Past Hobbiton and down the hill to Matamata

 Plans don't always go as planned!   I planned to ride down to Lake Karapiro and cross over to the eastern side and head off to Matamata, dodging highway traffic.  

Chilly start - 12C - a slight head wind chilled me even more, but it was a flat ride.  I had seen a sign something about the dam wall being closed, but  didn't take too much notice.  On arrival I found that the dam wall was the only way to cross the dam to the eastern side.  there was no option but to turn around and ride back to Cambridge!  yep, I was cranky!  but at least it was tail wind back to Cambridge.

followed by a mad dash along the main highway, with constant traffic and only a narrow shoulder, saw me fuming a little more!  Never realised I'd be happyy to see a Mobil petrol station, but today I was!  After a coffee and a slice of date bread, Hennie and I headed up the hills along Buckland Road, far away from all that traffic.  

Right into Footrot Flat country!  hills mostly devoid of trees, just lots of long green grass, with milk cows lounging around the paddocks and sheep munching grass, with little lambs playing!  There was a large herd of deer at the top of one climb, giving me a great excuse to stop and start and catch my breath...  yep there was a little bit of walking, but also some great downhills too.  

We stopped on the crest of a hill and I could see several buses coming and going along a side road.  A bit further on we passed the staging area for the Hobbiton tours.  Heaps of people either getting on or off of buses, or just milling around!  Too many people for me, so we continued on down the hill.

usually the last 10km of a ride is the toughest, but today we rolled easily into Matamata on the side road, straight and slightly wind assisted.  58km when I had expected 45km.  Maybe the downhills made up for the few walks up the steep pinches, or I'm getting back into the swing of cycling the open road.

Road to Hobbiton