Plimmerton

On Monday 8 January, we went for a short-ish ride from Mana to Plimmerton and back. We parked at Ngatitoa Domain, and biked to Plimmerton, where we had a delicious pizza lunch at The Big Salami. It's a tiny place, but it serves good coffee and great pizzas.

Lunch at The Big Salami (photo by John)

After lunch I escaped a long conversation on meteorology with a man at a neighbouring table, by leaving first. I waited for John a short distance away, at the beachfront, while he extricated himself. 

The tide was in, and a couple of dozen screeching and squabbling seagulls were on the beach, hoping for tidbits from some people enjoying their fish and chips on a nearby seat. We were amused at one very aggressive seagull patrolling the space in front of the seats to prevent any other gulls coming near.

Seagulls hoping for fish and chips offerings (photo by John)

Enjoying fish and chips in the sun. Note the bossy seagull patrolling the edge,
while another gull is trying the stealth approach from the rear (photo by John)

We biked along the waterfront, to the end of the road, then decided to explore some of the hillside streets. We climbed up Gordon Road and Ogilvie Terrace. These were seriously steep roads. But the views were worth it.

This was a seriously steep road. Thank goodness for electrical assistance! (photo by John)

I don’t remember if this was Gordon Road or Ogilvie Terrace,
but it was more fun going down, than up (photo by John)

The view over Hongoeka Bay (photo by John)

Looking towards Titahi Bay in the distance (photo by John)

Though we had originally thought of going up Airlie Road and coming back down Te Ara Harakeke, the effort of the steep climbs was enough for us that day, so we decided to leave that for another day, and headed home the way we had come.