BRR Waikaremoana & Moto Assault Day Two

Day Two of our adventure started off very low key with a leisurely breakfast in town before a short ride to a viewing area just above Whakatane.

Pictures taken it was time for the short peddle to Opotiki for fuelling up for the ride through the Motu.

Fuelled up we headed East out of town for a while before turning off onto the Motu Road.  A quick taste got us to a wee bridge where Neil pulled us over to warn us of what was to come: narrow roads, mountain bikes, animals, other vehicles and fun!

Almost as soon as we crossed the bridge we were into more tight and winding country and the faster guys disappeared to leave me to ride along at my pace enjoying the scenery and the great ride.

Eventually I caught up with taking a break in a nice shady little spot.  While we were there three other Adver's rode past going in the opposite direction to us.

Our next leg took us further into the bush and even through a decent sized puddle before a climb up to another spot where we stopped for more pictures.

From this spot we carried on towards the settlement of Motu.  In places the road opened up as we passed through farmland but there were still the odd section where it was tighter and even a bit slippery.  Coming down one hill I had my only real nasty moment as the front slipped and put me into a bit of a tank-slapper for a second before everything magically came back under control again.  Exciting stuff...

The next bit of excitement (well, perhaps not) was hitting the big smoke that is Motu.  It wasn't exactly pumping when we arrived but we stopped anyway for a bit of a munch and a catch-up.

Next on the agenda was a quick out-and-back trip up to the Motu Falls.

Back on the Motu Road we rode some wet tarmac until we came to the turn-off onto Whakarau Road.  This road was going to take us back towards Gisborne via some more fun gravel.  It was mostly open stuff but there was the odd tight, muddy bit and even a couple of small fords.  The weather even offered up some light rain and fog to add to the adventure.

This joker just didn't want to pull over!

After another wee regroup we remounted for the last leg into Gisborne.  Once on the main road the weather took a nasty and damp turn for the worse and we got dumped on for a bit.  Arriving in Gisborne itself it was fine and we topped off the day with a great Indian meal which we found just down the road from our motel.  A great way to top off a great day's riding.

Bikes looking cleaner after the rain...

Chicken Chilli - yeah baby!