I had a great weekend, no scratch that, a superb weekend. The weather was kind, which is unusual because Labour Weekend usually guarantees some diabolically foul weather and usually we would be chugging off to the Moto Guzzi riders annual bash and thus out in it!!! But not this year, we were too poor in spare funds and annual leave to justify the trip to the deep south so of course the weather was outstanding… GAH!
Anywho, I managed to tame most of the garden on Saturday and Vicki even managed to successfully conduct an archaeological dig in the back of her car and find some paperwork she had lost leaving us free time after tea so we grabbed a couple of surf rods, some snacks and a bottle of rather indifferent Sauvignon Blanc and sat on the beach watching the sun go down. Friendly locals are a feature of Raumati South and a slow parade of rudderless hippies and failed artiste’s (rich and poor) wandered past, most stopping for a chat. A few asked if I had any luck and I told them I estimated with another half a glass of wine I might just get lucky, until Vicki indicated that was not funny and persistence would certainly sour my luck. This time some of the baits are disappearing (albeit slower than the wine) so we assume the crabs are back closer to shore which means the fish can’t be far away! Time to dust off the kayaks for the summer methinks… ( water was a heady 13.5C on sat ). We finished the wine at home and I manfully tried to watch ‘Time Team’ but fell asleep on the couch… Perfect day really!
Sunday dawned very nicely and without a hangover and the child bride awoke with energy and vim, so I got breakfast in bed! Woo hoo, I had just finished when a thought occurred… (well several thoughts had already occurred but apparently that wasn’t happening)… Erm – aren’t we supposed to be someplace this morning? D’oh! We had to be in town at the Cenotaph at 10am for the Wellington Classic Motorcycle Club ride… Gleep! We are an hour away, the bike needed tyres checking and petrol and it was 8:30 already. We made it in time (just) on the old Triumph and had a great ride. This month we were accompanied by a 3 geologists for a geological tour of Wellington. Bloody interesting ride it was too and very helpful in understanding the landscape. It was less helpful in making me feel secure about working in the city or kayaking on the harbour when the next ‘big one’ hits (and it will)… We cruised home on the lovely old Trumpy in very light traffic and warm weather even stopping for a coffee on what was a pretty nice day. Indeed, we were home in time to do a bit more gardening and for a walk down the beach. Perfect day x 2
Ah! Holiday Mondays! Bliss, up late, make a picnic lunch, and chuck the rods into the car and up the coast. Again light traffic and we ended up at Waikawa Beach which is a magic spot but we got it wrong about where we drove to (long walk to beach carrying all out munt) so we enjoyed out picnic in glorious weather heading home around 2pm via the growers and before the traffic built up at Otaki. We turned into Peka Peka and had another fish. It looked pretty sweet for a beach launch with the kayak too (under favourable conditions) so it may be a go later in the year. Got home, finished planting some seedlings and fertilizing before it rained, cooked a wonderful dinner, wiped down the Triumph and into bed…
Triple perfect..
This morning I got to thinking about my weekend.
We had a great ride with the lads, granted the Triumph is nearly 40 years old and soon to qualify for cheaper rego but we were accompanied by bikes that might need to wait 4 years, 8 years or even 10 years before doing so. We rode safely as a small group and had a simply wonderful time riding as well as it being a very educational day. I’m struggling to se why a Triumph 650 or an old Laverda 750SF (or even my Moto Guzzi 850 (about 55bhp on a good day) should be taxed so heavily that this merry group of silly old buggers can’t enjoy them? It really burns my buns…
I’m also worried that if we manage to stave off the increases this time around that the lies and mistruths have wrecked the image of motorcycling forever. More than this, the increases will happen via stealth over the next wee while until motorcycling is virtually extinct or is at least the preserve of the very very wealthy. This worries and depresses me greatly and frankly I think there is a greater evil here than just ACC. These picks just plain want bikes off the road.
One thing I have found is that this sure sucks the joy out of having a bike. Its really quite an unpleasant feeling and I’m starting to wonder if its even worth fighting over because even if you win, you loose.
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Originally Posted by Paul in NZ
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Oh bugger
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