I must have been to close to some water, as there were enough mosquitos buzzing around through the warm night to keep me from deep sleep. Still, the main road was quiet and, despite the broken sleep, I felt good setting off before six o’clock. A warm-up and a few little hills later and I was crossing the river into Ruatoria for breakfast.

Early morning over the Waiapu.

The pub had seen better days.

A couple of stores opened at seven, so that was worth waiting for. The Ruatoria pies, even more so; so started a cruisy day of riding between food stops and more outstanding bays. This East Coast road is notorious among touring cyclists for logging trucks – but thanks to the coronavirus and the region’s log exports grinding to a sudden halt, I didn’t see a single one on the road.

With a norwester blowing, there was a gently helping hand as I tackled only the occasional climb – much of the day being pretty flat and easy. There were plenty of hills to be seen, but the region being so refreshingly undeveloped there are few roads to explore those hills. It was an easy first half of the commute home; after the previous week, that sat just fine with me.

Enjoying a Coastie Toastie at Tokomaru Bay.

Following a big lunch at Tolaga Bay, there were finally some more wee hills to summit before joining a lot of holiday and beach traffic into Gisborne.

Can’t imagine why people find this place appealing for a relaxed holiday.

Seeing the coast stretch to the Mahia Peninsula, I again chastised myself for taking four and a half years to get up here. I just keep finding more places to explore close to home. It was nice to get off the road for the first time that day on a cycle path into Gisborne. As it took me so long to get there, perhaps I should have had a better look around – but an early dinner called before heading west out of town.

Late in the afternoon, the wind had got up and was really whipping across the plains – that twenty kilometres with increased traffic was tough. On the quieter road to Tiniroto, I started to climb. The first real one of the day was another Gentle Annie – mercifully smaller than the one on the first day of the trip. Steepening, I spied a lot of blackberries on the side of the road – those could not be easily passed and provided a little boost to get up and over to Waerengaokuri

Gisborne just visible on the coast.

Long since closed.

Way back when I was looking for a good way to get home from East Cape and I spied what looked like a gravel alternative to a section of the sealed Tiniroto Rd that I’d ridden a couple of times before. I was eager to check it out, my only concerns were that I might drop a lot of altitude and have to grovel back up to Tiniroto, or worse yet – the road might not go through for some reason.

Always pleasing to see decades old sign styles surviving.

That was far from the case, it began to climb straight away and was interestingly steep in parts. Absolutely deserted in the early evening, every couple of kilometres I’d be surprised to see a house. Short stretches of seal indicated it was a bit steeper, but mostly it was good gravel. Soon after the turn off I was following the ridge line up, so there were views in both directions.

These got better as dusk approached. I thought the climbing was done for a while at six hundred metres elevation, but after a steep descent it wound its way back up again. The road was challenging in parts, but my – with the views, solitude and challenge at the end of a long day of sealed road – it was one of the standouts of the entire trip. I loved it and am very much looking forward to riding it again this weekend, only three weeks later. I shouldn’t go on, so here’s a few of the photos I took over the two hours and twenty-five kilometres.

Looking west, wondering what it’ll be like when the sun drops a little lower.

Getting some idea as the sun dips; looking north.

Breath taken from me looking towards Waikaremoana, marvelling at all the folds in the hills.

Sometimes it’s a bit easier to imagine where the gravel might go next.

Whakapunake.

My evening companion for the week made another sudden appearance. About this time, I also saw a vehicle and shortly after, a wild boar – both I was surprised to see.

Back on Tiniroto Rd, it was time to drop down to the settlement and see if the pub was still open. Buzzing from such a fantastic find, a little climb hardly dampened my spirits as the sun finally set on the eighth day of my little tour. The last few hours made it one of the more memorable for a while; that the pub and its kitchen were still open were an unexpected bonus as the fifth meal of the day was savoured before laying my head for the night in the community hall.