The route from Wairoa to Napier was described to us by various people as extremely strenuous. Due to the campsite distances, we had to drive 80km on the first day, which caused us to start relatively early.
During the drive we were positively surprised that the gradients were not as steep and the curves not as narrow as described. The drivers, who had described the route to us, probably thought the narrow windy roads were dangerous, because they did not have so much space when crossing with trucks. But for us as tandem riders this was no problem. Since there is not much room on narrow roads anyway and the cars and trucks drive slower, they are safer for us. We are still overtaken in the most confusing curves, but at least nice and well-behaved on the other side of the road :-)
After 5h30 we arrived at the DOC (Department of Conservation) campground at Lake Tutira, where we pitched the tent on the shore and once again cooked a huge portion of pasta.
The next day, according to our guidebook, a 300m climb awaited us. On the campground we were therefore declared by a motorist still as crazy and on the way to the hill waved us very many motorists.
The slope was then not so bad, it was already about 4-5km long, but pleasantly evenly steep, so that we could climb the hill relatively easily in the smallest gear.
Possibly lags also because we were at this time with 2300 tandem km already trained to some extent.