Coromandel to Pukekohe

Dora came in shouting “It’s pouring” and sure enough she wasn’t kidding. It didn’t last long that first time but 2km down the road; when we were fixing our first blowout it was raining again. I only had one tube with me and foolishly hadn’t repaired it the previous night, so it was patch on the road.

We were OK for about 5 km and nearing the top of the first major climb when the rear tyre was going flat again. Ton had given me a tube for his bike as back-up but his tyres are much narrower than mine so I was hesitant to use it. At this point however it became a necessity and so I put it in. I had not been able to find any cause for these punctures in either the tyre or the rim. As I was inflating the tube Rita noticed a bulge on the sidewall and I decided that we shouldn’t ride it but that I should ride by myself keeping the weight off of the rear wheel. It is difficult to walk in my riding shoes and I had packed my sandals since we would not be sight seeing today. I would try to get to the first stop and send help or she would try to hitch a ride.

Riding a tandem by yourself is like driving a tractor trailer. The bike didn’t handle well on the downhill on the rough wet pavement so I had to descend very slowly. Once on the flats I was going along well when all of a sudden the front tyre went soft. I tried riding with it flat but that made the bike a lot more difficult to handle so I gave up on that too and parked the bike and waited.

It is amazing what you see waiting on the side of the road. It was garbage day and the green boxes had been emptied so two of those made a good seat. I was pretty wet from the rain but now it had stopped again and the wind was picking up. I put my seat in the ditch and leaned back against the steep outer grass bank and warmed myself when the sun came out from time to time. There was nobody home in the yellow and black snail shell at my feet. I marveled at the perfect form of this unique home, even thought about keeping it as a souvenir. The clouds overhead were going in two directions, a dog started barking when I clapped my hands to warm up. A young maiden with a big smile came walking across the road toward me, her arms were wide open. It was Rita who had go a lift to here. She continued walking down the road in order to stay warm and I continued to sit by the road and wait.

A while later along came the van and there was Rita again. She had got another lift and the van had been preparing to come back for us in any case. We loaded up the tandem and hitched a ride to the lunch stop. The bike store in Thames did not have the tire I needed so we packed in our ride for the day and for New Zealand. Too bad we couldn’t finish but we were the lucky ones.

The rain had stopped some time ago but the west wind had really increased. Just past Thames the road heads west across a flat area; which must be 10-15 km across. It had started to rain again. Last to leave Thames where Peter and Rita. Joe, Adrian and Dora had left shortly after we had arrived; Ton was ahead of them. Bernie and John we hadn’t seen but were also ahead. We met the threesome on the side of the road and left them with some food and drink. Ton was found almost across the flats still fighting the headwind. He too took on nourishment. We caught Bernie and John after the flats and back in the hills and left them with some extra food.

Auckland was not far away at this point and the highways were joining together with the main motorway about to start. The best road into Pukekohe from this point was not entirely clear on the maps. We wanted to check things out for the riders and it is good that we did because the road beside the motorway was small, curvy and very hilly. We posted people at the intersection to tell people to stay on the motorway instead while we went on to town to find the hotel and drop the trailer.

Margaret started preparing soup for the riders while the van returned to the route to find them. Bernie and John found a different and longer route to the hotel. The van found Ton and had passed him instructions and a map but he had a flat tyre about 5 km out and a compassionate motorist brought him soaking wet to the motel. A long tome later, after it was already dark the three-some pulled in on there own steam wet, cold and tired. Close to 7 the van showed up with Peter and Rita. They had wanted to continue but it was too dark and pouring rain again making it too dangerous so the support team pulled them off the road.

We had intended to go out for dinner but those plans changed to order in pizza. Peter and I went out to find some dessert and were successful in finding some large decorated muffins; which finished off the meal.

All in all it was not the day we had hoped for but certainly one we will all remember.