Yesterday I'd been wondering about my next gravel excursion and decided that I wanted to return to the "Badlands" and to also check out another gravel road that I'd only done once, years ago.

The "Badlands" are to be found on Kauarapaoa Road, tucked in behind Wanganui in what most people would call the wop-wops.  On one particular corner there was (now I've given something away) a sign welcoming you to the Badlands and along the fence line used to be various goat skulls and hides - for non-NZ readers, goats are an introduced pest and are very destructive as they will eat anything...

Anyway, I didn't head out Saturday, instead opting for today and before I got ready I messaged Rodney to see if he was keen.  He was busy but when I said it was just going to be short ride he decided that he could make it all of a sudden...
The first bit of our ride was tarmac only across to Wanganui where we stopped for a quick bite before going in search of gravel.

Mmmmm, Pukeko's...
Thirsty pig!A few kms up the road it was time to turn off the main road and head North on Rangitatau East Road.  I should had the camera going on the seal as I forgot how nice this road is even while on seal as you wind your way through some very nice bush.  Eventually we found the gravel.

Look, there it is, I'm standing on it!For a fair chunk of the road the metal was fairly loose so we didn't break any speed limits and just took in the neat road and some nice scenery....