Kaihoka Lakes

Ok, so while I was down South for Xmas to see the family and do Chrismassy stuff, I also happened to have an Adventure bike with and be located in an area where there are adventures to be had.  So after a visit to the beach on Boxing Day, I decided to sneak off for a short little ride.

After looking at a few maps I decided on the short trip out to the Kaihoka Lakes which were fairly near to the batch at Pakawau.

Turning off the main road I soon ran out of sealed road and was on gravel.  A few years back I'd ridden the V-Strom down this same bit of road as far as the Anatori river but this time I turned more Northerly to ride out to the lakes.

The start of the road was very corrugated (the bike struggling with drive) and I was pretty slow and careful on it and also was expecting traffic as some of the other roads further North had been busy during the day.  In the end there were only a few cars coming the other way and I was soon at the lakes.

Not a lot to see from the road

Leaving the lakes I decided to carry on down the road to see where it went.  I eventually ran out of public access road near a small bay in the Whanganui inlet.

Denied!

With not too many options available I had turn around to retrace my steps, stopping just once more to get a better view of the bay.

On the way back I dialed the traction control back a bit and the bike started handling a lot better being able to ridden harder on the gas.  I was a lot quicker coming back and had a blast.  Towards the end of the below video you'll notice how corrugated the roads were in places.

Back at the main road, it was very tempting to turn right and head further on down the coast but I behaved myself and pointed back in the direction of the batch.  Just one more picture stop at Pakawau.

Temptation nearly getting the better of me...

Returning back to the batch, I found that I'd done just over 40km.  Not sure if that really justified bringing the Tenere over the Connie but at least I did get to ride a little piece of road that I hadn't before.