Stunning Coromandel Loop just outside Auckland

The worst of winter seems to have passed and the Auckland skies are clearer for longer patches now, which is great news for me, a fair weather biker. On Saturday I went for ride through the beautiful Waitakeres with my wife and on Monday I managed to get out on my bike for an amazing run to the Coromandel Peninsula Loop which I must confess is aboslutley overwhelming in its beauty. Having scoured the internet for great motorcycle rides, I have seen very little to rival what I experienced.

Here's my biker blog on the recent biking events in and around Auckland which, if you take the time to read, I hope will convey a sense of the beauty that is so close by to enjoy in and around Auckland and the North and South Islands . Of course there are equally bicycle rides, hiking (or as kiwi's say "tramping") trails and other great outdoor pursuit opportunities but my passion is motorcycles so this is just my angle.

On a map New Zealand is a small geographical place on the globe but there remains a sense of vastness and granduer that I imagine is becoming harder to find these days and even more difficult to access and enjoy in relative safety. 

Auckland autumn

The orange leaves shout that it's autumn in Auckland but I am on one of Auckland and New Zealand's many golf courses and the late afternoon is still. I return home after the game and jump on my motorbike with my wife on hers and we meet friends and all ride through to Ponsonby "international" food court for one of the numerous inexpensive Asian dishes on offer. 

After dinner we ride from the vibrant night life of Ponsonby in a convoy of four motorbikes through the pretty suburbs of Auckland into the upmarket beach suburb of Mission Bay where we have Danish ice cream and coffee before heading home along the waterfront road to the Harbour bridge that leads us back to the North Shore of Auckland where our little Saturday night jaunt began.

Every weekend for weeks now we have gotten out on our bikes because "pretty soon now the weather will change".  And every week we are blessed with yet another weekend of stunning weather.

Well,  the rain will set in and newcomers and visitors will swear that Auckland is a wet city.  And they will be correct,  it is indeed.  But life goes on,  including outdoor activities.  And in the midst of winter I have no doubt we will wake up to moments of clear, crisp skies and text our fellow bikers to meet for a spontaneous rides and golf games.  And then one day the clouds will part and more glorious sunny days will be beckoning us bikers to rediscover the breathtaking scenic routes that are Auckland in all her splendour.

The end of an Auckland work week

Earlier this week I posted a picture of the scenic Waiaki Beach at the start of my week. This is picture of the end of my work week taken on a Friday afternoon at the Viaduct, a trendy and vibey part of Auckland.

Here you will see not only friends and work colleagues catching up around a meal and a drink, but families out strolling or the more serious runners, along the promenade enjoying the beautiful weather at the start of Spring. Lined with cool restaurants, ice cream and coffee shops around a working harbour, it looks out over beautiful scenery across the harbour.

It is moments like this that remind me of what Auckland has to offer -  not just a pretty city but a great lifestyle environment.

Springtime in Auckland New Zealand

Much gets said about Auckland's weather. Here is a glorious,  not infrequent, Spring morning on my way to work at 8.30 am at Waiaki Beach near Browns Bay. I was born and raised in the stunning Cape Town so I am so blessed that the city I migrated to 10 years ago has this to enjoy 5 minutes from home.