Ramblings of a Browsing Goat

[Anonymous]

#3838

Monday 14 November-Drizzly rain so needed to put my new Thermoflex cow shed bib overall over the armour! At $128 its a pretty good investment and kept me thoroughly dry.Left Masterton 0830 and headed of to Ekatahuna and points north ,light traffic and turn of at Mangamaire over the Pahiatua track to Palmerston North,quickly negotiated the heavy traffic in the city and a nice clear run to Wanganui and Hawera for a fuel up  and enquire about road conditions around the Surf highway to New Plymouth.The thermoflex came of as it was getting pretty warm ,the light southerly breeze with the pleasant conditions making for a memorable trip to Opunake ,photos, and New Plymouth to number 1 sons house , a feed,  a beer and a bed for the night.Tuesday dawned a cracker of a day so a quick plate of weetbix then geared up and headed south to top up the gas tank at Stratford and thence to the "Forgotten Highway". Again very little traffic and road conditions excellent. Whangamomona lived up to expectations ,but to early for the pub i had an interesting talk to a local lad and his possum catching fox terrier before heading for Taumarunui,lunch , photos of the Moki Tunnel, a yak to a couple of possum trappers /goat hunters at the end of the gravel section of Tangarakau Gorge and then Pukawa where i stayed the night .And i slept well!Wednesday,another bit of drizzley rain but nothing nasty so up early and into Turangi,fuelled up,and of to Taupo .....oops ,hadnt counted on a tandem trailer and truck loaded with concrete pipes hanging over the edge of the road and nearly in the lake!Driver of the truck ok , but the lady driving the Ford ute was ferried by air to hospital with both legs broken ,her two kids and husband escaped with scratches(e&oe)Apparently she went to sleep at the wheel and crossed the centre line. A 2 hour delay was no problem for me , but a lot of vehicles went north via Western side of Lake Taupo.The upside of this was there was no traffic between the accident and Taupo township so lunch was the order of the day and of to Opotiki via Rotorua , and stay at the Opotiki Hotel overnight.Note that the steaks at this place are ginormous!Thursday left Opotiki in  fine ,cool weather, and met two other bikers from Whakatane who were heading to the South Island for a rally. The  road around East Cape is stunningly beautiful,interspersed with beaches and huge pohutukawa and other native trees,also many notices large and small erected by the locals  telling Petrogas where to go and what to do with oil exploration plans.There is a section where the road has been rerouted and delays of up to an hour can be expected.As a result of the delay a few friendly drivers wandered over had a look at the three bikes ,Triumph 76 ,Suzuki 1000 and my old F650 , and had a general chat.Eventually we headed into the dusty roadworks ,diggers and trucks and people in all directions and thankfully onto the open road  for a welcome stop pie , lemon lime and bitters at Hicks Bay store,before paying my respects to tipuna at the local urupa(cemetary ) and then to Te Araroa, and eventually Gisborne. A great day on the road , a few log trucks (full) heading for Tauranga, they are not a problem .Its the empty ones with the jinker piggybacked on the back of the truck, that are fast movers!Friday saw me on the last leg to Wairoa , bacon,tomatoe and eggs, hash browns and coffee for breaky and heading south to Napier into a fine day with a light southerly.A quick stop for a fuel up and a Moritz and of through Taradale to SH50 ,Tikokino and Dannevirke.Traffic had built up and so had the southerly from a nice breeze to a full on gale.Takapau plains is renowned for wind and it was not a pleasant feeling until i reached Woodville and turned into the Wairarapa, where the wind had moderated a fair bit,  did i feel comfortable.The only real rain of the five days away came as i crossed over Mt Bruce towards Masterton and it belted down for five or so minutes arriving home just about dry again after riding into brilliant sunshine.Great experience ,now will have to get a couple of panniers, and be better organised with what i take next time....and there will definitely be a next time!

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