In the next larger town after Waihi we had to pump the rear wheel, because this lost air pressure. On the further stretch, the pressure decreased more and more, so that we replaced the already not so fresh tire and the tube.
Besides the tire problems, we also struggled with traffic on State Highway 2. The guidebook said that this route should preferably be driven on Sunday, because then there are less trucks. After a few miles we knew why. This road had a lot of traffic, with many trucks.
Shortly before Tauranga, the road became so big that you could think it was a highway! But SH 2 is of the same class as SH 1 with single lane bridges and fords :-)
In Tauranga itself we rattled off every bike store for decent and durable tires. In none of the 3 not so small stores we found. Either they had racing tires or MTB tires, but none for touring bikes.
So we drove further east until we arrived after 91km in Te Puke.
In the Holiday Park of Te Puke we were not only the only tandem riders (no wonder, on the tour we didn't see any other tandem), we were probably also the only vacation guests. All the others looked like they were staying more or less permanently at this campground.