My mate John and I spent 5 days biking around the East Cape area of NZ. The area is the least populated part of the North Island and boasts fantastic scenery and, in my opinion anyway, scenery wise is the most underrated area in NZ.
Unfortunately, the East Cape bore the brunt of Cyclone Gabrielle which caused an estimated NZ$13 billion of damage which is going to take many years to put right. The areas roading system was always a bit sketchy but is a great deal more so now with huge stretches of highway damaged by water and slips with many bridges also washed away.
An amazing a mount of work has been done to make the roads passable so the area is now accessible again so hats off to all those involved.
The result of all this was 1600km of at times tough but exhilarating riding and a memorable trip.
We stayed at campsites in Taupo, Opotiki, Tologa Bay and Napier.
