Tandem Bike Tour of Gisborne City – Day 272

Alright so today we are diving into the Gisborne historical past by tandem bike.

This morning we are joining cycle gisborne for the tour around the town. There is heaps of historical points that we’re going to be checking on our map and we have chosen to do tandem biking however Laura is really not that confident so it doesn’t take long until I take the helm.

This is the first time we’re seeing a tandem bike available to hire in New Zealand so we jump on the chance to make that our mode of transport to get around Gisborne city. However, as anyone who has ever rode a tandem in the past may know, it takes a little while to get used to.

There’s truly a lot of different bike routes around Gisborne but we pick one that’s gonna give us a bit of a taste of everything the city has to offer. We’re gonna go through gardens, we’re gonna go through beach, riverside, and also historical sights. It’s gonna be pretty awesome.

The first point of interest on our tour is the Gisborne Botanical Garden. It’s a huge place with heaps of grassy areas which are perfect for a picnic on a nice summer day. There is also even a Japanese Garden, heaps of palm trees, it’s a really cool place. But we don’t hang out there too long, because we are now heading to the riverside track.

We start following this 4.5km cycle trail along the Taruheru River which is one of three rivers that pass through Gisborne city. It’s a really pleasant cycle trail there’s a lot of shaded areas under the trees, awesome views of the river, and it’s probably the best way to make your way from the inner city of Gisborne out towards the beach where we’re heading to.

At the beginning of our tour, our guide, Anelia, gave us loads of maps and information to do a self-guided tour around Gisborne city. However, because she was having a quiet day she decided to come along with us and give us loads of information along the way which was really awesome.

What we also really love about cycling in Gisborne is the fact that you don’t have to mingle with the traffic so much thanks to all these cycle ways. We are currently making our way to the beach and we don’t have barely go on the roads at all to get there.

And we’re having so much fun on this tandem, especially me cos I’m on the back and to be honest if you are person on the back of the tandem you are doing less work and you can spend more time taking your hands off the handle bars which is a childhood dream of mine – I could never do it as a child – and it’s such a huge novelty and a really fun way to make your way around gisborne.

As soon as we arrive on Waikanae Beach which is right here where we are we spot a few familiar figures including Captain James Cook which is standing above a globe. Captain James Cook was one of the first person to discover New Zealand and map its coast and Gisborne was the first place where he set foot on the country which is pretty awesome. The next spot where we go is Young Nick which is famous for being the one that spotted New Zealand for Captain James Cook. He was actually atop the mast of Captain James Cook’s boat before they landed foot on Gisborne.

But alas we are not spending long enough around there we are already back on the road and we are following Waikanae Beach which if you guys remember is where we did surfing with Frank when we arrived in Gisborne a few days ago.

Waikanae Beach stretched for a huge distance and gives us absolutely amazing views. We love the fact that there is a beautiful boardwalk right here where we actually sharing a path with pedestrians and bikes but gives us the perfect opportunity to bike just alongside the shores without too much trouble. That would be a bit of a hard one to peddle on the sand.

Although there’s a huge emphasis on the first Europeans who arrived in Gisborne, Anelia takes the time to tell us about the first Maori that arrived here about 650 years ago.

She tells us the story of Paoa and Kiwa who were the first Maori to arrive in Gisborne calling it Tairawhiti.

From the Waikanau Beach we are then following the Waikanae stream back toward the city of Gisborne. The Waikanae Stream is a lovely little stream lined with native plantings and it’s taking us right to the gisborne town clock. The cycle route loops right back to where we started so this has been an awesome way to see Gisborne city’s major highlights and we are so glad that chose to see Gisborne city by tandem bike. Thankfully this is one of the rare flat cities in New Zealand so it’s prefect to discover by tandem bike.

Well today, during our bike tour a gust of wind went after our 360 degrees camera and it went awww smack!

So in conclusion…

Conclusion I’m pissed.