Te Puke to Matata Beach NZ

I got an early start today at about 7am. New Zealand is not a country of early birds any more. Back in the 70s here people all seemed to get up at 4 am and go to bed by 7:30 pm. Today most places do not open until 8 or 9 in the morning so I frequently have to wait for my coffee. I found a cafe open in town and ate a big breakfast of sausages, bacon, eggs, multigrain toast, fried tomato and some mushrooms. I had my usual long black coffee with that. It felt good to eat a hearty breakfast then hit the road.

The road was mostly flat today. I was told by someone that I could ride along a trail to get past a large estuary along the coast and the info was wrong so I had to backtrack about 8 miles to go around it. Such is life. I did not mind. So most of the day I was riding on the main highway 2 which carries lots of big trucks. There was enough room for me most of the time except for at bridges where all shoulder disappears. I would stop and wait for a clear time to cross the bridges because I do not feel like getting squished by a pair of logging trucks or something like that crossing the bridge at the same time. I stopped a couple of times just to rest and look around. It was mostly overcast so pics were tough of scenery but when the clouds cleared I took a few beach pics and of the birds around my camp. Otherwise just a good cycle day without problems and without rain so far today. Plus my campground was only $5 today. I went out and ordered fish and chips and the pic below is of the part I was not able to finish. It was a huge platter of fish and chips and tasty. The birds are mud ducks and they are all over NZ it seems like.

I met and talked with a lot of Kiwis in the camp and met one French guy hitch hiking around the country. They are all friendly but they all tell me I am crazy. It did rain by nightfall and more early the next morning.