All I can say was when we woke up from a restful sleep in our little tent after that ride yesterday, we were both very HUNGRY and looking for cheeseburgers before the day was over.
Mission accomplished.
And it was a much easier ride on 90 Mile Beach today. We only had 18 miles to ride to Ahipara and the wind was significantly less.
Here’s the kicker… 90 Mile Beach isn’t really 90 miles long and I still don’t know why it’s named 90 MILE beach when distances of that length are measured in kilometers.🤷🏼♀️ Tom however has done his research.
Apparently, it was named by the earliest European settlers who knew their horses could ride 30 miles a day. It took them three days to ride down the beach so they THOUGHT they travelled 90 miles and named it. Nope! They didn’t account for the sand which is more difficult for the horses to walk on. It’s actually only 55 miles. And below, my friends, is the end of 90 Mile Beach!
There are many cyclists camping here tonight that are riding the TA. Our campground is like an uber clean, home stay with a huge kitchen to cook in. Beautiful vegetation, well cared for gathering room to charge devices or visit and even clothes lines are available. And there isn’t a spot of rubbish anywhere. The kitchen includes three gas stoves, sinks, three refrigerators and pots, pans and plates! We even used the French Press for coffee. And it is SPOTLESS! Can we get these types of campgrounds in the US?
Early on in the ride today we spotted two Māori women collecting tua tua, the shellfish we tried last night. We stopped to chat to ask how long it took them to collect their bag full. Ten minutes they said, and then they demonstrated how easy it is.
It might be easy but we were still on the hunt for cheeseburgers.
One other story and both are God winks. Tom and I both begin each ride everyday with a prayer, not only for our safely and our family, friends and neighbors back home, but for many of the people we meet along the way.
You may recall we shuttled up to the Cape with Zoe, a solo female rider from Auckland who is riding a much faster pace than us. I like to think of her as an Ambassador of the TA Facebook group. She gives so much helpful advice all the while trying to squeeze in the ride in a certain amount of time due to her work constraints.
In fact the day she started the ride, she stopped off at a bike shop to pick up a derailleur cable for another women she’d never met who was stranded up near the Cape. Her name is Perrine (Tom lovingly calls her Pippin) and she is originally from France but now lives in Montreal.
Lo and behold, Perrine got her cable fixed and camped two tents down from us on our first night on the Bay. Zoe of course was already in Huketere, 💪🏻
Unfortunately, yesterday we saw Perrine once again stranded in the middle of Te Paki stream, this time with a broken chain and her back bike tire sunk deep into the mud.
We stopped but didn’t have the correct size master link so there was as nothing we could do to fix the chain. We so hoped she would find a way to continue her ride, but dang… it was doubtful. She’s run into so many obstacles.
Somehow she walked her bike all the way back through the stream and again was able to get her bike chain fixed.
How do we know? Because as we were walking down the street in Ahipara to get groceries and a voice called out from a white pickup truck, “Hey my American friends!” It was Pippin and she was staying with a Warm Showers host. I sure hope we cross paths again so we can find out how she got herself out of that rough patch.
Ok long story but Tom and I both feel that sometimes the best thing we can do for friends we meet along the way is ask God to watch over them. In this case, prayers answered. And Zoe is making great time. Thanks God!
Finally one of my fav pics of the day, riders on horses enjoying the Tasman Sea.
Lots more pics and commentary in the video below:
Keep Calm and Pedal On 
Mighty fine lookin cheeseburger, Tommy🤠🇺🇸
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Soooooo good!
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