What a huge weekend! Mike dropped Toby off at the station with Sally and Andrew to catch their Kiwi Rail train to Auckland and went to see the panel beater (someone hit our car while Mike was parked at the Tongariro crossing a weekend back). He then got home and I jumped in and we were off.
We had lovely weather and the new expressway bypassing the Kapiti coast was open. That filled us with awe and pleasure at our taxpayers dollars building something to make lives easier. As we went through the Desert Road, Mike realised we were able to meet the train at National Park - and get lunch at their nice station cafe.
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| Most of my Bruce 2017 wristband collection |
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| National Park train station |
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| Mike having lunch at the station cafe |
We surprised Sally, Toby and Andrew and chatted away to them for 5 minutes before the train headed away again.
We drove up through Huntly way for a change. We hit Auckland traffic and crawled for 12 kms through the southern motorway before getting to the Strand train station a good 20 minutes before the train.
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| Bye Toby, Sally and Andrew - see you in Auckland! |
We headed to the Sampson house (via a pizza place) and stayed up for hours singing with them.
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| Singstar! |
Next morning we headed to Anne's house to pick up Angus (Anne's name for her gorgeous Yamaha R6). Wally came with us and we dropped him at Peter's house and he collected his bike (also a Yamaha) and it was so good to have him with me for riding the bike for the first time in unfamiliar streets.
Anne's driveway as crazy for the first time on that big bike. I tried to maneuver it around a bit in her driveway and almost dropped it (it is heavy for me!). Eventually I had it aimed up her steep driveway - she was keeping the gates open. But as I gunned it, a car came in! Yikes. Fortunately they could sidle down past me. I tackled it again and finally got it up and away!
As I followed Wally around some suburban streets, I stalled it a bit. It revs so high I was worried about taking off and popping an inadvertent wheelie. We wandered around a bike shop while Mike got a new helmet - just in case. I had a good ride out on the motorway to Whenuapai and then we ate quickly and all headed to the concert.
Parked the car 20 mins from the stadium and found our gate and met up with Sally and Andrew. Got in and staked out our place about 15 people deep from the stage. Good location.
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| Waiting for the concert to start |
Toby and Wally loved Jet - the support act. Marlon William was good too. But Bruce was in fine form, as usual. But it was quite different from Hunter Valley and Christchurch in nature. No requests taken. He did Johnny 99 which was from left field a bit.
Got home late and didn't get up and away at 6am like I was hoping. I decided sleep was probably best. We ended up not leaving until 10.30am! The bike behaved well. I put petrol in any chance I got. First at the services at Papakura. Then every 170km or so we stopped.
I found it very hard after the first 2 hours - I had forgotten how hard it is to ride a bike. It isn't as passive as driving a car. By the time I got to Bulls and got off for petrol, everything was shaking. My shoulders got sore as I rode, but if I stopped for a while, that disappeared. We had a late lunch at Turangi - 4pm. I enjoyed my ride alongside lake Taupo. Gorgeous day for it! I lost Mike and Toby in Matamata as they circumnavigated a roundabout twice trying to find the route south. I knew the way so I took off. Never saw them again until Turangi.
There was a big accident on the Desert Road. A truck was rolled over and three fire engines and an ambulance were attending. I stopped the bike in time as I crested a hill and saw Mike's brake lights come on. I was conscious of other traffic coming behind, so I sidled alongside Mike on the shoulder and turned off the bike. We only waited about 10 minutes before the waved us slowly though. They had closed the road from the Waiouru end - sending everyone via National Park.
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| Turangi for a refill |
At Turangi we decided that we should head for Palmerston North and leave the bike there for a week with Iona and Col. Best decision ever! I was tuckered out by then!
And what's more - it was Col's birthday so we timed our visit perfectly! She has a new smart phone. Her life is about to be revolutionised.
Got home just before midnight and it made for a hard wake up call this morning. But we're all at work/school. Yay!
Great weekend. But I need the hectic schedule to let up soon. And I need a lot of sleep tonight.
Have a wonderful week.
Love,
Angela
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