Fish and Chips @ Castlepoint

 

With Autumn well under way with its mixture of fine but cool weather it was decided to make the most of it before winter arrives with a day run. The radius this gives us is basicly the lower half of the North Island and we are very lucky to have some amazing rides available. One destination some of us haven't been to was Castlepoint in the Wairarapa. It is a popular seaside settlement and destination with its mix of tourism and fishing and with our ride coinciding with the Easter holidays it certainly turned out to be busy place. Sir Al, our Road Captain for the day, took us the long way to the Pahiatua track via Ashhurst. Mangamaire was soon despatched and in no time we were pulled up at Alfredton School for a regroup and chat. It was then onto our next run down Highway 52 to Masterton and our first fuel stop for the day. 

We are so lucky to have such wonderful roads to ride on our doorstep and it was great to see everyone enjoying the bend swinging as we made our way south. The next part of the ride was new territory for some of us and it was more of the same! The only difference was that there was a lot more traffic making its way out to the coast. And who can blame them. It was a beautiful day and as some of the traffic turned off to Riversdale ( definitely a candidate for our next Fish and Chip run) we pretty much had the road to ourselves all the way to Castlepoint. It was great heading past the golf course and the hotel and seeing and smelling the ocean. It wasn't too much longer before we came into the main settlement with cars and people all over the place. We managed to find a parking spot outside the local general store and takeaway shop. They were certainly busy and it looked as though many others had the same lunch plan as us. 

After a good wait, we headed out to the foreshore to sit on the grass with our fish and chips on a newsprint plate. PC had generously bought a can of Watties tomato sauce that he shared around so we also had the perfect condiment to accompany our 'gourmet' lunch. The view was perfect with the lighthouse to our right and the surfers out on the water to our left and families with kids playing on the beach in front of us.  All too soon it was time to retrace our steps with the next destination being a top up back in Masterton. The trip back in had a lot more traffic and on one corner it looked as though a fellow biker didn't quite make it around a bend. But all was well with the bike and rider just making there way back onto the road with the help of others. 

After topping up we were soon on our way back up the 'main drag'. It was definitely a lot quicker, but also the word 'boring' comes to mind. All too soon we were back over the hill in the Manawatu and a little weary after a great days riding. Nothing like building up the memories bank for winter as we start contemplating our next Fish and Chips destination next summer .... or maybe before?