Around the lake

This weekend I had a new toy (intercom - more on that in another post) to play with and with Mark suggesting a blat to Taupo it was a good chance to give it a whirl.  And seeing as Saturday was the Lake Taupo Challenge we decided to go on Sunday but still cut a lap around the lake - albeit using some horsepower instead of pedal power.

Leaving Palmy it was blowing a gale as we rode over to Cheltenham where we picked up the renowned speedster Colin and made for Vinegar Hill.  It continued to be quite cool and very windy as we took on the Hill but once on SH1 it seemed to warm up a bit - even if the wind didn't let up much.

There was a surprising amount of traffic on the road as we pootled on up through Taihape to Waiouru.  By the time we hit Waiouru it was cooler again and we got a few spits of rain just as we hit town.  We parked up and just had time to get our helmets off when Neil arrived to join us.

Cruising through to Taupo we had the odd bit of wet road to ride through but didn't get any rain.  There was however this nagging voice in my helmet continually repeating "I'm hungry".  I may have been a bit peckish but it wasn't my voice so the intercom was working...

Riding around the lake front to Taupo there were plenty of big waves in the lake and it looked a bit black on the other side of the lake where we were eventually heading.  First up though we stopped in Taupo itself to sort out that noise in my helmet...

Lunch taken care of and tanks topped off it was time to take that trip around the lake.  As it turned out the weather stayed fine and although we had some wet roads the ride was fantastic.  We ended up stopping at Kuratau Junction for a coffee but it wasn't that impressive and we won't bother stopping there again:

No flashing lights today - all good

Unsatisfied by the Kuratau cafe we took the fantastic SH41 over to Manunui and then turned South on SH4 until we hit Owhango where we stopped for a decent drink and a chin wag.  While we were there the weather caught up with us and it was fairly damp as we started gearing up for the last leg home.

As we were leaving one of Colin's mates with the festively decorated cars pulled up and the driver popped over for a chat.  He also gave us one of the below each:

Whoever guesses what it is first (Neil excluded) wins the internet

Leaving Owhango we eventually got in front of the weather and waved Neil off at National Park.  Next up was the trip across through Ohakune to Waiouru and then back onto SH1 to head South with all the other traffic.

Riding through Taihape I worked out that I probably had enough fuel to get home so we didn't stop.  At the Vinegar Hill turn-off Colin went straight ahead on SH1 so it was just Mark and I left to give Vinegar Hill another fanging.

My fuel warning finally came on at Colyton with 342km on the odo for that tank and when I finally got home it was sitting at 370km.  I may need to fill it with some urgency before Sunday's BRRBT ride...

So not a bad little ride at about 600km.  Hopefully this blimmin wind will blow itself out so we can finally start enjoying a summer as there's plenty of riding to be done...

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And yeah, I know there's no lake piccys - better go back and get some one day...