Smifffy

What a week it's been, no sooner had I finished writing up the tales of my fishing exploits from yesterday, than the phone rings, and it's Ron. He was all interested to know if I was keen to go for a small motorcycle excursion, and maybe stop for a coffee somewhere. Destination as yet undecided.

I argued with him for a little while, because I really don't like that sort of thing, but eventually after giving it a moment's thought I agreed. "Meet you at BP at 10:00 tomorrow." Ron can be so persuasive.

So this morning rolls around, I decide I don't need the thermal liner in the leathers, and make my way to the local office of the eco-terrorists. I get there at 9:45 to fuel up, and Ron is already there. He tells me we are also waiting for Henry & maybe AJ. We are thinking maybe heading over the kaimais to Tauranga, then along the coast to Whakatane and back to Rotorua.

Henry rides in at 9:55, and at 10:01 we roll out. The sun is out, and the traffic is fairly heavy. Henry agrees to wait for us at the top of the kaimais since he has a sports bike that has more in common with an exocet missile, rather than Ron & I whose bikes have more in common with massey fergusons & john deeres.

Road works and a digger on a low loader slowed up the trip over the kaimais, but it was a great view from the rest area at the top, looking back over the Waikato & Hauraki plains.

The coast road from Tauranga to Whakatane was also busy, why aren't all these people at work? The ocean on our left hand side was calm and looked great. More fuel at Whakatane, and nobody had any firm plans about our next step, other than maybe to find "That good coffee shop I've heard about". That really doesn't sound like me at the moment, and I really want a good ride with a lot less traffic.

I suggest we do the Waimana gorge road and come back through Cheddar Valley to Ohope. The others are keen, and I lead the way off to Taneatua. As expected traffic is very light and the roads are wide with big looping curves, and the odd twisty section. We stop at the bottom of the Ohope hill and get a pie and a drink. Say "hello" to another group of 4 bikers who decide to snub us. Fair enough I guess.

Pies are scoffed and bikes are off, over the hill and back around the lakes to Ron's place in Rotorua for a drink and a debrief. Ron decides that he has had enough for the day and stays home, Henry has some errands to run in Rotorua, and I decide to visit my lovely wife who is in a shop in Rotorua and has to work for the day (well someone has to).

Talking to the Moll, I mention that I've been contemplating taking a longer route home. She is jealous as hell, and therefore it would be a crime not to. I head out of RotoVegas over the Mamaku ranges, traffic is a lot lighter than it has been on any of the other main highways so far, and I arrive at the turnoff at Tapapa, let's not go this way today. So when I get to Tirau I should really get some gas, the tank isn't empty, but there are more back-roads to see, and I decide against it. Mobil Karapiro is not that much further along, so I decide to fill there, and then double back to Horahora road.

Mobil Karapiro is a little further than I had reckoned on, but still no danger of running out of fuel. Just maybe running out of time - at this rate the Moll might beat me home. Horahora and Old Taupo roads are are narrow twisty roads that follow the Waikato river, more or less. I see a ute and a quad bike and that's about it. When I get home, apparently I have done 450 km, or 280 miles for them that don't hold none of that fancy metric system.

So the next time that I am at work at 3 am, in an artificial sauna, and am up to my armpits in oil and grease and assorted other gunge, with 3 people in my face yelling at me, a guy on the RT wanting to know what my problem is and another on the cellphone asking when my problem will be fixed, I will be thinking, "yeah this sucks, we'll get it fixed, but roll on days off"