for their time and friendship…it is very much appreciated particularly when you come from another country and really know only a handful of people.

Then I spent a lovely few hours with Don, Lesley and Paul, who generously shared their knowledge on the far north, their family homelands with lots of stories and history.

I also had a beautiful home cooked meal and know that they too will keep a watching brief out on me and my progress, hooking me up with Don’s brothers in the far north.

As I left I got a motherly and fatherly hug that nearly broke me…it is so nice to know people genuinely care….

Then as I was packing last night my phone rang, and it was John, another solid caring friend with advice for my route north. He had looked at my GPS route and was not happy.  He reiterated multiple times not to take my planned route, and has given me extensive details on another….he follows me on strava so I had better take his advice!

I am worried though as all my routes I have carefully mapped out, with turn by turn instructions… I have some notes pencilled down…I have no idea now what my distance today will be.

i am lucky these people care and are on the lookout for me. That damn cyclone threatening my ride safety and enjoyment can just bugger off please!

The above quote came from Pablo Picasso, the famous 20th century Spanish painter from the Cubist movement.  Seems apt for what I am about to undertake – yet another hair brained idea.

For newer readers to my blogs, I was told back in September 2015 that I would not be able to ride more than 5 km….at all! I was told I needed a complete knee replacement.  I was not impressed.

I am a bit stubborn – tell me I cannot do something becomes a personal challenge – I will find ways to prove you wrong, regardless of age, body and circumstances.

The last 18 months has provided a plethora of personal challenges that wont be featured in this blog, as there are some things that are just ‘unbloggable’.  Needless to say, this journey will be a significant mental and physical challenge for me.

Sure, I have ridden further (London to Venice).  Yes, I have bike packed (Auckland to Wellington with Sue).   I have also climbed higher peaks (Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland). BUT….I have never done it alone. I have always had the company of other riders.

Starting at sparrow fart this Sunday, I will depart Auckland on my reliable Specialized Roubaix, with a couple of panniers and light back pack and head north – to Cape Reinga – and then back to Auckland.

I will be riding around 1100 km, and climbing around 12 500 metres (a lot of climbing  carrying gear!!!)

My overnight stops are Mangawhai Heads (128 km/1793m climbing), Oakura (116km/1204m), Tapeka (52km/830m). Monganui (100km/1218m), Karikari Peninsula (52km/403m). Houhora – 2 nights (66km/384m, 137km/1678m), Rawene (124km/1093m), Turiwiri (111 km/1559m), Wellsford (103km/995m) and back to Auckland (86km/1159m).

I will have minimal gear with me – just a change of cycling knicks/jersey, plus basic non cycle clothing, toiletries, first aid and bike maintenance requirements.

I have upgraded my rear seat pannier and top tube bag – plus purchased a matching Specialized back pack – for very light gear only, as my dodgy back does not need much extra weight on it.

To the weather Gods – please, pretty please this is my request:  no wind, no rain, not too hot, not too cold – just right!!  That would be really dandy!!

In reality, my biggest risk are cars – I am on some pretty major roads, and whilst Kiwi’s are really friendly, some of their car drivers are amongst the worst I have experienced.

Am I scared and nervous – oh yes you bet I am!

However, I am sure this challenge will make me a stronger person and I will discover more about Sharron.

Hopefully I end looking like I did with Sue in Wellington – with a smile on my face…..

Today was always going to be a challenge as New Zealand was urged to brace for a subtropical storm bringing heavy rain, gales and potential coastal flooding to most of the North Island. Ideal cycling weather NOT!

I had woken around 2 am listening to the wind and by 3 am Sue and I were engaging in wide conversation ranging from storms to life in general.  Sue being a midwife even started counting the time in between storm gusts. The gap was increasing so reverse labour!

Sue went back to sleep but not this little birdie!

After some discussion re catching a bus, we decided to give it a crack leaving around 8.50 am. It was a nice ride out of town as the wind was either behind us or to the side.

However with a few left turns it was soon all pure headwind and gusts. Rain was imminent.

I laboriously read trip notes trying to work out alternatives. At the 25 km mark we turned into Tapapa Road which was to be the cathartic section. It was a gradual 5 km climb along a road that somewhat resembled an English lane.

The rain bucketed down. The side gusts were determined and savage at times. I got blown off the road and was able to decleat just in time.

By the time I reached the junction with Highway 5 I knew we needed to take safe and secure action. We were fortunately close to the Glades Cafe some 800 metres off course and did not hesitate to shoot off down the road.

We sat at a table where we could see our precious babies and enjoyed food.

Whilst sipping my coffee I noted an airport shuttle bus and a cattle track had both pulled into the car park. Hmm I thought, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

So I wandered around the cafe checking out all the patrons wondering what both drivers looked like. A truck would not be that bad…. surely?  What is the going rate for two lovely, wet ladies in a cattle truck with two bikes?

I found the shuttle driver first and had a conversation. Yes he was heading to Rotorua but would need head office permission…..$40 was the answer! You little ripper. Divine intervention?  Normally the driver does not stop for coffee here, but stopped due to the severe nature of the weather.

So somewhat disappointed at bailing and abandoning the balance of 45 km, survival instinct and pure common sense was far more important.

All the way to Rotorua the shuttle was buffeted by strong winds. Limbs were down, leaf litter strewn around, lots of cars heading both ways with poor visibility present.

The street of our accomodation was blocked by a large tree that had suffered fatally during the storm.

We later found out someone was killed nearby when a tree crushed a car.  Very sad.

Fortunately our B.B. opened their doors welcoming us many hours early, dashing off to make the beds. The warm shower was heavenly.

They later drove us into the Polynesian Spa where we spent a few hours chilling in the thermal pools. I do smell of sulphur now. The Priest acidic healing pool  claims to reduce inflammation and swelling..and I do believe my battered and swollen knee is looking better.

Then we visited two bike shops. Took a bit of dragging to get me out of the Specialized shop but we remembered we needed to carry anything purchased. I do sport a nice new pair of gloves to match my Specialized shoes. Sue has a nice new rain jacket.

Of course if Sue had not left her rain jacket in Miranda then New Zealand would not have suffered the inclement weather. Cyclone Sue! So inverting that, now she has a rain jacket will the sun come out??

Time for a drink. I stopped a young fellow and asked him the best place to go… headed off there for a nice cool refresher.

After dinner we wanted to find Rotorua’s oldest pub to check out. Unsure where it was I nabbed the first guy who came out of the local backpackers. Ah but he was from Finland and spoke minimal English. A Monty Python Spamelot fan I did wonder if he knew the Fish Slapping song? Should I sing it?

In the meantime Sue had invited herself inside the backpackers and found a fellow who knew just where to send us… literally!!

The Pig and Whistle is housed in the former Police Station. Wait for a seat and we were able to sit and listen to live music for a short while.

Another pub another drink and time to head home with an Indian taxi driver who was on his work day in Rotorua and had no idea what was where. I suggested he turn the meter off and Sue suggested he google the address. Taxi driver induction 101!

Tomorrow looks dodgy..but we will proceed with dogged determination, grit, fortitude and lots of laughter.  Plan B… hmm…working on it!!