Gremlin's Tall Stories

I could probably sum up the entire day with one word… wet. However, GiJoe has taught me real good, so why say 1 word, when several hundred will do?

Up at 5am (yes, really), and most of my packing has been done the previous night. I have breakfast, finish packing and I’m out the door just before 6am. Down the road for gas and I’m only slightly late to meet Toto at the BP Papakura Autobahn. He’ll try to claim 5 minutes, but it was 3, and he can’t argue with a BMW clock!

I set my temporary voicemail message and we’re off. It’s a run down SH1 until SH2. It’s surprising how many people were on the road, most going north into Auckland, but still enough heading south to have your pace dictated to you. Onto SH2 and it was the opposite, being extremely quiet for the most part. The sun was rising, and looking like a large headlight in the distance (a very very large one). SH2 became SH27 and we continued south. We had to sit behind a cop for a while, as there was no way we could pass him, so hid behind some cars until he pulled over to the roadside.

I had to divert to Rotorua for some work, planned to take a couple of hours, and while I suggested Toto start later in the day, he was happy to leave at the same time, so he’d have a couple of hours to kill in Rotorua. The extra distance also added an extra hour to the riding. Approaching Tirau I came up with a brilliant idea for what he could do while in Rotorua. I’d just noticed his headlight was off, and since it’s hardwired on the Hornet, it probably meant he’d blown his low beam. First day of the trip too! I pull into a layby to announce my brilliant idea and would you believe it, the bugger tries to blame the bulb failure on me?

We head through the back roads past Okoroire Pub, having done them for the first time when meeting the Taupo Learner ride as they headed north. I haven’t done that stretch of SH5 in years and had forgotten the glade and that it was actually a really nice road. The rain had started coming down more consistently, and no longer the drizzle it once was. Passing was more cautious as the roads were slippery and I’m still discovering what the Michelin Anakee 2’s are like in the wet, having just fitted a set on Saturday before heading down to Paeroa.

There was an operator either setting up or taking down a mobile speed van as I was passing a truck. An evil idea, as it was the first proper straight after a long spell of corners, and we’d been stuck behind the truck for a while. Still, no picture and I wasn’t really over the limit by much. The rest of the road was mostly quiet, so a smooth pace was set with caution, due to the rain. Most cars seemed to be taking an even more cautious approach, so were reasonably easy to overtake given the speed differential.

Entering Rotorua I was thinking about how to signal Toto about splitting up when he motions that he needs gas, so I nod and making a call motion, to indicate I’ll call. I continue on to the client, who lives out Lake Okareka way. The road was tight and slippery so caution was the operative word. This didn’t work for everything however, when I was making my way through the Okareka town, a dog came racing up. Initially thinking it was curious, this notion was soon cast aside when it took a big bite in my pants and started tugging. Lashing out with my boot unfortunately didn’t kill it (but I really did want to), but at least it let go, and I made my get away. I haven’t been attacked in years, so of course, a dog attacks me on my first day of wearing my new Revit Sand pants. Cursed dog

The client work took longer than expected, arriving shortly after 9am, but leaving at 11.30am, and worried that time was now running short for the ferry. No mobile coverage out there, so I had to head back to civilisation before I could contact Toto. I aim to find the dog again, dismount early and finish it off, but Karen decides to take me another route instead. Turning the phone, I have coverage, and several missed calls and txts from an increasingly concerned Toto, who has decided to leave if he hasn’t heard from me, as we still have to make the ferry. A good call, and I tell him I might see him in Turangi (where we will both fill).

I set off on SH5 again, having a nice run, again, cars are cautious and I slowly work my way through them. The roads on the whole are good, but several slippery patches, which offer very little grip. It got a little exciting 6-10km out from Wairakei, with an Ambulance and a rather bashed up looking car. It was very recent as there were no police in attendance in yet. Given that ambos were there, there was no need to stop, so the line of cars slowly filed past. Todd said later there was oil on the road, but I hadn’t seen anything (and only read his warning txt later on, so it didn’t help much!). I was keeping a watchful on time, as it looked like I would have less than 30min spare to the ferry check-in deadline, still had to fill in Turangi, and the ETA ignored traffic into Wellington which would slow me further.

