Gremlin's Tall Stories

And on to Part 2... only problem with doing all these trips is trying to remember everything to write up afterwards, and the time it takes. Still, better than trying to remember the details 6 months down the track without a blog.

John had kindly offered me a bed for Saturday evening, and since I had been up since Friday morning I figured it was a better idea to stay in Wellington overnight, then return home on Sunday. Once all the riders had checked in, and everything was tallied, we could head back to his place. Wuzards-Eugene had slipped into the pub to say hello, but had been too lazy to do the ride. XP@ had pulled out at Waipukurau with issues with his clutch cable. Typical, the buggers that lured me into the ride failed to complete!

At Johns place it was pretty much shower and bed... and a lovely bed indeed. Full length, no feet hanging over the end, and I spent a few seconds wondering why I wasn't asleep already and before midnight I was fast asleep. My alarm was set for 0800, but when it started ringing I had no interest in rising. Delaying the alarm by half an hour didn't seem to improve my willpower, but I did at least roll over. Another half hour somehow passed and I thought I had better get up. Ann had even laid out some breakfast, very nice of her, and over breakfast John and I chatted and I sorted out an issue on their laptop. Having a good yarn seems to consume time, and before I really noticed, it was after 1300, and I should probably get cracking, as I still had to reach Auckland.

Said my thanks, geared up myself and the bike and headed off to find a gas station, which was nearby. I knew the GPS would want me to use SH1, so I asked it for Masterton instead of Auckland, and it still lead me on a merry tour of Wellington's hills before hitting the coast. The Rimutakas were dry this time, but then I realised I needed to cross over at some point anyway, otherwise I would head towards Napier. Having done the Manawatu Gorge twice within a month and Mangamarie only once, I did Mangamarie instead, almost got confused with some major roadworks and then over the track. From there, I turned right, asking for Vinegar Hill, as I had only done it once during the weekend. Going through Kimbolton again, it was the third time... hehehe

A photo stop at the Stormy Point Lookout, as my stop the previous day wasn't at the lookout, so I could get some more pictures. Really stunning scenery. After the fun of Vinegar Hill it was back to the boredom of SH1. By the time I got to Waiouru the sun was on its way to setting, temperatures were dropping, so a quick stop to put the winter gloves on instead. I had such a nice gap to the next car not a single one overtook me, so I had a really quiet run through Desert Road, which can be fun without traffic. Near the end I was getting sick and tired of seeing random roads off to the side but unwilling to try them as I knew I was heading to the end of my range. Just before entering Turangi, with 409km on the clock, I lost my willpower, heading down an unmarked gravel road just to see where it went. It wasn't that long at all, going to Admirals Pools and another one, but still fun.

Back to Turangi and over to the Truck Stop around 7.30pm for some dinner. Special was Bolognese and I had a Milkshake as well. A quick stop into Turangi Shell to fill me to home and back on the road. It was now definitely night, and at last the clear visor was useful. After Taupo I once again had the pleasure of having an enthusiastic driver in front of me who wanted to go places in a hurry, so using them as a rabbit good time was made through to Tirau. Held up by a bit of traffic, that all turned off onto SH27, it was time to pass them and head home. Roads were really quiet all the way through to Mangatawhiri, bar one crazy idiot driver from Mangatawhiri onwards, who was passing on double yellows, swerving violently etc. They would speed down roads, then travel so slowly I would end up catching, but I certainly had no intentions of passing and having the idiot behind me.

The motorway was closed for some reason at Ramarama and on the bypass to Drury I caught up to the idiot again, who was in turn held up by the traffic. Back on the motorway and a short trip home, arriving shortly before 2330.

All up, about 2470km travelled over the weekend in 48 hours, from home to home, round trip.

I now have around 1500km to do before another 7500km is up. Seems like it was only a few weeks ago that she had a service. Wait... it was... about 4-5 weeks - just prior to the Grand Challenge. Good times.