Ormondville to Napier

First let me appolgize for the lack of road picture for yesterday. The day before I had set the camera for movie mode and forgotten to rest it for still photos so all my shots were movies with poor reolution and not worth posting.

Ormondville to Napier

Dinner last night was enjoyed by all. We had a lamb roast; which Val explained was a meal eaten here on special occasions, much like we have a turkey meal in Canada. Dessert was Pavlova; which is basically egg white whipped and a topping added. We met and talked with a few of the locals in the adjoining pub before and after the meal. The picture shows the room and everyone eating.

We were warned that the trains would be running throughout the night and at several intervals the cabin along the platform would start rumbling as the trains rolled through. This made the experience all the more authentic and didn’t keep me awake long.

The sun rose around 6AM and the sky was quite nice; the close-up picture of the station was taken shortly after that time. We said goodbye to our hosts after taking another group picture and set off for the day.

The route today was somewhat complex and all made notes on which way to go at the first coffee break. Rita and I were among the last to leave and found the correct road off of SH2 but we never passed any of the others. Ton was following us after making an incorrect turn and then retracing his steps. As it turns out all the others that left before us missed the turn and so were off the route. Bernie and John were behind us and did find the correct route. The 5 of us met the van at the designated spot outside of Hastings North, had lunch and continued with the van ahead to guide us through the town as planned. The van filled with anxious wives went on a search and rescue mission after that and managed to locate the other riders in two different places. All eventually arrived at the Napier Prison where we are staying for the night. The accommodations tonight are in the actual cells of this old prison. Dinner tonight is in another restaurant, this time Indonesian food, and a favorite of people of Dutch background as most of us are.

Tomorrow will be the toughest day of the whole tour. It is long at 140 km but also has by far the most climbing. From the coast we climb 700m then drop down into a valley 400m deep then right back up the 400m again and then down again before climbing back up to a plateau at around the same height. A total of 1400m of serious climbing! At least the route is simple and no one should get lost. Judging by the determination I have seen so far in this group I expect all will make it to the end. More on that tomorrow.