Puketāpapa

Day 93, Wednesday 22 November 2017

A busy day today, so I was on the road shortly after 6 am. It’s broad daylight in Auckland at 6 at this time of year, but the suburban roads are almost empty, and the motorways have some traffic but no congestion. It’s a nice time to be riding.

I went to Puketāpapa, which means ‘flat-topped mountain’, also known as Mount Roskill. The road to the summit is closed by a gate signposted as due to open at 7 am, so I parked the bike next to several people sleeping in cars at the lower carpark and walked up the hill. As I came down again, at about 6:25, a security van arrived to unlock the gate.

On my way home, I encountered the major disadvantage of riding at this time of day: sunstrike!

Distance travelled: 14 km. Total distance so far: 13,354 km