The long Easter weekend was spent riding the East Cape. A trip that almost didn't happen. Weather forecasts leading up to the departure date were concerning to say the least as the cape was in the path of cyclone Cook. The few days leading up to the weekend, the metservice had issued weather warnings not just for the cape but also Auckland & other areas of the North Island.
Wednesday night & the early hours of Thursday morning saw the most destruction especially in Edgecombe but there were also road closures around the cape between Tuaranga & Whakatane. Thursday, the day before departure, I was checking the metservice website hourly for updates. The news was positive in regards to when we were planning to travel as by then the cyclone would have passed.
So at 16:30 on the afternoon before departure it was decided we would embark on our trip the following morning. We knew areas near & on our route had been devastated by the cyclone & we weren't sure if we would encounter any issues due to this.
We set out for our first day riding from Cornwall Park & the weather was perfect. It was hard to believe a few days earlier the city had caught part of the cyclone. The first leg was a frustrating ride with everyone trying to leave the city but the advantage of being on a bike was the ability to lane split & cut through the traffic while those in cars sat & waited for the long line of traffic to move.
We spend pretty much from Manurewa to Ohinewai lane splitting. From time to time there was respite from the lane splitting but not for long. I don't mind lane splitting but when doing it for that long it becomes really tiresome & frustrating.
Once we made it to Ohinwai we turned off SH1 onto Tahuna Road which saw a drop in traffic on the road but the weather had changed to overcast with a threat of rain. As we headed towards Te Hoe & Tahuna the rain started but it was not too heavy & didn’t last too long. We continued travelling south into Morrinsville then east to Ngarua which took us back onto SH1.
We stopped at the Kaimai Cheese Factory & Café for lunch. Our timing was not the best as the kitchen had just closed so the selection available was from the cabinet, which was fine but any sandwiches there could not be toasted as the sandwich press just broke as we were ordering. I suspect had it not been Good Friday, then the kitchen hours would have been longer. The tea & sandwich was enough to sustain us for the remainder of the day's journey.
After lunch, we headed off along SH27 until Matamata & then moved onto SH24 through the Kaimai‐Mamaku Forest Park along SH29 all the way to Tauranga. The route so far had been good; there had been no road closures only remnants of slips across some roads.
We took stock in Tauranga & based on the morning's riding, we decided to continue on to Whakatane but I would soon need to fill up with some petrol. We travelled along SH2 along the coast where we filled up at BP Pongakawa, Te Puke which turned out to be a fortuitous stop. A biker heading north was also filling up at the same time & advised us that he had just travelled up from Whakatane where the road had just opened. This was good news ‐ we would not be stranded if we continued on our intended journey.
We continued our journey along SH2 through Matata to Whakatane. Now when that biker informed us that the road had just opened back in Te Puke, we did start to question his integrity the further south we went. On the course of the last leg of the day's ride we were stopped & informed that the road was still closed but they expected it to be open in maybe 15 minutes at the earliest so we had the choice to either turn around like some of the vehicles in front of us or continue on our way & hope the road was open by the time we made it to that section of the road.
We decided we would risk it. After all that biker guy got through. How? We don't know but it was worth a shot. Well we kept going & sure enough, there was a line of waiting cars further down the road. We stopped with the rest of them, switched our engines off & decided to make the most of the situation.
For me, this was a good time to take some photos to document the remains of the destruction & to the left of me was a freight train that was going nowhere fast. It was deserted. So I whipped off my helmet & started to unzip the pannier containing my camera. At that point the cars in front of us had started to turn their engines on so it was back on with the helmet & on our way.
As we continued, I could not believe how long that freight train was ‐ it was bloody long & I wondered how long it would be stranded there as it was blocking several side roads to the coast. I decided it wasn't a big deal that those side roads were blocked as it wasn't blocking entrance to houses just the coastline.
Well we made it all the way to Whakatane without any other delays. Actually I think we were bloody lucky to have made it all the way from Auckland to Whakatane, especially with the route we took as there had been road closures due to slips & flooding along SH29 & SH2 but the three of us were pretty like‐minded & were willing to chance it.
As I checked into my motel, 37 The Landing & I was & wasn't surprised to see a number of telco contractors at my motel. That sight was an indication of the destruction the cyclone had caused. After washing off the day's ride we went in search of food. Our choices consisted of a takeaway, something else (which wasn't given much thought given that I can't remember what it was) & an Indian.
We settled for the Indian as it seemed to be the only place with any real eat in option. The food was fine but nothing outstanding but the wine hit the right spot. After dinner, we all turned in for the night ready to tackle what was waiting for us tomorrow.
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