January 19 - Pukekohe to Thames

 Today was more like it - 84 km in much improved weather.  There were a few hills out of Pukekohe, but then relatively flat to Thames.  The road was pretty good, with mostly good shoulders.  Drivers also pulled over more - perhaps everybody is more courteous outside of the big city.

If you look at the map I posted a few days ago, Thames is directly to the right of Pukekohe, just under the bottom left point of the W in Whangamata.
Tomorrow we will go straight up the coast, to approximately the highest road shown on that map (55 km).

The first photo is typical countryside as we got into the farming area. I didn't include my first picture of sheep (two of them looking at me as though I'm strange).  We saw more cattle than sheep and even a deer farm.

This is my typical view on the road.  The mountains in the background are part of tomorrow's trip.

 This photo is of the hills back of Thames, and I don't know what the light coloured trees are.

Thames is an old town, I believe dating back from the mid 1800's.  It was established as a mining town.

A couple of examples of the buildings in town.  The

 church is "New Zealand's Finest New Zealand example of wooden Gothic architecture.  It is made of Kauri.  The other building is a typical example of a building with the large verandas.

(Terri - I'm having trouble trying to get photos side by side.  Can you figure it out?  Also, thanks for the snack goodies you gave us for Christmas.  We devoured them.  Imagine - Skeet & Ike's in NZ!)