Continuing to Turangi, I came across a cop car and fire truck heading to the car accident, and the rest of the trip was nice and uneventful. Turning onto SH1 and going through the new bypass, it seems most cars weren’t, so the roads were very peaceful. A boring run down SH1, but they’ve fixed the piece of road that disappeared, so it’s back to a normal 2 lanes (1 each way). I pulled into the Turangi Shell and Toto has only just arrived minutes earlier, so it’s excellent timing. I’m suggesting that we have a quick pie from the new Z, fill and get on the road to Wellington, because we’re getting seriously short time.

Alas, Toto is currently running on his time. To give reader’s an insight, this is the chap who leads Monday Night Swarm rides to nice destinations for dinner, but arrives too late for actual food. He’s done it more than once, and on the last occasion, even knew when they closed, but claimed we left a previous stop 15min earlier than we actually did (leaving at the closing time of 8.30pm for a place that was closing 15-30min up the road). Needless to say, I’m not impressed. I insist that we need to get moving, and we don’t have a lot of time. He’s infuriating, insisting I should read my messages, relax, basically, precisely the opposite of what I need to be doing. It takes some arguing from both sides, before he lets on our ferry has been cancelled

Say what? Never had that before. Check the phone, ring to make sure, and yes, our sailing has been cancelled and we’ve automatically been shifted to the 8pm sailing, check-in time 7pm, which is 1.5 hours later than our sailing. Wow, we do actually have some time up our sleeve! I ring the Picton accommodation to let them know we’ll be arriving later than planned, we pay for our gas and head over to the Turangi Truck Stop for a proper meal instead. Toto has a burger and I have curry on rice… except they have no rice, so I settle for their offer of mash and veg instead. It’s still yummy, but I burn my tongue on the food a bit. I’ll plagiarise Toto’s photos, as I didn’t bother taking any.

Bellies nice and warm we set off for Wellington. It’s still raining and the roads are slippery, so we aim to set a comfortable pace, not stopping or slowing for unnecessary reasons. We encounter a few trucks in the tight parts, which means we get stuck behind them, or cars that are travelling far too slowly. It hadn’t really been warming up throughout the day and I’d thrown on an extra thermal at Turangi due to the cold wind. It was barely touching the teens, so the thermal stayed on while Waiouru passed by with little more than blink.

There were roadworks on the entry to Taihape which delayed us briefly as they’d shut down half the road, so we had to wait our turn. Toto’s tiny tank needed more filling somewhere between Turangi and Wellington, so Taihape was easiest, and from there we could head straight for the ferry. Toto had found what he hadn’t packed (we always seem to leave something behind), and bought himself a body wash from the BP as well. I’ve even bought a funnel from there before, so it’s a handy servo.

From Taihape we wanted to make a straight fun for the ferry, so did exactly that. It rained all the way down, never impossibly hard, but not a light drizzle either. We reached the ferry check-in with no dramas at 6.40pm and were joined by a guy on a Can-am Spyder that was 3 hours old to him, and he’d ridden? it down from Wanganui, and an older guy on a Hyosung 650 naked. We chatted until motioned to board the boat, and being the first time on the Kaitaki, I found the bike bays they offer, which are certainly better fare than the other boats. Hooks for attaching tie downs to, and the bike’s front wheel nestles in a chock. The rain had been so impressive, I even had a pool in the bottom of one pannier, of water, so emptied its contents out, and the water onto the ferry deck.

Upstairs, we found a few chairs to occupy with ourselves and gear, settled down to do some blogging and planning, got some dinner from the onboard café and passed the 3 hours by talking shit (probably about bikes and riding). Toto had the indian curry on rice, I had the roast beef and Toto’s gaydar said the server was gay. I didn’t particulary notice when I went to get food, but then I’m not looking for homosexuals, am I Toto?

With the ferry trip complete, we headed down to the bikes to unstrap them. I noticed a familiar sight down the line of bikes, in the form of an auxiliary fuel tank looking much like the one I’d seen on a couple of Grand Challenges ago. Going over to enquire, sure enough, it’s the same person, but the tank was now a custom metal fabrication to IRB certs, and the owner was sure enough Forklift Driver from KB (who also organised TT2000 booklets – which I’d bought). He’d also booked the Tombstone Backpackers after seeing me mention it, but hadn’t been before, so I said tag along, it’s easy enough.

1-2km down the road, up the hill and we’ve arrived. We checked in, paid for our rooms and bade each other good night. Toto and I were in a twin share, but don’t worry, separate beds… I wouldn’t let some Honda owner share my bed We shower and head for bed, after more than 17 hours on the road.