The Hauraki Rail Trail is one of the 23 Great Rides of New Zealand, designated, marked, and supported tracks for cyclists. Most are gravel, some are old railway lines converted to trails like the one we went on going south from Thames. We started out south but then added a bit going west and back on a part that we originally (so long ago) had planned to ride here from Auckland. Along the shoreline there are many birds, almost none of which we have at home so we have turned into birdwatchers. I am using an app called Merlin to help identify and keep track of them. The track going south was gravel but not difficult for our 38mm tires (43 would be better), although the Captain needs to maintain focus lest we slide into the ditch. The trail is well maintained and includes informational shelters and toilets along the way.
This is an intensive dairy country populated by Holstein-Friesian and Jersey cows, the latter of which make really good ice cream :-). You see them and smell them everywhere along this route, and there was also a notable Cheese Barn/cafe along the way which also had a few alpacas and rabbits for good measure.
We did a one night stop in Paeroa staying at a modern motel close to all needed amenities such as coffee and groceries. Paeroa is famous, “world famous in New Zealand”, for being the birthplace of a soft drink called Lemon and Paeroa, which mixed lemon flavouring with the natural spring water of the area, although it tastes a lot like Sprite. They have memorialized the drink by having a giant L&P bottle available for tourists like us to take a photo of.
Going east the next day on the way to Waihi beach, we began on an offshoot of the Hauraki trail which cuts through the Karangahake gorge and goes under a hill through a 1.1.km tunnel, saving us a climb. However, due to the recent weather event part of the trail was damaged so we only got as far as the start of the tunnel. We had found this out beforehand though so we had (re)planned to switch to the highway at that point. Also the rain had returned so overall it was a wet, but still warm, day. Again, riding on the highway is not ideal here but, also again, the drivers were well behaved.
So we have finally arrived on the east coast. We would have been here for awhile now except for the big rains that continue to have an impact on our trip. We were going to do a hike here along the coast but the trail was closed due to storm damage. We are staying in another holiday park cabin in Waihi Beach. The weather has been warm but still a bit drippy at times with sunny breaks. There is an amazing long and wide beach here that we didn’t reach the other end of after an hour of walking. The waves are a bit too wild for swimming in so we just walked and watched the surfers.
geeteetravels 
Great pictures! The beach looks lovely.