17/10/2014 Te Ahora - Arapuni

2014-10-17 click for more photo's

Garmin Connect

17/10/14 Te Aroha - Arupuni

Hobbit town Info centre

Plans kept changing, the original plan was to cycle to Cambridge and Arapuni the next day but after spending ¾ hr with Murray, the property owner, we revised our plans when he told us of several short cuts and where the flattest route would be. He even printed off an A3 photocopy of the route. With mainly flat countryside and a tailwind we made rapid progress only stopping at Matamata for a fabulous Sushi lunch. Matamata is the starting place for all the tours to Hobbaton ( the location of the Hobbit film set) and has even got a thatched tourist info office in the shape of a Hobbit home. We decided to give the guided tour a miss. It would have been nice to have a look but guided tours aren't really our thing. We arrived in Arapuni just as the rain began. Sheltering in the cover of the Rhubarb Cafe we were encouraged to come in and have a coffee which we did. Brian the owner was very chatty and a keen cyclist and after we bemoaned the fact that we had probably chosen the wrong tyres he went to the back of the shop and returne

d with two perfect tyres for the front wheels which do all the tracking. Probably £50 of tyres which he wanted us to have for free. He even offered to fit them for us. I must be nicer to people . I must be nicer to people. Marjet is feeling guilty for not having offered to pay for them.

The backpackers lodge proved a nice place to stay with a huge outside gas bbq for our use.